It can be a very big deal, depending on how you deal with it. There are others on the list who may be able to help you more than me if you provide more information on the location of the pain in relation to the knee (e.g., outside, inside, behind knee cap, etc.)

Since you are in your base phase, have you considered spinning more in a in easier gears and then gradually increasing the resistance? How about positioning of the shoes... have you changed shoes or cleat position lately? Or seat hight? Or saddle fore-aft?

If you take time off and heal, but go right back to doing the same thing that caused the pain in the first place, you will end up right back where you are now, but it will be February or March.

There are probably some issues regarding biomechanics, strength, or flexibility that are contributing to the pain. You need to find and deal with those.

DO NOT just try to "train through" the injury without addressing it. Take it from one who has tried... you won't win.

God bless - Ray

I developed tendonitis just below my kneecap and I only really got it when cycling. After about a month of hugely reduced cycling + running volume, it kept coming back.

I eventually realised it was the bike position - I filmed it in slow motion and went to the local bike shop, and my knee was too far back - significantly behind the pedal axle when the pedals are at 3 and 9 o'clock.

I shifted the seat forwards so the bottom of my knee was above the axle, and the condition disappeared for a while but would come back after longer rides.

I shifted the seat forwards again so my knee is significantly farther forwards than the pedal centre, (acheived through reversing the seat post on my road bike), which eliminated the problem entirely.

Without filming it is difficult to sit in your real position when actually using the bike - you can shift around a lot, making things seem ok that aren't!

Hope this is your problem,

James

Anything that screws with your training is a big deal.

I don't know much about tendinitis, but good luck. You're right that it is probably better to take time off now.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
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in my experience, tendonitis needs to be treated with more respect than almost any other injury/ailment there is, barring disease. i'll take a broken bone over achilles tendonitis, though i realize that isn't the locale you are having problems with.

I had patellar tendonitis for much of the year last year (Feb thru June). I was able to deal with the pain, but after awhile it got hard mentally because every time I ran I knew it was going to hurt. It did hurt a little when I would ride too. By the time I got to May and June it started to hurt during swimming. Finally in the middle of the season I took 2 full weeks with no swimming, cycling, or running. It was real hard to do, but my knee is 100% right now. I'll also note I saw an ortho in April and he told me to take 2 weeks of no cycling or running. I didn't listen to him then. One other thing he said is cycling can irritate patellar tendonitis(if that is what you have) because the tendon is activated during cycling. The only way to avoid that he said is by putting the seat really low. I forget how many degrees he said the knee couldn't go past.

If I were you I would go get fitted for your bike to make sure everything is ok biomechanically. If it doesn't go away I would take 2 weeks off, take ibuprofen, and ice it a lot.

I've had patellar tendonitis off and on - mostly off - for the last 10 years of so. Unlike most people, though, it hasn't been a big deal for me - I get a burning sensation just below my kneecap, which hurts a _little_ bit, but not that much. it does give me some trouble sleeping sometimes, but on my list of concerns it's way down on the list. Really, for me, it's just a signal that i need to be doing more stretching and warming up, and that i need to esp. make sure that i keep my quads loose.

also, when it acts up, i'll start to wear one of those bands that michael jordan used to wear; and rubbing the tendon across the fiber (i.e. e-w, not n-s) helps too.

take that for what you will... for other people, it's a big deal that makes walking painful and training impossible. also, from the little info you gave, it doesn't seem certain that it's tendonitis, but could be any number of things.

-charles

You're right on the "better sooner than later".

Triathletes frequently have knee problems and most of the time they arent as simple as "just" tendonitis. You should really take some time off and see a doctor. If you continue to train with that kind of pain one thing I can ensure you: it will only get worse. Doesn't matter which kind of injury you have.

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Swim, it would be smart to take a couple of weeks to rest. I, too, have struggled with this for months now due to an injury/surgery that caused the quad to atrophy (this was over 2 years ago). It has been an ongoing effort to keep it at bay, even with a nifty patellar strap provided by the ortho. It became a vicious cycle...leg pressing to get that weak quad up to par, piriformis would crank up because of it, tendonitis was sure to follow. I've had some luck with deep tissue message on the offending piriformis and I'll have to do it again after my big gains on the leg press. Stretching out has really helped...IT band, piriformis, quads. The suckers all conspire together. I'm not running right now because that just aggravated it to no end. Cycling seems to be ok as long as I don't stand on the pedals. Swimming aggravates the piriformis.

The PT showed me how to massage out the sore tendon with my thumb and/or a piece of ice. Wiggling it back and forth with pressure basically...it hurts so good, if you know what I mean? Also rolling around on a tennis ball on your piriformis and IT band may help. It has helped me, with a good stretch right after that. Good luck, fellow sufferer!