I would welcome any good advise/experience anyone else has. I have been doing Tri’s for years. Mostly Sprint/OLY distances. I am 45 and have a background as a college swimmer. I recently completed Ralphs but not without issues with my left knee. During the last half of my Multisport training program my left knee was feeling rather “thick”. One week prior to the race…sharp pain underneath the kneecap. Didn’t run the rest of the week and was forced to walk alot during the last 5 miles of the run at Ralph’s due to the pain that flared up. I took two weeks off and now have reduced my mileage and I am doing a lot of IT band streching/icing/ibuprofen etc. I have also developed a very tight right hamstring/glute. I know getting old sucks but this is out of hand…
46 yo, been there. I take Glucosamine and have added yoga to the training plan as well as Pilates. Both have helped with the flexibility, core strength, and balance. My left knee flares up and then goes away, and I haven’t really been able to pinpoint why. MRI said medial meniscus contusion. So, I iced, took anti-inflams, rested, started back running very conservatively. I’ve got a marathon in 2 weeks and the knee is fine. Could have been a shoe issue? Sometimes when mine are getting towards the worn stage, strange pains show up.
I also highly recommend yoga and pilates. I got a lot faster and felt better overall once I started those two exercises. Get sports massages as well. The massages will help with the hamstring. Also, make sure you stretch that damn hamstring every single day. Don’t skip a day. Stretch it 2 or 3 times a day even. Make sure you stretch after you work out as well.
For more knee stuff, I had major problems for years. Docters, PT’s, and everyone in between told me different things. My massage therapist looked at my, did some strength tests, and told me that I had weak hips. I worked on them for a couple of weeks and I got faster running with less knee pain. My stupid hips were really weak which caused years of knee pain. I’m almost to the point that my knees aren’t a problem anymore. This is a lot coming from a guy that tried to play ultimate frisbee for 4 years, but every year had a different knee injury.
Good luck.