IT Band? (Read 55 times)

I've been training for a Spring marathon and have about 3 weeks to go before I start my taper then I race May 20th.  I have been following the Pfitzinger 18/70 schedule pretty consistently but cut the mileage a couple weeks due to New England weather etc.  My first "tune up race" was this past Sunday and I ran a half marathon...it was much hillier than I expected and consisted of very steep up and and down hills.  I have been a little concerned about all the fast running downhill.  The days after my race I was stretching out and was holding my knees and bending down into a squat position and I felt something on the outside of my knee pop out a little bit.  It's kind of hard to explain and wasn't super extreme but sounds like maybe the start of some kind of IT band issue.  I've gather this from just what I have read online.. "there is a sac or bursa that allows the IT band to glide smoothly across the condyle , but should inflammation occur the increased friction from repeatedly rubbing the IT band  across the bony condyle can cause pain"..."running downhill is especially stressful on the IT band as it works to stabilize the knee"..  the location where I am feeling the snap/pop motion is right where this is described with the IT band issue.  Although I felt something on the side of my knee when I squat down so far there is no pain whatsoever.  It is also hard to imagine the area may be inflamed since I feel fine.  I guess it is possible though.  I took two full days off after my race.  Yesterday I ran 7 miles and today I ran 13 split into 2 runs and there was still no pain... both easy paced runs.  I bent down seeing if I could feel my knee doing the pop thing as I was running and I didn't feel anything.  I think maybe my leg didn't bend at enough of an angle to have the pop/snap thing at least the pace I was going.

I am a little worried about it but don't know if I need to be.  I just want to make it to race day since I plan to take a little time off anyway after my marathon.  Of course I don't want to cause a big injury though where I have to take tons of time off or have something happen so close to my race and not be able to run at all.  At the same time I really would like to continue my training since I feel like these next few weeks are important before my race.  My boyfriends knee actually does the same thing so I am not sure how common this is or if it means anything at all.  He is not a runner but is kind of an aggressive downhill skier so may not be the best comparison.. It is also possible my knee has always done this but I don't think so.  Anyway, just wondering if anyone has had IT band problems and had any thoughts or how concerned I should be about this?  Is this how it starts and then it eventually becomes painful?  I also got a knee brace.. I was thinking maybe that would help if there was something going on...  Thank you!!

Hahaha thanks Jim

It’s probably tendon going over a bony prominence.  It may be the it band that is snapping but its not itb syndrome. Itb syndrome is pain on lateral knee and it worsens clasically after a couple miles into a run.  Its hard to mistake.  It can be as bad as stopping you in your tracks or just something thats chronic that flares up after a long hard race. I think you said your in the kast three weeks Pfitz?  I just reread his taper chapter last night as im in the last two of 18/55.  The basic message was reduce miles recover. Keep some intensity.  So the hay is in the barn as far as training.    I would just say if you are doing a workout and things start snapping or hurting back off.  Dont push through pain there just so you can record the workout was executed as planned. My itb got set off by my 25k TUR (ok so i deviate a bit ftom the 10-15k tur ) so i started doing myrtl hip mobility/strengthening routine to help but I don’t think you need to do anything new so close to race just mentioned it in case you do get pain/itb in the future.  Nice job getting through 18/70.  Thats an accomplishment as ive stumbled through the watered down 55 version.

Thanks everyone!   That helps ease my anxiety... still no pain so hopefully it's nothing.  Now just making it through the next couple weeks of training.  Thank you!!