I think "running throught the pain" is not a good idea. I
used to do that to myself (I thought I was a "macho man"😉,
and I ended up hurting my knees badly to the point that I
had an operation to clean up the mess inside my knees. Mine
was a softening of the under side of my knee-cap. I believe
it is called "runner knee" or something like that. Your knee
problem may be different.
There is one very tricky thing about this type of problem:
When I continued running despite the pain, I actually felt
that the pain seemed to have disappeared. This re-enforced
the idea that running is good for anything including pain.
Of course that was wrong, the heat generated from running
had masked the pain, and the thing that caused the pain was
still there causing damage.
I am not a doctor. But if I were you, I would rest for at
least two weeks until I don't feel any pain around my knees
before running again (yes, I know that you have a race
coming). If the pain came back to me soon after I started
running, I would see a doctor who is specialized in injuries
related to running.
I would be very careful about riding a bicyle if I still
had a knee problem, and I need to make sure the bike seat
is high enough to allow the knee not to bend over 90
degree. When I had knee problem, I would feel pain even
when I ride a bicyle or when I used a Nordica Track ski
machine; it was that bad.
Hope you will run pain-free soon.
Jay Chan
