Drs. Feigenbaum and Baraki,
Thanks for all of the content you all put out and for answering questions here in the forum!!
I have a question regarding a running injury that I sustained in the summer.
I’m 24 years old. I started running last year ~ February, mostly 5k distances. I ran throughout the summer and was running about 12-15 miles/week with no pain to speak of until later in the summer. One day I was running and started having some lateral/anterolateral pain in the right knee (just distal to LCL, maybe slightly anterior to that). After some internet searching, the only thing I could really find was stuff about IT Band syndrome, so I thought that giving my knee some rest might do me some good. I starting running again in mid fall after some time off and was fine for a while before starting to have this same pain again. I hung up running for the winter with the goal of gaining some weight and strength through strength training. I started with novice LP before finding you guys and moving to the beginner program very recently. Today I went on my first run for my conditioning and had that same pain.
A little more re the pain: It starts after 0.5-1 mile, coming on fairly abruptly and is intense enough to cause me to stop running. After walking for 30 seconds or less, the pain begins to subside. If I begin to run again, the pain comes back within a few hundred yards. When I’m not running, I have virtually no pain. I do have some mild discomfort right after my run if I externally or internally rotate the hip w/ my knee in flexion. This tends to go away after a while. No pain when walking, going up or down stairs, no pain when performing any lifts in the beginner template. I do have some mild popping in that knee from time-to-time. The pain seems to be entirely unchanged since I felt it back in the summer.
I’m 5’8" 135 lbs (up from 125 or so in the summer) and just want to build my conditioning back to 5k distances while continuing to add some weight and getting stronger. (I get a lot of QoL improvements from running, it’s something that I really enjoy and would like to be able to continue safely if I can, since I’m only 24.)
I was hoping you all have some ideas on what could be going on and what potential steps I should take next or any possible strengthening/stretching exercises you think could be helpful. Please let me know if you need anymore info, I tried to be fairly detailed.
Thanks for your help in advance!!