Let me preface this by saying I've done a ton of research and couldn't find what I was looking for. There is lots of books and online resources for recovering after a marathon, but I'm looking more for personal anecdotes and opinions, so here it goes!

I ran my first marathon last Sunday (8 days ago). It went extremely well, and I spent the next 2 days in a lot of pain but completely rested - no activity whatsoever. Wednesday comes around (3 days post race) and I went out for a short and super easy 4km, taking a few walks here and there. Everything felt good, just a bit sore, but no unusual pain.

Friday comes around and I decide to do some cross-training (2hr session of ice hockey). Nothing physical, just some drills and taking it easy. Again, no pain or discomfort here.

Saturday comes around and I think this is where I might have overdone it. I went on a slightly longer run, 10km, all at a very easy pace and walking at times, especially small uphills/downhills. Didn't want to tweak anything. However, at around 7-8km mark I started feeling a tingle on the outside of my left knee. I foolishly ran through it, and it started getting pretty painful. It subsided towards the end and I get to my car and drive home. I started feeling the pain when walking - immediately I knew it was an IT band issue.

Spent the next two days resting, icing, and foam rolling my it band. It felt much better so today I went for a short 3km run to test things out. I didn't feel the same consistent pain as last time but there was definitely some friction (or maybe it's just in my head). I'm really confused as to what to do. Ever since I started running in Feb 2016, I've never felt this kind of pain so not sure how to approach it.

I'm starting a training program in 2 weeks for my first 50k ultra so obviously I want to keep my fitness up, but should I take this next week or so completely off? Will I just aggrevate things if I keep on running? I was hoping to get in around 30km this week and maybe jump to 45km next week. My marathon training plan ended off around 70km/week, and was consistently running 60-70km for two months or so.

Apologies for the long post guys. Any input is appreciated! Cheers