Running injuries

I've always been a short to mid-distance runner. When I was a school athlete, my events were 400m and 800m runs (and occasionally, the 1500m, and once, the 3000m, although that did not end well :P).

When I went back to running this year, I thought I'd train up for some fun runs next year. I think the minimum mileage for those runs are generally 5km, which my body isn't used to yet, hence the training. During my first run this year, I clocked 3km in 25min... not great, but I was pretty happy considering I hadn't been running since... well... since I was 17 (and I'm currently... 17 with 9 years experience). Now, I can do about 4.5km in 30min, which is getting close to my goal of 5km in under 30 min.

All I want to do is run free... and have great legs....
(Source)

Last week though, I started to feel a twinge in my knee. It's not painful, I'd rate it a 1-2 out of 10, but it is uncomfortably worrying, especially since my mum has a bad knee. Two years ago, I would have ignored the pain and kept running and probably ruin my knee, but after last year's struggle with my wrist injury, I know to listen to any body aches and pains, particularly joint ones.

So, for the next few weeks, until I'm satisfied that the pain in my knee has subsided, I will not be doing any high-impact running. All runs will be substituted with the dreaded crosstrainer. The problem I have with the crosstrainer is that I find it harder... all that resistance means I clock up less km (and I like my resistance up high), and therefore, am not sure if I'm meeting my goals of 5km under 30 minutes, although I guess if I can do 5km on the crosstrainer, I can definitely do a 5km run easily, possibly while carrying mini-weights.

My current plan to combat my knee injury is to:

• Substitute all runs with crosstrainer 
• Wear a knee support band 

Any other suggestions? I'm open...