Recovering from torn meniscus

I have a torn meniscus. Verified via MRI. They wanted to do surgery and I declined. Once you remove material it never grows back, while the surgery is common if they make any mistakes and remove too much material, ah not a chance I was willing to take.

I am sure I tore it many years ago as I remember driving my stick shift car and having to extend my leg until the knee popped free and then I could operate the clutch pedal without binding and pain. That was about a decade ago. Recently started hurting again a couple years ago after training for a marathon. That is when it was diagnosed. I took 2 weeks off from all training, then eased back into it. That is when I switched to Triathlons to reduce the constant pounding of running only. 

I have since completed 2 marathons, 5k's, 10k's, half dozen triathlons, a couple gran fondos etc.... 

It flares up every now and again, I just take some time off from training or reduce the training load. One day I will need surgery, but for now I just nurse that bad boy along and watch my step and listen to my knees. So far so good.

Best Wishes on what ever path you choose. Each injury is different and some require immediate intervention, some can keep moving along for years with only minor discomfort. I would first take time off from training, ice it, and generally be careful for a couple weeks. Ease back into training and see how it goes, if it doesn't get better then you know what you gotta do.