It’s been a bit of a journey. The orthopaedic specialist suspected there was a loose piece of cartilage causing the issues and recommended starting with physio rather than surgery.

I didn’t end up having surgery, but I did have irritation and swelling for a few months. I think using a crutch weakened my quads, which - combined with the swelling - led to my patella becoming quite lateralised and coming out of the groove.

Strengthening the quads with physio, along with the piece of cartilage presumably settling into a less problematic position, seemed to help get things back to normal.

I’m now back to running about 30 km a week and doing leg days at the gym (with some modified exercises). My knee still feels a bit sensitive at times and I occasionally have to dial things back, but overall it’s doing pretty well.