In case there is anyone else out there like me, who is trying different things to relieve knee pain... a friend recently suggested I try taking glucosamine. I picked up Lubriflex 3, by Schiff, in the Fred Meyer health food section for $24.99 (they have all sorts of brands, but this is just what I bought). I've taken it for 4 days exactly as the bottle directs and have iced my knees immediately after each run. These are the only two things I have changed and my knee pain is almost completely gone. I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, a fluke or what, but I thought I would mention it in case someone else wanted to give it a try. Good luck!

Jmm,
Thanks for the awesome anecdote. Glucosamine and chondriton sulfate (ground up cartilage) are two products that have come into the light recently as a good natural supplement that decreases symptoms from arthritis and other types of joint pain. In most cases it takes a good 8-12 weeks of saturating the system with this stuff to feel any noticable effects. Double blinded control studies have shown the efficacy of lowering pain long term to be better than ibuprofen after about 12 weeks (most studies were done on glucosamine [12 that I'm aware of] as opposed to chondriton [4]). Although some even more recent studies dispute this evidence. Like with any supplement, know your source. Not all supplements are created equal. Some of the more researched brands include Nature's Way, Nutri-West, Metagenics. Try to stay away from the Cosco (Kirkland) brand. They have a hard time breaking down in our system.
Point of the story is that supplements can be good, but more long term results. The pain relief you are experiencing is most likely do to the magic effects of cryotherapy (ICE). So keep it up and I look forward to seeing you out there.
Cheers,
Dr. Jake