Welcome to the #RunPainFree podcast. Today, Coach Jessica Marie Rose Leggio chats with Little Billy about one of the most common problems runners face – knee pain after running. If you've just rolled in from a run, get yourself a glass of water, your foam roller, and listen up. Coach Jessica is going to tell you straight.  Hey Coach, I have knee pain after running.  Oh, Little Billy, so much to learn.  The first thing you need to realize is that knee pain is not an injury. Your knees are fine. The pain has nothing to do with your knees.  Sidebar: In 2011, Coach Jessica Marie Rose Leggio published an E-book on this very topic: Correcting Knee Pain: Find the root of your knee pain!  Well, they are fine when I put on a knee brace.  Please, step away from the knee braces!  So many runners use knee braces, running compression sleeves and get shots in their knees. Or they take Advil pre and post-run to mask the pain. To add insult to injury, despite all my PSA's, most runners are still lacing up their stability sneakers every time they go running.  None of this stuff works.  Sidebar: Yes, we have an entire episode on how to Protect Yourself From the Stability Shoe Scam When you're getting knee pain after running, embrace it in terms of feedback. Don't smother your knee with a brace; locking up joints is never a good move. Remember, the pain you are experiencing in your knee is from somewhere else. You should not be persevering through the pain with quick fixes like a knee brace. You need to address the root cause, so it stops.  So what's the root cause? Let me guess, my hips?  Yes, damn straight, it's your hips that are in dysfunction! The reason why is complex, so here is some quick advice… Foam roll! Foam roll! Foam roll! Foam rolling will alleviate your knee pain after running almost instantly. If foam rolling doesn't make the pain go, you are likely not foam rolling correctly.  Sidebar: #RunPainFreenow.com offers free consultations with Jessica on how to foam roll. She will give a one-on-one session and teach you the fundamentals of how to foam roll properly.  If you foam roll and the pain comes back, that is the feedback that something more serious is going on. Consider it your wake-up call; you've got to go to it like a bull to a red flag! Ok, but why do my hip problems show up in my knees?  Hey kiddo, you're all right – you're learning, asking the right questions, maybe one day you will run pain-free. I digress… Your knees are the fastest, easiest way for your body to express to you there's a problem further up the chain. Likewise, shin splints are also one of the first signs of a problem at your hips.  So, why do I only have knee pain after running?  Really, come on, Little Billy, you know this one. No, the answer isn't on the ceiling.  Most runners won't experience knee pain mid-run because running generates blood flow. When you stop, your blood flow goes back to homeostasis or a balanced state. So that's why you start to feel knee pain after running. And that's why foam rolling should be a part of your life.  –     Why?  –     Because it generates blood flow.  –     ­You want me to foam roll?  –     I told you at the top of this piece to grab your foam roller!  If you're not foam rolling as a runner, you really should stop running. Just hang up your shoes and do a basic workout. Running is not a workout; running is a sport that you need to train for. No, that doesn't mean just doing recovery runs between your tempo runs and long runs; we are talking about conditioning exercises. Sidebar: Curious about how to look after your hips? Check out our episode: Secrets of a Healthy Hip Am I dysfunctional?  Look, little Billy, you'll be ok. But yes, you are. Hey, don't take it so bad! Almost everyone has some form of dysfunction in their body. In modern life, sitting in office