Hey guys, something bad has happened this week. I increased my training load pretty significantly and went to speed work instead of base work. Now I think I’m paying the reaper. Just below my knee cap in the patella area I’m experiencing some pain. during today’s interval session I had no pain, but I took yesterday off completely, and today the pains coming back. It hurts most noticeably when I go down
stairs. Its not a severe pain, but it is what I would describe as
sharp. Some of the things I’ve thought it might be osgood slaughters
syndrome or whatever tf it is, then just over use of the patella due to
the training load. If anyone is a physician holler, I’d like to see
what ya’ll think it may be…i’m pretty sure its not my IT band judging from
the location of the pain. again, its on the front of the knee just
south of the knee cap close to the surface but not at the surface
Look up Patelofemoral Syndrome (Runners Knee) and see if that sounds like it. I had it a couple years ago due to muscle imbalances. It was a burning pain under the patella.
Stretch your quads, hips, piriformis muscles, and IT band. Foam roll. Tightness in hips / quads can tug on the patellar tendon and result in pain.
MH-just south of the patella is the patellar tendon connecting the patella to the tibia. It’s a stout, reliable structure which very rarely ruptures. A portion of the tendon can be harvested and used in knee ligament reconstruction.
Chronic pain in this area can be tendonitis but, in the acute setting, maybe you’ve answered your own question*…“I increased my training load pretty significantly.” * Perhaps you bit off more than your musculoskeletal system can handle noting that most experts would not increase training by more than 5-10%/week an this includes intensity. Why not just back off for a couple days until pain free with liberal use of ice, and re-evaluate the progression of your training. Looks like you’ve learned a valuable lesson about your body. Good luck.