I’ve been having pain in my outer right quad and was hoping to see if anyone here can help me out. At first I thought it was IT band related, but given the location of the pain it seems like it’s something else because most of what I’ve read suggests IT band issues show up as pain on the outside of the knee. Instead my pain is above the knee and more lateral, seems more like vastus lateralis:



That circle is my poor attempt at showing the general area where my leg hurts. The pains feels like an ache and tightness, kind of like a bruise that keeps getting punched every step I run. It's greatest at the top and bottom parts of the circle. Biking doesn’t seem to bother it (sweet spot, above threshold, longer endurance rides, etc.). Swimming isn’t an issue. Strength work like squats and lunges also haven’t been a problem. It seems like the impact and eccentric loading of running is what makes it hurt.

Any thoughts on what this might be? I’m thinking not an IT band problem, but I don’t really know. Maybe a simple muscle strain or tear in my vastus lateralis? Something else entirely?

Some backstory and other info in case it’s helpful:
• first instance of pain was while running about 4 weeks ago. My notes in TrainingPeaks just say “Right IT band feeling tight and a bit off…” Didn’t seem bad the rest of that week, including track workout two days later
• flared up again about a week later and after an olympic on May 18th
• kept running on it the week after the race, putting in ~37 miles that week (a typical run week)
• pain wasn’t going away so last week I did only three short runs last week, 11 miles total, but the reduced mileage didn’t seem to make a difference
• overall it seems like running isn’t making it better or worse, so I’m tempted to keep up some easy miles
• simple strength work may be helping (quads, hamstrings, glutes, hips)