| Have you ever experienced knee pain while | | | | more prone to injury. The reason for this is |
| running along the road? | | | | because when a road is steeply cambered, you |
| Knee pain can often be the precursor to an | | | | may find that one of your legs is at a slightly |
| oncoming injury, and you should always pay | | | | lower elevation than your other leg, which will |
| attention and see your sports physician if you are | | | | throw your stride off and give you an unnatural |
| at all worried about it. | | | | gait. |
| There are some less serious reasons for you to | | | | The leg that is closer to the center of the road |
| have an achy knee, though, with a relatively | | | | will feel like it is a "longer" leg than the other to |
| simple solution. | | | | your body because it will be striking the ground |
| Your knee pain may be due to the angle of the | | | | first. Your body will compensate through the way |
| road near the shoulder that you are running on. | | | | that it bends at the knee, by how much your |
| When you are running at the edge of a road (or | | | | foot flattens on impact, and by how much your |
| along a grassy hill or on a beach, for that matter) | | | | leg rotates inward as you are running. This is what |
| you may sometimes notice that the road isn't | | | | leads to knee or hip soreness. |
| exactly flat. The reason for that is because most | | | | If you do find yourself running on steeply |
| roads have a camber to them that helps water | | | | cambered terrain, try running on different terrain |
| drain off of them rather than pooling up in the | | | | or different routes if you can. If you have to run |
| center of the road, where it can cause dangerous | | | | on the same streets, try running them in the |
| conditions for drivers. | | | | other direction (if local laws and traffic allow) or |
| Hills and beaches usually have a natural camber to | | | | by running at the edge of the road on the |
| them that are caused by hundreds of years of | | | | shoulder rather than on the road itself. Icing and |
| erosion. | | | | self massage can also help relieve your soreness. |
| Camber refers to any curve on a surface, and in | | | | Remember, if the problem gets worse, you may |
| this case refers to upward curve from the edge | | | | need to take some time off from running to rest |
| of a road towards the center line. | | | | or cross train, and you should always consult your |
| The more severe the camber to the road, the | | | | physician if the soreness doesn't improve on it's |
| easier it is to roll your ankle or to develop a | | | | own. It is better to take a little extra rest now |
| muscle imbalance, both of which will make you | | | | than to spend more time injured later. |