pain on outside of knees after long run (Read 712 times)

I ran 12 miles yesterday for the first time, and the outside of my knees were painful afterwards. It's much better today, but I am wondering if there are exercises to strengthen the area (lateral collateral ligaments??), or will they strengthen gradually just from running longer diatances. I have been trying to run 1 long run on the weekend every week, and short runs during the week (3-4 miles) and have gradually worked myself up to 12, but never had as much discomfort before. The rest of my legs feel fine. Any suggestions?

Same exact thing is happening to me. Both with ITBS pain, and "runner's knee" (pain at the top of the kneecap, esp. on downhills). After a search on this forum I landed at this article. My first HM is in 3 weeks, so I hope I get all the way over it by then. Have added the above mentioned daily exercises to my repertoire, and my midweek runs are OK. But this Sunday (15k) and last Sunday (10mi) both gave me ITBS and runner's knee pain (respectively) for the last mile or two.

I bet that's a great article, but following the steps is a bit much for this simpleton. It actually sounds a little bit like the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, maybe you could try that? I think they will gradually strengthen from running longer distances if you increase the distance gradually. I wouldn't bump your long run up much more than 10% from your previous long. Nice job on your all time long run Rich, hope you're feeling 100% soon.