As I put in my RR from Rockman, my L knee has been hurting, primarily on the bike, since a week before Rockman. I’ve done nothing but walk back and forth from the train station to work (3 miles each way) since the race. Pain is on the lateral side of my L knee, at the mid to lower patella. It hurts more as I apply more force to the pedals (ie, can’t hammer down in the big ring, but a little ring spin is not/barely generates pain. Walking does not hurt at all, I had slight pain going up stairs the 1st 2 days, but thats gone now (exact same scheme as after a long brick before Rockman, and it bugged the hell out of me in the race). I made a brief mention to the doc at my medical exam (didn’t want anything documented right then, as this was for application to PA school) Monday- he said likely IT band, gave some stretches. Those don’t hurt, nor does the foam roller. Will try 3 mile run tomorrow, but a few jogs across streets have been pain-free. Its just on the bike. So:
What’s my damage?
How long until I should be feeling OK? What can I do to speed up/improve recovery?
At what point to head to the doc?
I’m really eager to train, but my focus is on IMoo, so a few days now is more than worth being healthy the rest of the summer. Also, I’ll be running only for the last 2 weeks of June- Annual Training in Wisconsin, and I likely can’t take the bike- this bout of rest might be just the ticket…
ADDITIONAL DATA POINT: So I just rode 10 really easy miles, stopped and stretched halfway through. 1st 3 miles, there was some pain all the way around the pedal circle; after warming up and stretching, only very minor pain felt, w/ none whatsoever when I stood on the pedals. Seems like a minor overuse/irritation- any words of advice?
You could try ART. If it is the ITB it might help a lot.
Does your leg bow during your pedal stroke? When I get pain on the bike, it always helps for me to really concentrate on keeping my knees in. You can usually pick out people with knee injuries by watching their pedal stroke.
I’m a pretty “knees-in” rider. Where would I go to look into ART? Is it standard massage therapy fare, or do I need to look at someone with a specialized certification? Thanks!
no locking or catching- kind of crackles as it goes through ROM, but that’s been there in both knees for years now, and has never hurt. its a sharp pain that originates on the outside of the knee right when I flex hard to extend the leg- think from the bottom of a squat (stairs), or when the pedal is in the 11-8 o’clock position (L/non-drive side).
Before going to the doc, get new running shoes and change your walking shoes. I run a lot of miles, and I’ve had several bouts where something in my knee would start hurting, and every time a new pair of running shoes had me feeling better in 3 days. Walking in the wrong shoes can do the same. A new pair of shoes is about the same as a doc office visit, and at the end you still have a new pair of shoes. Start there first.
Assuming it is ITB, then I have experience with this and went to the doc about it. Bottom line, doc can’t do anything about it for the most part. doc also said you can run and train through it even though it hurts, meaning, it may hurt but you really aren’t ruining anything down there, it’s just inflamation.
Just stretch the sh@# out of it 3x daily, that’s it, in about a week or so, if you searched the web for lots of stretches and you are diligent, then it will be healed. IB helps while the stretching regime is going on. I find that once it is stretched I have to stretch it less and less.