Triathlon - Knee pain ???

I'm just two months into training for my first tri, and recently started having a bit of knee pain (only when running). I can bike all day ... no pain, squat or any other leg exercises ... no pain, run, and I get this minor pain at the lower right side of my right knee? I have never had any knee injuries in the past, so I have no idea what may be causing it.

I'm guessing many of you experienced triathletes have been thru this so I thought i'd ask for any advice. I'm not necessarily looking for medical advice, more training. Since running seems to be the only event that bothers me, I was thinking of doing mountain biking on my running days for a few weeks, and keeping all other training as is. I had planned on running a 20k in two weeks, but I think i'll cancel that.

Currently I run on Mon & Thu, bike on Tue & Fri, swim on Sat & Sun (only days I can access pool), and I usually mix in an extra run or bike after swimming on the weekends. Wed is a rest day from all exercise. I also do light weight training Mon & Thu (lower body), Tue & Fri (upper body). Other than the recent knee issue, I feel better than ever! I'm 38, 5'9", 160lbs.

I appreciate any help!

Outside knee pain usually means ITB issues. See http://www.time-to-run.com/injuries/thebig5/itb.htm

Follow treatment even after the pain is gone for several weeks at least.

Sounds like you hit the nail on the head ..... I went to the link and those symptoms match what i'm feeling. Thank you very much for the info, its very much appreciated.

I'll replace my running with more cycling and spin more rather than pulling taller gears. If that doesn't do it, i'll completely lay off cardio involing legs for a week or two, and go from there. 4 weeks to my first tri !!!

I've recently been through the same situation. I ultimately purchased a great pair of running-specific shoes, and the problems have disappeared. I never realized the importance of a quality running shoe, but it's a lesson I won't soon forget. Good luck! :)

Yea for the past 4+ years I have always had a quality pair of running specific shoes. I used to get lower back pain from running, but quality shoes eliminated that problem. Now I just have to get thru this knee issue. Once the pain subsides I think i'll stick to the local high school track as much as possible. My street routes have quite a few hills, on top of the harsh concrete, which seems to be a potential problem for knees?

Just curious, how do most of you rotate between biking, running and swimming? Do you run and bike on consecutive days, or do you alternate between running and biking? I'm doing fairly low miles for now as i'm only training for a sprint tri, but I hope to get to a half-IM down the road.

Just curious, how do most of you rotate between biking, running and swimming? Do you run and bike on consecutive days, or do you alternate between running and biking? I'm doing fairly low miles for now as i'm only training for a sprint tri, but I hope to get to a half-IM down the road.

I haven't done my first tri yet - so I am far from expert (in fact - you should probably just ignore my post). I am doing a tri that is inbetween a sprint and an olympic on June 19th then a sprint in July and then an olympic on labor day. I am currently not following an exact program in a tri book - i'll do that about 8-10 weeks before the olympic distance one. I do train in "zones" though.

I used to swim 2x/week, run 2x/week and cycle 2x/week with one rest day and each exercise on its own day. As my endurance and conditioning have increased I now do two workouts on three days one workout on 2 days and take two rest days. Today I biked and swam. Saturday I biked and ran. I mix it up. It is more dependent on my schedule and the amount of time that I have. Running takes the least amount of time followed by swimming and then biking takes the longest.

It is very important that you listen to your body. If you body says "I can't do another workout today" then don't do it. This should be fun. I am usually chomping at the bit to do another workout. Sometimes it takes discipline to take rest days.

I haven't done my first tri yet - so I am far from expert (in fact - you should probably just ignore my post). I am doing a tri that is inbetween a sprint and an olympic on June 19th then a sprint in July and then an olympic on labor day. I am currently not following an exact program in a tri book - i'll do that about 8-10 weeks before the olympic distance one. I do train in "zones" though.

I used to swim 2x/week, run 2x/week and cycle 2x/week with one rest day and each exercise on its own day. As my endurance and conditioning have increased I now do two workouts on three days one workout on 2 days and take two rest days. Today I biked and swam. Saturday I biked and ran. I mix it up. It is more dependent on my schedule and the amount of time that I have. Running takes the least amount of time followed by swimming and then biking takes the longest.

