Overcoming Invisible Hurdles

I am really starting to feel like I've overcome a big invisible hurdle in my running. For a year the best pace I could manage was somewhere in the 10 minute per kilometer mark. Even on my best days I couldn't move that number lower. Now, without any super effort on my part I've managed to get it down into the 8 minutes per kilometer mark. WTH? I'll take it!
So yesterday I managed a great Livestrong.com workout and a great 5km run commute. I had a bit of knee pain while I was couch surfing but it passed quickly and only happened a couple of times. It was certainly better than this past weekend where I spent hours in pain, never managing to get comfortable. It's truly exhausting to be in so much pain. By the evening I just wanted to lie in bed. It's not easy to not have control of how your body feels. But I'm learning that I need to take one day at a time, that there won't be some magic bullet that if I train hard enough this will all just go away. It won't. But I am learning how to manage it better, day by day.
This morning I got in a Livestrong.com strength workout and with every squat I could hear the crunching coming from my knee. It isn't just one or two little pops, it literally sounds like I'm stepping on Rice Krispy cereal. It only hurts a bit so I try not to load that leg as much as possible while still trying to work on that leg's range of motion. So instead of doing the full one legged squat I'll only crouch down until I can feel my quad working. Why not just avoid that leg altogether? Well, I have learned if I do that then my calf and my hip start to hurt, so for the sake of the "kinetic chain" I need to try as much as I can to keep that leg strong. Then there are pushups. One legged push ups are out and big leg extensions when doing mountain climbers are out too, and every time I go from standing to a pushup my knee makes a loud crack, but it thankfully isn't painful. Modification is key and I'm finding I can still get in a serious sweat session even when I take it "easy" on that leg. Day by day my friends, day by day.