<human>: I've been running quite frequently for the last year and a half. Only recently did I decide to start lengthening my runs beyond 5k in an effort to train for a half marathon with some friends.

I typically run 2/3 times a week. Here's what happened in September:

9/10 - 3.1 miles (one of my better 5k's)

9/11 - 5.1 miles (kept an exact 10' pace the last 4 miles, felt great)

9/14 - 3.2 miles (didn't feel great, but nothing bad)

9/20 - 5.0 miles (felt incredible, ran great the whole distance)

9/22 - 3.1 miles (went really poorly, thought I might have sustained an injury. first time I've run in the morning in a very long time, was on my feet at work all afternoon)

9/26 - 3.1 miles (a personal record, felt great the whole run)

Once I got in on the 26th, I noticed a terrible pain on the outer part of my knee, so I iced it down the rest of the night and still had a few recurrences the next two days. I didn't run for two weeks until the 8th of this month, and it wasn't exactly what I hoped for.

I tried to take it easy and see if I could notice anything. What I found out was that my stride has significantly narrowed since I've increased the distances I run, which I use in regards to the placement of my feet. As I tried to spread my stride the rest of the run, I didn't notice a big difference, but I didn't have any pain afterward like I did on the 26th.

So what I'm looking for is any advice that y'all might be able to provide in regards to moving forward.

Can you provide a brief rundown of the text in within 3 sentences?
<bot>: I want to keep running so I can do a half marathon. Things were going quite well until I had a moderate knee injury and I've essentially stopped since. What now?