It is very important that you listen to your body. If you body says "I can't do another workout today" then don't do it. This should be fun. I am usually chomping at the bit to do another workout. Sometimes it takes discipline to take rest days.

I think i'll have to look into something similiar to what your doing now. I am doing the 2x/week for each event as you stated, but I almost always do either a run or bike after my swims on the weekend, so maybe I am over training with only one rest day. As a matter of fact, my longest rides are usually on the weekend, and I also like to do some mountain biking on the weekends when mother nature permits!

Do you have set rest days, or does it vary depending on your schedule? I could probably easily switch my routine around so that Mon & Thu, or Tue & Fri are rest days (for cardio at least). Do you mix in any strength training? I usually do light lifting before my cardio to simulate some muscle fatigue before running or biking. Unfortunately I can only access the local pool on Sat & Sun, so those have to be my swim days.

Thanks for the tip!

My rest days are determined by my schedule.
My wife is an aerobics instructor (which is great), but she teaches the 6am class M,W,F and too often subs for the T&Th class and often teaches at night and sometimes on Saturday morning. We have two little kids so I can't leave and train when she is gone. So, my workout schedule is first determined by her schedule. I also get very busy at work and sometimes have to work on the weekends and at night - so that affects training too. During a "normal" week I bike Tues, Thurs Sunday morning with Tues and Thurs being about 20 - 25 mile rides very early before work. My Sunday rides are usually with a small group and 35 - 50 miles. I typically run a few nights a week and grab a few swims during lunch. Saturdays I swim or run. My rest days are most commonly Wed and Fri but that changes also. I really wish I could establish a regular schedule, but I guess that is life.

With my schedule so crazy one thing that has really helped is doing "benchmark" workouts. For example, I have a bike course that is 22 miles that I ride and keep in a heartbeat range of 135-145bpm. Its nice to see that my time to do the course decrease week by week at the same heartrate. I also do that for a running course. So, I can tell I am improving even if my workouts are a bit hodge podge. Training in "zones" is good too. I have read two Tri books, Chris Carmichael's cycling book, ChiRunning by Danny Dryer and Triathlon Swimming (total immersion) by Terry Laughlin. I have taken the advice in all those books to kind of piece together a program.

I second the advice re ITB issues, and highly recommend new shoes and stretching the ITB. Buy your shoes at a good store that can diagnose your running motion and put you into an appropriate pair of shoes.

I had ITB problems many years ago, from combination of worn-out shoes and overtraining on the run. It can be very painful indeed, but I found that it responded to rest much better than other overuse injuries.

Good luck.

I have been running in quality shoes (Asics GT2100), and probably only have 110-120 miles on them, so it looks like it may have been an overtraining issue (biking, running, weight training). I started anti - inflammatories today (Naproxen), and also started the ITB stretches. I will take this week off from my regular cardio and work my way back into light training the next week. Hopefully it will be better within 2-3 weeks as my first tri is in appx 4 weeks!

Well so much for rest healing my ITB problem .... took 3 weeks off running (continued with biking), then tried a easy treadmill run. After one easy mile the pain came back. So then I eliminated biking as well for a little over a week, again no help! It's actually getting worse!

Anyway, my sprint tri is this coming Sat, so i'll just have to deal with the pain, as I don't want to cancel. After the tri hopefully I can figure out what will make my knee better??? I am having a bike fitting done this coming Monday incase that is part of the problem?

