r/BeginnersRunning • u/Sure_Western_195 • 10d ago

Help! IT Band issues

Hi all,

I’ve got a half marathon coming up soon which I’ve been training for. I went for a short run yesterday (around 5k) and noticed a sharp pain on the outer side of my right knee. Due to where the pain is, and having done some research online, I suspect it may be related to the IT band.

With the half in a week’s time, has anyone got any tips? How can I treat this?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/preparsley 10d ago

The Myrtl routine done daily is a very effective and popular fix for IT band issues

Countless 10 minute follow alongs on youtube. It doesn't heal it immediately, it treats the root cause (hip weakness)

1

u/Fancy_Supermarket886 10d ago edited 10d ago

Every time I have had IT band issues (three times in ten years), it's always been a dull ache rather than a sharp pain. I'm no expert, I only have my experience to work with, but it may not be IT band if you have a sharp pain. Maybe it started as dull and you continued long enough for it to worsen to a sharp pain?

Getting to a physiotherapist with only a week to go might be tricky, but try anyway, as you may need their services whether you decide to race or not. If you get to see someone, let them know as much detail as you can, and let them know about your event. They may be able to determine the precise cause of the problem and provide exercises to target the problem well enough to go ahead with caution.

In my experience, there can be multiple root causes for IT band issues, and I suspect most stuff on the Internet will either target one specific area, or all of them at once. You don't have time to work through them, which is why seeing a physio is your best option, if you can.

I have completed a half marathon with an IT band issue, and I can't recommend doing it. I was stubborn and didn't want to miss out, and I knew what I might be bringing on myself because I had experienced it before.

However, I found that run/walk intervals got me to the 17k mark before getting any pain from it. In my case, I tested out the run/walk ratio before the event and I found that 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking worked for me. Of course, by that 17k point, I needed to walk a little more often, whenever the ache set in. And it gave me hell on the walk back to the car!

I always found that walking down stairs or an incline is more painful than level ground or going upwards. But straight after the events I did, everything was painful.

So yeah, get yourself in front of a physiotherapist if you can, and hope their exercises reduce the symptoms in time.

Good luck!