Pain at top of knee? (Read 536 times)

*sigh* I registered for my "spring" races at the end of the yr and of course, the next run I had I seem to have developed shin splints (rt leg, and more aggrivated on a downhill) as well as a slight pain above my knee(s). The knee pain does not seem to be present before or during a run, though it seems to appear when I go up stairs. Quick googling indicates I may be having issues with quad tendonitis, and need to be stretching both the hamstrings and quads better. The shin splints of course, messed with my gait, and I became aware of a ridiculously sloppy planting of my foot when the pain became more than just "annoying" - I slowed to a walk to try to recover, and also in an attempt to prevent further injury. I found the following article on Shin Splint Exercises and am trying to visualize some of the recommended exercises. Comments, suggestions on both issues welcomed and greatly appreciated. I'm especially annoyed now because I'm monetarily committed to the half marathon in February, and will be sorely disappointed if I need to add more walking than I had originally planned (I was figureing about 1 minute walk per mile)

less than 200 miles on the shoes! (believe me, I thought of that!) lol I'm wondering if I'm running my easy runs too hard. I don't HRM train, but I do find I'm probably a huffer & puffer esp since a good portion of my training run is uphill (albeit a low grade).

that would be a shameful x-nay on the cross training. the DH has been after me to start on the strength training but I really seem to have an aversion to the gym. I should stop being such a baby and go. After all, I thought I had an aversion to running and now look.