The Perfect Fit

For the past couple years, I have had knee pains when I run and it has only gotten worse.  A couple of times, I tried taking time off from running and slowly building back up.  I also bought a band to put around my knee.  However, the pain always came back.

I have had the same type of running shoes for years and decided that the shoes may be my problem, so I went to Fleet Feet.  Fleet Feet is an awesome running store located across the United States.  They sell athletic clothes, SHOES, and put on/support races in various cities.  In Chicago, they also have weekly runs and have water stations along the lakefront for summer time runners.

The man that helped me was so knowledgeable and friendly.  I described to him the pain that I was having.  He immediately told me I have been running in the wrong shoes for my feet and identified my pain as patellar tendonitis.  Patellar tendonitis is basically a pain and inflammation in the knee cap.  Not only did he help me get new running shoes, but he also showed me how to stretch and use the foam roller in order to best relieve the pain.

I have run a couple times since getting the new shoes and learning my new stretching.  While I still have some irritation in my knee, I can say that it is getting better.  I start my half marathon training next week (more of that to come later on) so hopefully the new shoes will help me to kick some butt during my training and the race.

Enjoy the weekend!