knee problems after begining training

Question
Hi Nick,

I am 46 years old and started a half marathon training program on Jan 14th.  The event is to take place in March 14th.  I'm 5'4" and 152 pounds.  I have never jogged or been an athlete.

The first two weeks of training were great and I could handle the pace and felt wonderful!  On the third week I came down with the flu and missed a week.  Last week I stared again and we did a 5 mile run/ fast walk.  (The most I've ever done up to that point was 2 miles).  I felt ok during the training but when I got home I could hardly walk!

I took a day off and felt a little better.  I then got on my treadmill and ran/walked 2 miles, with pain in my right interior lower knee area.  I've been told that it's normal to have aches and pains when you first start jogging so I tried to power thru it, but the pain didn't go away.

The pain is not piercing, but I notice it when I walk. The exact location is the area three inches from the knee cap towards the interior of the knee. It's about a 4 inch long area.

It was swollen a little at first and tender to the touch.  I've iced it on and off about 5 times and taken 800 mil. of advil.  The swelling has gone down but it's still tender to the touch.

I don't want to give up the training but I fear I over did it and messed something up in my knee! :(

Thank you for any advise or rehabilitation exercises you can give me.

Rebecca

Answer
I'm sorry to hear about your pain Rebecca.  While it's not uncommon, it's not good and can be fixed. (Yes, you did overdo it, but we'll be alright.)  My suggestions are outlined below.

1) Ice in the morning and after runs until all symptoms are gone for 5 days.
2) Perform lateral hip exercises. (ie lying on your side next to a wall and raising your leg up and down so you feel a burn on the side of your butt)
3) Run lighter.  Everyone who hasn't worked on it can run at least a light bit lighter.  Normally just thinking "light" will do it. Your body will naturally not pound the ground so much.
4) Experiment with a mid-foot strike.  You can see this demonstrated by going to youtube.com and searching "Barefoot running professor".  He demonstrates a mid-foot strike without shoes, but it can obviously be performed while wearing shoes as well.  It's much easier to see when he doesn't wear shoes though.  I've seen this foot strike fix many pains in ankles, knees, and hips.  You will be sore though at first because it stresses different muscles than the typical heel strike that you likely perform.  This means that you need to start slow and use both foot strikes for at least a few months.  
5) If after using these suggestions you are not seeing any improvement in 4 weeks then go see a physical therapist/physiotherapist and they will be able to facilitate the healing process.

Also, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  March 14 may not be feasible to run a half marathon. I would much rather you take it slow than kill yourself getting ready for March 14 and then have such a bad experience and in so much pain that you don't attempt to run for another decade. It would be much better to be ready for a half marathon in July or August without pain and then to continue running in the fall and the rest of your life.