Hi all, new to the sub - hope this is on topic and within the subs rules.

I've been a very occasional 5k runner for years (I'm now in my early 40s). I generally do other exercise - mainly football and cycling. A few years back, I developed chronic patella tendinitis in my right knee. I was examined by my doc who said there was so much scar tissue on the tendon I would either need surgery or have to severely limit how much exercise I do (running was totally out of the question in his opinion). Anyway, following that rather disappointing prognosis, I tried some different strengthening exercises, but never really committed to these. I continued on with exercise, but just did a bit less than I used to. Then, a year or two later, I started to notice quite a lot of improvement in my knee. Suddenly I could balance / support myself on that leg (which I had never really been able to do). This recovery was quick - I mean it seemed to happen within the space of a month or so. I started exercising a bit more, and realised that I wasn't suffering any pain AT ALL. Having just a month or so before only been able to run 1 x 5k per week, I was suddenly doing 5 x 5ks a week! I went back to the doc who said there seems to be no more scar tissue and couldn't really explain what has happened.

I guess I'm mostly just curious as to whether anyone else has experienced something like this, whether you have an idea as to what might have happened (e.g. could it have been a bone fragment that had been irritating me but somehow got dislodged?), and how I can manage this going forward. It's been over a year since I felt any pain in that knee, and I'm more active than ever, but equally conscious that I never want to go back to that debilitating place!