I went in this morning to our local Motion Center for a gait analysis. I suffered from some pretty severe IT band pain before my half in February, and I hoped this would get me some answers and strategies to move forward with distance running. I was very pleased with how thorough they were with my evaluation. I found that I'm a midfoot striker, which is not the best for absorption of impact. There are some major differences in strength and flexibility on my right leg. The most surprising deficiency was the tightness and lack of flexibility of my calf muscle. I also have very weak hip flexors and glute strength on that side. Needless to say, these issues are impacting my IT band, and need to be addressed through PT 2x a week. We went over some calf and IT stretches that I'll do 2-3 times a day, and I was introduced to my new nemesis; the foam roller. It feels great to be informed as to what happens physically as I run. I'm a lone runner, so I've never had any feedback, or had the ability to see myself from an outside perspective. The only bad news is that he asked me not to run for 2-3 weeks. I'm not currently in pain because I've been avoiding distance, but I guess this will help me avoid pain in the future. Ironically I came home to find my new Mizunos had arrived. Their test run will have to wait....
Hopefully this will help you. I'm looking fwd to having mine done in pt too and seeing how it'll help! 2-3 weeks isn't too bad. Lol at least that's what I'm telling myself. Break from the heat right? :-) good luck! It's all to make you a stronger runner!!