Getting closer...

To taper.  And, to my dismay, a bona fide injury.  I've had a hip flexor issue since May, but that's not the almost injury to which I'm referring.  I'm referring to my back.  Yes, my back.  It doesn't even hurt...my back doesn't.  But it's making my right leg REALLY hurt at times.

As I mentioned previously, Dr. W suspects I have a slipped disc at L5/S1 which is causing pain in my butt, down the side of my leg, and into my foot.  He prescribed steroids (which haven't helped) and PT with Penny.  Penny did some traction on me, and it really helped at first.  But it seems that my pain relief is temporary.  I feel really good a few hours, then it's back.

Especially when I run uphill.  Pain shoots around the side of my calf and into my foot.  My foot almost goes numb, and it feels weak.  My foot drags at times.  Now, that might sound like an injury.  But it's not real yet.  Because I'm still running.

So today I had a lot of calf pain this morning...and some other weird symptoms...and so I called Dr. W's office.  I got in for an MRI this afternoon, but am awaiting results.  One part of me thinks it HAS to be abnormal (the MRI), but then I wonder why the traction and steroids aren't working the way that they should.  Penny is REALLY good at what she does.  I can't imagine that if that was the problem she couldn't fix it.

So what if the problem is actually lower down--in the piriformis, which can also pinch the sciatic nerve.  If that's the case, then the MRI should be pretty unremarkable. 

Anyway--of course I'm freaking out a bit.  Especially because I realized today that I HAVE had this pain before.  I had it in the third trimester of my pregnancy, and it's what caused me to cease running until after Rowan was born.  I would run (or even walk) and my right calf would feel like it was going to explode.  After five or six miles, it would let up.  This is exactly the same thing, only it's not quite as bad.  We never figured out what it was when I was pregnant...but I remember Dr. W saying he thought it was a problem with my back.  I also remember thinking "What?  My back doesn't hurt."  Well, maybe he was right.  Because this is the same pain.

So, what to do.  I know most of you would say STOP RUNNING!  Well, I'm not going to.  The only person who could get me to do that is Penny (and don't you dare FB message or email her and try to bully her into it).  I trust her..if she said "You shouldn't be running on this," I would have to stop.  And I'm also not going to because I know this is not a running injury.  Does it hurt when I run?  Yeah.  But I think I can make it to taper.  I think.