Sharp pain above my knee

Question
Hi, I've contracted a weird pain that I have never had before.  I first noticed it when i ran a 5k.  Half way to the finish line, my left knee first started becoming tender and eventually hurt really bad where i had to start limping.  The pain was very sharp and above my knee cap...sort of to the inside but mostly right above.  The pain gradually went away after 3 days or so.  Ever since then, i haven't been able to run because i felt it was tender.  So i quit running and recently ran for maybe 10 minutes and again the sharp pain came back.  Along with the tenderness i felt like my knee was very stiff and i needed to stretch it out somehow.  I tried doing some exercises and heard a small pop and then the pain slowly increased until again a few days later, after resting, it stopped.  It would be so bad that it was extremely painful for me to sit down.  I also tend to roll my feet on the outside, i believe the term is supinate.  Don't know if that is relevant in any way.  Please help.  Thank you.

Answer
I would ice your knee 2-3 times /day.  Then, I would self-massage, really get on your knee and deeply rub the area that hurts, this will be pretty painful.  Sounds like you've developed an acute tendinitis or bursitis.  You're goal is to get the inflammation down and get rid of any scar tissue.  I would probably attempt a short run every other day just to see your progress, but it's the ice and backing off training for a little while that's likely going to make the biggest impact.  After your knee is less painful, start with some easy quadricep stretches to keep this area less prone to injury down the road.  Larry