It band issues - should I race or not

Sorry to hear it!

Did my first HIM in 2007. A month before my IT band hurt so much I could not walk even.

I raced a month later and walked 90% of the run. Went into it with a positive attitude and felt lucky to be out there.

So my time wasn't great but I made it a good day.

Good luck on your decision.

So sorry to learn that you are injured.

This is really a difficult question to answer.  I had a very bad ITB flare-up Dec 2009 though Jan 2010.  I tried to push through it (backing off things here and there, running less (but never completely stopping), swimming more, etc...  Anyway, because I never actually 'stopped' the activity that was causing the flare-up (running), I ended up having to use crutches for a few days in late December.  I could not walk.  After that I stopped running... but would do a 1/2 mile test once a week to see if things were any better.  It took me 6 weeks to completely heal (3 weeks worth of no running at all-- not even my little tests).  I had to withdraw from racing my winter half-marathon, but I had a lot of fun 'cheering' everyone else on.  After I had absolutely NO PAIN,  I built my running mileage up gradually and have been injury free since then.

So, you can get over this... but I don't know if it will be a wise decision to do the HIM.  Yes, you could walk if you are able to (like the above poster mentioned), however, the other thing that worries me is that you mentioned that you did a, "45 mile ride on Saturday with very little pain".  Very little pain means that there was some, right?  So, right now you have some pain to varying degrees in two sports.  I'm not a doc, so I can't help you with your question about 'perm damage', but I would definitely proceed with caution.

If it were me, I would lay off it completely for the next two weeks and then do a test run the Monday before your half.  If you can run without pain, do a few very short runs that week (do not try to test your distance) and then go ahead with the HIM-- knowing that your run fitness probably isn't going to really be there.  If you have any pain on Monday's test-run... go and be a spectathlete.

Good luck!

ETA:  Using the foam roller is great, but also think about including ice treatments on the area twice per day. 

Edited by shellabree 2010-06-14 2:00 PM

I got a bad knee (suspected IT band) then ran a half marathon and made it worse. Cancelled my HIM and it's never been the same since.

My advice is don't do it and go for it next year - but don't listen to my advice, I NEVER do.

If I was in your position I'd do it then regret it later and wish I hadn't.

Yeah, I know, I've been no help at all have I...

PS - I don't think you damage an ITB I think it just gets tighter and tighter causing the pain although if you have damaged it this must be an extreme case IMHO so definitely don't run - again, just MO.