What’s behind this recent ITB episode?

I think that s proper „investigation“ why my ITB flared up a bit after Sunday must be made. I need to get to the root of this thing!!!

So what can be the cause? 

Distance – 10k. I have run more than 10k a couple times and definitely run for longer time than 40min (longest run 70min) so I do not think that running 10k was a cause.

Surface – 50% was a road, 50% a gravel path. I do not on roads (max 10min to get to Tiergarten) because I think that it contributes to my issue but I do think that running for 20min on a road could be a trigger. Esp since 7k in Celler tri was 90% on roads and I had no problem.

Course profile – I am not sure but it seems that the course was 1,25k slightly up and then back down, 4times. Running downhill is a big no-no for my ITB but this was not a real hill, if it was indeed  up and down. So no, not a trigger.

Speed – Can my blistering 6:40 pace be a problem? Yeah, right…

Shoes – I have run in these Nike racers only twice – 7k in a triathlon two weeks prior and then this 10k. I had zero problem the first time but this was 3k longer. So the shoes might be a problem. Maybe I need something more cushioned, I will probably try them few more times and see.

Stride- I know that I am hugely biased here because I think that my ITB problem is caused by my stride. But my stride indeed might have been problem here. Not only was I already tired after swim and bike and thus it was harder to keep a good form but it was a race and a long one so I kind of lost my concentration and I probably did not paid as much attention on how I run/land as I do in workouts. Although I tried to be careful but only when I remembered it. I saw some photos and I can see that in some of them my hip is dropped, just what I must avoid. And I was probably not mid-foot landing, but front-foot landing which seems to be a trigger also.  

Can it be psychological? I had zero pain or discomfort on Sunday after the race, not even on Monday. I did an easy run on Tuesday and that’s when I started to think about doing a mad dash to get that beer glass, although of course I knew that it was a very bad idea. Can it be that I am unconsciously trying to protect myself from myself and I made my ITB to ache just to prevent me from making something incredibly stupid. I knew that I was not really going to do those races I was just talking/dreaming about doing them but I still needed something extra to make sure that I indeed do not do them. Interesting theory. I do not believe it but maybe I would be surprised.  

Rest- I raced on Sunday, took Monday off and then did an easy 50min run on Tuesday. Maybe I should have given it more time to recover? I know that I was still little tired and maybe I was not able to keep a good form although I tried, was landing badly with dropped hip and voila, I got a problem. 

I cannot think of anything else. Any suggestions?

Other than that, ITB is not too bad. I can run with zero pain during or after, it does not hurt when I walk or anything. It is just that maybe 3-4 times a day I feel something there, it is usually a sharp pain for a second and then it goes away. I have had these pains before and it is nothing serious, it will go away in a week or two and then it will feel 100% again. Honestly, I am not even sure whether it is really my ITB but it is in that area. It might be something else because unless ITB flares up completely I cannot be 100% sure.  I think that everything is connected though so it seems that it all inevitable leads to my ITB problem.