Runners Knee. Is this the beginning of the end?

[Anonymous]

I've been a long distance runner for about 17 years, and most years a pretty serious competitor, although I tend to take every fourth year or so off from competitive training. I have never been injured. Zero injuries. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
My strategy has always been: Do lots of core and strength training, replace shoes 3-4 times a year, and have two 2-week resting periods per year.
But I've build up over a decades worth of very long, very fast mileage on my legs and joints.

I've never ever had knee or any joint problems before. At most, I get some aches and pains in August, when my weekly mileage for the year is at its peak and when I'm running too much on hot pavement.

But now, I'm feeling some pretty debilitating knee pain. It's not even that far into my training "season" yet. I'm afraid to find out that my cartilage is gone from my left knee. I'm 32.
My fear is that all of a sudden my knees are going to say "no more" and I'll never be able to run again. I haven't even been training all that hard this season yet! I've been in such great shape all my life, now I don't know what to do.

Does anyone have any experience with this and have they fully recovered? How much does a visit to an orthopedist cost with high deductible insurance? Is this something that can go away after a few weeks of rest and low impact training, or is this the end of my serious running career? Anything else I should switch to that is lower impact where I can maintain the same level of fitness? I do have a bike, but no access to a pool, at least not now.

[Anonymous]

I recently started having a lot of knee pain on one side while running. I have brand new shoes so I knew it wasn’t those. I started doing long hold hip flexor stretches after my runs and on days when I don’t run, and the knee pain has completely gone away.

[Anonymous]

whatever you do, don't continue to run through the pain. You need to strengthen the muscles around your knee and work on your core to improve your form. Do banded clam shells and squats and leg lifts. I had terrible knee pain, asked my ortho if this was the end, and he said absolutely not. I just need to build strength around the knee. Now my prob is a stress fracture from not enough rest days.

[Anonymous]

Cartilage is probably gone . Doctor told me to get surgery I said hell no. It is a bit painful but I can still run squat play tennis

[Anonymous]

You should get a mri

[Anonymous]

There is so much good medicine for knees. Seriously. You need to see a doctor and find out how bad things are and what can be done about it. Putting it off is a big mistake.

I mean, people run marathons on replacement knees. Obviously you're nowhere near that but I'm just saying, the doctors have a lot to offer re: knee problems.

[Anonymous]

I got this at about the same age, albeit with much less competitive running. I ran far too long in it and it set me back 9 month. I had to cut my milage way back and focus on glute strength and hip flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Yep, find another compulsive activity to engage in! There’s lots of options.

[Anonymous]

I am a distance runner who developed knee problems seemingly overnight at 35. All of a sudden they held up fine for 7 miles and any step beyond would be excruciating pain.

I started squats and deadlifts among other weights mainly to find a new kind of exercise and did that for an entire winter season. When spring rolled around, I tried running again and for the last 10 years have had no problems mixing long runs in with weight training three times a week.