Running knee pain is frustrating!! Questions inside

I have 2 thoughts on this:

#1.  If you've only been running since May (~4 months total) then an 11 mile long run may represent too quickly increasing your mileage. (hard to tell with your empty logs).  In this case take a few days off running then reduce the distance of your long runs (and your total mileage) and build your mileage up slowly.

#2.  Your shoes.  Knee pain for me is often a sign that my shoes need replacing.  Make sure you are wearing the proper shoes, get fitted at a reputable running store.

Thanks for the input! I was running 3-4 times a week mixing in 5k's, 5 miles, and bricks (bike 12-20miles run 3-4 miles) from May on.

Then in the month of August I realized I wanted to do a half marathon in Oct so I did once long run a week, mixed in with my usual runs, bike, and swim workouts.

Week 1: 7 miles 

Week 2: 8 miles

Week 3: 10 miles

Week 4: 11 miles

 So knowing what I know now I do think that I stepped up my distance too quickly. Ironically I was thinking about injuries about 1 mile into the 11 mile run and figured I was young and in shape and it wouldn't happen to me (wrong) also I rode my bike 52 miles the day before in a group ride.

 I am running in a pair of Nike Shox with 150 or more miles on them, and I am going to bring them to the local running shop with me and have them check my foot position and everything and see what they recommend. I would be extremely happy if a new pair of shoes could correct my problem as it is very frustrating!!

Thanks for the replies!! I went today to the local running store and tried on a good set of running shoes (which felt great) and I think I will be picking up a set very soon.

 On a good note I did a slow pace 40 mile bike today with a friend with little to no discomfort in the knee (ocasionally felt strange when out of the saddle climbing hills) and felt fine after.

So I will take all of your suggestions into consideration, and hopefully some stretching, cutting back on distance, ice, and strengthening exercises along with a new set of shoes will do the trick. I will keep you updated.

Thanks everyone!

Another thing that can cause knee pain is your IT Band. This is a band of fibrous tissue that connects at the top of your hip down along the outside of your thigh to your knee. When it is tight at any place along there, the tightness can manifest as knee pain. This is because the tightness pulls the knee out of position slightly. It is usually caused by running, especially increasing distance. If it keeps getting tighter and tighter, then sometimes it hurts to even walk.

You can work on loosening it up by using a foam roller along the outside of your thigh, on your butt, and upper glute. Here's a sheet with pics of what I mean. It is difficult to describe. Scroll to page 2, second and third picture.

The roller is available lots of places, not just online. I use mine all the time. When I first used it, it hurt like rubbing sore muscles too hard. That's the tightness "talking" - Once you get the tightness out, it feels pretty good and rolling feels like a nice deep massage.

It can't hurt to try the roller remedy - it won't do any damage.  If you'd like another opinion, talk to livestrong. He used it with great success early this year. He was almost unable to run at all and thought he might need knee surgery.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/index-weekly.asp?memberid=74107