Product review: KT Tape

The best new tech gear thingy find of the year may be KT Tape. (Cue choirs of angels now.) After my last long run, my left knee got progressively painful throughout the day. I iced it a lot (no better way to ice knees than with a bag of frozen peas), but that didn't help much.

I remembered this product from goodie bags from a number races--Wasatch Back, Moab 1/2. I went and found one of the samples and decided to give it a try. I went on the website to see the proper application. I'm pretty sure I was experiencing "runners knee". From the online Runner's World magazine: "It occurs when a mistracking kneecap irritates the femoral groove in which it rests on the thighbone."

I applied the tape (is waterproof so it can be worn in the shower or to the pool without coming off, and can be left on for up to 5 days) as directed. Stepped down, walked around and there was no more pain. Amazing.

I don't usually get a lot of aches or pains other than the general muscle soreness that goes away in a couple of days, so I haven't thought about this issue before. I'm a believer now. I'm going to run my next long run (20 miles) with the tape actually applied to the knee to support it and see how that feels after.

I love this product and I'm going to go out and buy a roll at the new Salt Lake Running Company store ASAP! Hopefully I won't have much use for it, but when I do it will be worth every penny.

FYI, I've priced it out around $12-14 a roll with 20 applications per roll.