Patellar Tendonitis - Any ideas? (Read 476 times)

I've been dealing with a chronic case of patellar tendonitis in my left knee for a little over a year now. It's been on and off for awhile. It can be OK for a few weeks and not bother me much at all, no matter how I train. Then it can just flair up and be an issue for a week or so. Took about 2 weeks off the beginning of Jan. and this seemed to help, but I'm finding myself slowing going backwards again. I've purchased a patellar tendon strap and this seems to help some, but I don't want to become dependent on this. I've been doing stretching and leg extensions to try to loosen and strengthen the knee and I seem to get some relief, but does not last very long. Just wondering if anyone has come up against this injury and successfully overcome it (and how you did so). Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks, Chris

I was diagnosed with patellar tendonitis a couple of years ago. I tried to "run through" the early stages and finally got to the point where I couldn't take ten steps without severe pain. (Mine started through overtraining, seeking the speed of my youth). I took two months off, to start with. My recovery was very slow. I began by walking in the morning. after a couple of weeks, I would run-walk with run distances very short, per doctor's orders. If anything hurt, I stopped immediately. My early goals were modest. Run one mile. Run two miles. Nothing was very challenging, since the rest of my body was ready, but my knees weren't. For a time I'd have been happy with three miles a day. I faced facts and started running a strict schedule of two on, one off; a plan I continue today. The fast races of ten years ago are probably over for me, but I'm happy to say I've got my mileage back to 20-25 mpw. Not much by most measures, but a mountain for me. Start slow, then back off (thanks Long Run Nick). I'm sure if I wanted to, I could increase my mileage to 30, and then 40. If I ever decide to, it will be through the same slow method I used to recover from my knee problems. BTW, my doctor is a runner, and prescribed the recovery plan.