Travel Health and Fitness - knee band?

Sometimes my right knee gets sore in the midst of a 24-mile week.

I have tried to run beside the asphalt trail on the gravel side trail or grass, but that only helps so much.

My right leg is where I had my Achilles re-attached a few years back and I'm thinking maybe my resulting foot (mis?)placement is affecting my knee alignment.

Anyway, I often see folks running past with single knee bands under or double knee-bands under and over the knee on one or both knees and that got me googling.

The effectiveness of them seems to be a matter of opinion rather than fact?

Any experiences with them?

Calling aztimm & magiciansampras...

Also at some point you might want to have a foot doc (a sports one) check out your gait to see if any issues/alignment.

I had a tear in my Achilles years ago that took forever to recover from. I don't know that it impacted my gait as such, but I know I was much more careful on stretching/warming up post-that.

Cheers.

Do you strike heel first or midfoot first?

I've managed to eliminate virtually all joint soreness by changing running style from heel striking to midfoot striking. No more shin splints, sore knees, hip pain, etc.

You don't have to go all barefoot running like Richard but the idea is the same- shorten your stride, land midfoot and run softly.

If you're already doing that then I've got nothing.

Do you strike heel first or midfoot first?

I've managed to eliminate virtually all joint soreness by changing running style from heel striking to midfoot striking. No more shin splints, sore knees, hip pain, etc.

You don't have to go all barefoot running like Richard but the idea is the same- shorten your stride, land midfoot and run softly.

If you're already doing that then I've got nothing.

Lol, nice Richard reference.

Hm, so take a shorter stride and come down flat-footed?

I can certainly try that.

I'd try some KT Tape. You can order it from Amazon, or many other places, and I think even some normal retailers sell it. There's directions that come with it, or they have videos on how to apply it on their website.

A note of caution--this stuff will stay on for days. I've applied tape on Sunday, and it will usually last until Tues/Wed, even with swimming an hour each day with it on.

But this kind of begs the question, do you know that the pain is from your knee, and not shin, quad, IT band, ACL, or something else?

Other than avoid the pavement, what else have you done?

I'd also recommend trying a couple of these: light stretching (a little pain is OK, too much then stop), rolling on a foam roller, icing/ice bath (or a plunge in a cool pool may work), massage, use Biofreeze, and certainly some pain killers (I prefer Aleve).

Do you strike heel first or midfoot first?

I've managed to eliminate virtually all joint soreness by changing running style from heel striking to midfoot striking. No more shin splints, sore knees, hip pain, etc.

You don't have to go all barefoot running like Richard but the idea is the same- shorten your stride, land midfoot and run softly.

If you're already doing that then I've got nothing.

I gotta hand it to you: this has helped immensely. I can now do 2 6-mile days in a row without any knee pain. Although my time is off by a few minutes from the shorter strides. But since I'm not racing against anything but my belly, not big deal there.

Thanks for the tip!

Your time will come back and you can still run fast (if you want). I am way faster running this way than I ever was running the "old" way. Just quicken your pace and you'll get your times down.