Friday, April 18, 2008

I've Got An Extra Inch and a Half!

Running Lots of Miles. . . Not

The week has most certainly not turned out the way I had hoped. About my pain in the butt, it has yet to go away and it is certainly a concern. On my last post, my friend Terry did a great job diagnosing the problem: "that is your sciatic - and I know a good chiropractor that could help." Her diagnosis was backed up by some posters on the Hal Higdon board, where I posted my problem as well.

After running 4.5 sluggish treadmill miles yesterday, I gave Terry a call to see if Dr. Howard could see me. No problem, come in Friday at 8.

The pain continued. It's not a severe pain, but it is nagging and somewhat constant. Running doesn't make it worse, but it's not good, either.

This morning, I felt pretty good and decided to head to the gym before my appointment. Got off only 3 miles before I had to stop. In fact, I probably walked 1 of the 3. Not a good sign. My foot is dropping some as I run.

After a nice strong Starbucks, I headed off to Dr. Howard's office where he started by taking my history and doing some measuring. At one point, he informed me that my left leg is about an inch and a half longer than my right. (Now for those of you who thought the title of my post was about something totally different, please, PLEASE, get your mind out of the gutter!)

It didn't take long for him to find the problem spots and do some electric stimulation and a few other things.

I'll go back tomorrow for the results of some tests and x-rays and some more stimulation, no doubt.

Just 16 days until Frederick. This wasn't what I had in mind for my taper.

L'Chaim!

8 comments:

Amy said...

Did give tell you not to run in the mean time?

Man, I'm just in from a sweaty 5k tempo run. I dragged my husband with me to set the pace... he's 6'4with long legs. Needless to say its a struggle for me to keep up!

J~Mom said...

Oh man, I am sorry you are dealing with this right now!! Let us know how tomorrow goes!

Andrew is getting fit said...

I hope it comes right quickly. Doesn't sound like fun.

Pokey said...

Awww crap Jeff! Get rid of that pain in your bootie!!! You have a marathon to run!

Sorry you are dealing with this...I hope things feel better QUICK!!!!!!!!

Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS" said...

Wishing you a very fast recovery Jeff. Hope the chiropractor can help.

Daiquiri princess said...

We are going to do our very best to make sure that you are in tip top shape to run that marathon in 15 days. As a health care provider we are here to serve you my friend. Did you tell him that the foot was dropping when you run? You need to. See you in the morning.

Christina said...

wow I hope you find out what is causing that pain, runners in general tend to run through any problem they might have even if it is "slight" It's great that you are listening to your body and checking it out before it could lead to more dammage or injury.

Anonymous said...

Jeff:

After your marathon, you might want to consider seeing at least your primary care physician, asking for a referral to an orthopedist, and maybe a podiatrist. I have a leg length-discrepancy caused by a minor scoliosis of the spine, and the correction I need comes from orthodics. But you'll need to find out the origin of that discrepancy before you make long-term treatment plans. Good luck!

Best,
Erin