Runner's Knee

You do not want to run a full marathon with a dodgy knee. Period. Other wise you might end up like me. nearly 3 weeks after a marathon and can't even manage a 1Km jog yet. I am talking about kind of a dodgy knee you can not even walk normally 3days before marathon. If you are like me, you might be wondering not running for couple of days will be enough for the knee to settle. In the morning of the race day, you go out for a warm up, feel knee is nearly pain free but still not 100% but decide to go for it in the wishful thinking that somehow your knee would hold it together for 42 odd K. My recommendation is: don't. Especially if you are middle aged runner like me.It is just not worth it. If you ever run a marathon, you know what kind of thrashing your legs get towards the end of it. No matter how much training you've done, you will not have much left in the last 5k if you are going for personal best. Hell, you probably have not much of a leg left even if you were taking it easy. Marathon is just that kind of distance. Your knee might starting to hurt even though you may not have had any problems before the marathon. Mine did, for my first marathon. Think about what kind of damage it can do on the already dodgy knee! Just not worth it. Best case scenario, you won't be able to run until pain goes away. It could be 2-6 weeks depending on how bad it is. Worst case, you may never be able to run again. In my case, I will be able to run again some time(soon, hopefully). But I need to remember how stupid a decision  I made, so that I will not make the same mistake again. ( I know, it is probably a wishful thinking......)