Runner's Knee During Marathon Training: The Real Fix

You're six weeks into training for the TCS World 10K Bengaluru. Your Sunday long run just hit 22 km. And now your knee hurts when you walk down stairs. Sound familiar?

What patellofemoral pain actually is

Runner's knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome) happens when your kneecap doesn't track cleanly in its groove. It's a symptom — not a diagnosis. The cause is almost never the knee itself.

The three real culprits

• Weak gluteus medius — causes your knee to collapse inward on landing
• Tight lateral structures (IT band, lateral quads) pulling the kneecap outward
• Sudden mileage jump — muscles adapt slower than cardio does

The 3 exercises that actually fix it

1. Single-leg glute bridge

3 sets of 12 per side, daily. Targets the exact muscle that stabilises your knee when you land at 3× bodyweight during a run.

2. Copenhagen adductor plank

3 sets of 8–12 seconds per side, 3×/week. Strengthens the adductor magnus — an underrated knee stabiliser.

3. Slow eccentric step-downs

3 sets of 10 per side. The 3-second descent trains your quads to control your kneecap under load.

When to see a physio

If pain forces you to modify your gait, cut a run short, or shows up on stairs even after a rest week — book an assessment. Video gait analysis catches the biomechanical fault most runners can't see.