If you have been a runner for any length of time, you have most likely dealt with knee pain to some extent. And there is a good chance it was Runner's knee or patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). It is that dull, achy pain behind the knee cap or around the front of the knee. It can be hard to pinpoint an exact location and sometimes feels like it moves around. You may have been told that is due to your kneecap not “tracking” right in its groove or that your quads and hips are weak but things are actually a little more complex than that. 

In an ideal world, every race we run goes great. However that is not always the case. Even as a physical therapist and run coach, this happened to me during my last half marathon. Sometimes bad races happen and we have no idea why they happen or so we may think…