Ever since the Hartford Marathon I’ve been dealing with some mysterious new knee pain and to be honest it’s getting VERY frustrating.
Based on where the pain is it seems as if it could be caused by IT band tightness, but honestly, recent stretching and foam rolling tells me my IT band really isn’t tight.
I’ve been icing, rolling and taping my knee when I run and the pain sort of comes and goes.
But when it comes it’s bad.
After breaking down basically in tears at mile 10 of my 14 mile run this past weekend I am determined to get to the bottom of this. (And yes, I know I should get to a doctor to get it checked out and if I don’t solve it soon, I will!)
A friend has continually suggested that it may be my sneakers, but I didn’t think too much of it since the Asics Cumulus has been in my rotation for a couple of years now.
During my run on Sunday though, the pain which was usually in my right knee mysteriously began to jump back and forth between knees. I thought back and realized I started wearing the new Asics Cumulus model shortly before the Hartford Marathon…when the pain started.
I’ve talked to the manager at my local Marathon Sports and he says there really wasn’t much of a design change in this new model, so it shouldn’t be affecting my gait in any way to be causing pain, but I keep thinking of an article I read on the Runner’s World website about plantar fasciitis that cites very small changes in updated sneaker models for new and mysterious pain popping up (sorry, I can’t find the article to share it, but I’ll keep looking!).
So, I’ve decided to bench my Asics for the time being to see if I can identify them as the culprit.
In the meantime I’ve ordered another pair of the Saucony Triump ISO’s that I’ve really loved the past year (they are currently 40% off because the new model just came out AND I found a code for an addition 20% off that *EXTRA20* – crazy good deal if there are any Saucony runners out there!)
I’ll keep icing, stretching and foam rolling and hopefully this mysterious knee pain will disappear as quickly as it appeared!
Live, Run, Grow 
I actually bought the Saucony Triumph ISOs before Marine Corp but I think I need to return them (if they’ll let me). Too bad my feet are ginormous, I could’ve given you mine! lol Good luck with your sneaker quest and knee problem!
Awww, you don’t like them?? I think they are SO comfortable!
No fun, hope you get to the bottom of this soon! FWIW, any time I’ve had random knee/foot issues start cropping up, changing my shoes has always helped! I hope that’s your answer!
Not exactly the same situation, but a couple of times when I’ve tried new shoe brands, I’ve ended up with some kind of mysterious pain. As long as I stick with Mizunos, even new versions every year or so, it’s okay. It’s definitely worth looking into, if nothing else explains it. Good luck!
Hi Danielle, Yes!! I definitely feel that it could be the sneaker even after having the same brand for awhile. I went from Asics gel to Mizunos and now Saucony ISO series. It seemed like the Mizunos were designed a bit narrower last year so sadly I had to change my sneakers. Fortunately I found this pair with Dave’s (thank you at Mashpee Marathon!!) help and love them. Best of luck!!
How frustrating! I hope you’re able to figure it out (and get to the doctor) soon! Figuring out both what it is and what is causing it is so smart. I change sneakers constantly, since I’m always wear testing new pairs, and my foot doc thinks that could be the cause of my PF. Hope you’re able to figure it out and get back to 100% soon!