My sister, Kristi, recently took on the challenge of an olympic sized triathalon. She was brave to do this because she has had a few knee injuries this year, a problem with her rotator cuff, not to mention she had to plan a wedding and was married less than 3 weeks before she did it. Anyway, she couldn't finish the triathalon because on her run she had major problems with her knee. The following is her diagnosis:
P.S. this is a message she sent to my brother, who also ran the race
"So i didn't tell you...but the Ortho said that my right knee has "PF Instability" which basically means that my T band & outer thigh muscles are SO tight & strong and my inner thigh muscles are so weak that it has pulled my knee cap to be almost perpindicular to the way it is supposed to be. (Instead of being parallel ...to my femur) So lots of physical therapy and then if that doesn't work - there is a surgery. Common apparently for runners. So...word to the wise...beef up your inner thigh exercises at the gym."
With all the running you guys are doing, how much weight training are you doing? Your outer thighs are getting very strong because those are the muscles you use the most when you run.
Kristi is in physical therapy and she is having to squats and other exercises hold a ball between her legs. My brother was instructed to do squats with a piece of foam between his legs. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you strengthen those inner thighs because I would hate to hear that one of you ends up with this same injury.
Keep up the good work!!
How sad for her! I hope she doesn't have to have surgery. That is smart advice too. I sometimes skip the leg exercises because I figure I'm getting enough exercise on my legs with my running, but I need to remember to work all the muscles of the leg. Hope she gets better and sees improvement soon.
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