My knee was aching a little when I finished my Oly a week and a half ago. I didn't run for a few days afterwards. I did some short runs last week and felt fine.
Sunday morning I went out for a 5 mile run. By the 2nd mile my knee was starting to hurt again. After 3 miles, I couldn't take the pain and slowed to a walk, but even that hurt. I was almost in tears by the time I got home. I iced it and rested it the rest of the day on Sunday.
I could walk without pain on Monday, but the stairs still hurt. Today is better, just a little discomfort.
I'm a new runner and this is my first time dealing with this and I really don't know if I should keep resting or cross train or take an easy run. Any advice?
buffaloeggs.blogspot.com 2016 Races: Hop Hop Half Marathon 2:05:09 Pac Crest Half Ironman 7:13:40 9/10 Aluminum Man Oly Tri 11/27 Space Coast Half Marathon
Where exactly does it hurt? I really struggled with knee pain from IT band syndrome, weak adductors and just plain old vanilla patella inflammation during April and May.
Keep resting, keep icing and slow down. I find that for me the stairs is a good measure of whether or not I should try running. I recently took 3 weeks off because my knee was just not improving and then started back with 10-20 minute runs every other day for the first week, 20-40 the second week etc. A lot slower than before, and icing after every run, no matter how short and no matter how good I feel. Next week I'm going to try running on consecutive days.
Also, I don't know if it's a placebo or not, but I do find that rocktape makes my knee feel better and more supported.