Have any of you ever tried knee bands or knee braces for ITB pain?

kfb,

I'm far from being anyone who has the vast experience of most of those out here, but I'd listen to those knees. They're trying to tell you something, and if you don't hear them now, you may hear them later. I was having some knee pain last spring from running when my legs weren't used to it for may years, and a week of hunting/camping/climbing allowed them to heal strong and they've been good ever since. Long walks with a few steep climbs all day for a week worked great for me. I felt like I was underachieving while not running, but it allowed me to come back stronger in the long run I believe. Take good care of 'em...I've yet to find a place that'll sell a set for spare parts...

kfb,

I'm far from being anyone who has the vast experience of most of those out here, but I'd listen to those knees. They're trying to tell you something, and if you don't hear them now, you may hear them later. I was having some knee pain last spring from running when my legs weren't used to it for may years, and a week of hunting/camping/climbing allowed them to heal strong and they've been good ever since. Long walks with a few steep climbs all day for a week worked great for me. I felt like I was underachieving while not running, but it allowed me to come back stronger in the long run I believe. Take good care of 'em...I've yet to find a place that'll sell a set for spare parts...

Maybe that was my mistake ... when I took the break from running and biking, I completely rested my legs. No scheduled walks, resistance training, or anything. Easy walks on the treadmill would have probably been a better idea. Well i'm going to do the tri this Sat, but after that I will definitely take it easy and get my knees right. If need be, i'll visit the local Doc and see if they find anything else?
Hopefully tomorrows bike fitting will clear up any adjustment issues I may have had.

Have any of you ever tried knee bands or knee braces for ITB pain?

just curious if anything like the ring under the kneecap might help for the run raceday?

i had the same pain for a while. but i cut down on my running. i do one long run every week which leaves my body in a lot of pain but the cycling helps recuperate.
my training now is(planned by six time uruguayan national champ):
DAY1: swim 40min (sub-aerobic and sup-aerobic)
DAY2: cycling 60min(sub)-run15min(sub)
DAY3: run 70min(sub and sup)
DAY4: cycling 60min(sub)-run15min(sub)
DAY5: swim 40min (sub-aerobic)
DAY6: cycling 90min(sub and sup)-run15min(sub)
DAY7: cycling 120min(sub and sup)

subaerobic- 130BPM
supaerobic- 150BPM
V02- 180BPM+ (dont be there too long)

this works for me very well. my training times vary from week to week because i am in a 4 week cycle. usually i increment training times by 10-20% each week until the third week and on the fourth week i decrease traiing by 20-30% to regenerate and start over on week one with higher training intensity than the previous week1.

i had the same pain for a while. but i cut down on my running. i do one long run every week which leaves my body in a lot of pain but the cycling helps recuperate.
my training now is(planned by six time uruguayan national champ):
DAY1: swim 40min (sub-aerobic and sup-aerobic)
DAY2: cycling 60min(sub)-run15min(sub)
DAY3: run 70min(sub and sup)
DAY4: cycling 60min(sub)-run15min(sub)
DAY5: swim 40min (sub-aerobic)
DAY6: cycling 90min(sub and sup)-run15min(sub)
DAY7: cycling 120min(sub and sup)

subaerobic- 130BPM
supaerobic- 150BPM
V02- 180BPM+ (dont be there too long)

this works for me very well. my training times vary from week to week because i am in a 4 week cycle. usually i increment training times by 10-20% each week until the third week and on the fourth week i decrease traiing by 20-30% to regenerate and start over on week one with higher training intensity than the previous week1.

7 days per week with no rest day .... seems like that would be tough for the longhaul? My tri is this Saturday, after that I will rest my legs and hopefully get rid of this ITB issue. Then I will have to re-evaluate my training routine. I was doing 2 run, 2 bike, and 2 swim days, with one full days rest.

Mon - run
Tue - bike
Wed- rest
Thu - run
Fri - bike
Sat- swim
Sun- swim (i could only access the local pool on weekends)

Now that it's warming up, and can use outdoor swimming so my schedule could be more flexible. I was also mixing in weight-training in my routine, and maybe that's just too much?

the best thing i did to my workout was to combine the bike aerobic workouts with short runs after them. some advice i was given was to run 4-6 times a week even if its just 15-20 minutes. on the bike i try to do the aerobic workout where its more of a relaxing workout.
i usually combine the swimming with one of the softer bike days so that i have a full day of rest. the swim days are basically rest days. i guess i just dont swim that hard.
experienced triathletes will have better advice than me though. i just know this works for me very well.