You are talking to a bunh of bench warmers who love company but I am leaving here at the end of the month and you are welcome to join me. Try some religious stretches that they showed you. My dh has had great luck with some back stretches to ease some non back pains. Does it hurt when you start or after one mile. Start out like a baby runner again and see where your limits are. Sounds like your insurance is crippling your PT which can be really imp if you're getting good PT

Sigh... I have sinned. I went to track yesterday and did half the workout. It felt good to be running fast again. The legs were a little uncoordinated though as there were several occasions when they were hitting each other. Today, my legs were tired and I'm loving it. I haven't had that feeling in months. The sciatica isn't as bad today either, which is a pleasant surprise. I'll just have to keep on stretching.

Eric, I'm cheering you on Honey. It's really hard to hold back isn't it. I've never really understood the insurance situation in America - it seems complicated. Is there any chance of that changing and you being able to continue with the PT? Claire xxx

Awww... I feel so darn special to be called Honey by the famous Claire That alone will get me to run 5 miles despite the pain. My behind is voicing its displeasure right now. I don't understand the insurance situation either. I don't understand why it is so insanely expensive. The insurance won't pay because my current level of pain is not life crippling (said the PT). It is a subjective call because I was asked to rank my pain from 0 to 10 with 10 being I rather slit my wrist than go on living another second. I said it felt like a 2. The subjective part is how I rate it. What if my 2 is another person's 5? I'm sure we all agree as runners that unless the limb falls off, we'll continue running. Maybe we're better than ignoring the pain than the general population. My PT did say that if the pain continues, I should go see a specialist to nail down the root of the problem. Frankly, I doubt they will know either so I'll just have to suck it up and live with it.

Eric, thanks for celebrating with me! Now, can you pass me some of that Krazy glue I know what you mean about that pain rating scale - I asked my PT "well, what level would you call pain that causes you to alter your gait a litte?" She said "8" - I would have given it a 5 How did yesterday's run go?

Sorry Cheryl. For the good of the group, I poured the entire bottle on my bottom. While I'm firmly affixed to the bench, I wish you well. The PTs have no idea what pain is. They think they do because they work with patients every day, but they themselves haven't really experienced it. An 8 for me is when I would stop running because it hurts too much. I agree that I would alter my gait by 5. I still run on it, just need to compensate to keep going. I went to the doctor today and he didn't seem too concerned with my condition. I think I should get a new doctor instead. Why wouldn't they listen instead of interjecting every other sentence? He thought it was more of a muscular strain than a stress fracture of the pelvis or something. Although I like that answer since it's something I can fix myself, neither of us was sure of the diagnosis. In the end, he suggested taking some x-rays just to be on the safe side, especially since I've been in pain since November. The techs admired my photogenic bones which I took as a sign that there's no structural damage. That's a good sign, but why do I still have this strong pain in my behind? It was 70 degrees yesterday. I drove by the pond as I went home. That was the pond I would do most of my running. It's exactly 2 miles around. Very scenic and no traffic interruption whatsoever. People were out in droves. There were even a few new fair weather joggers out. I had a flash back when I was running around there. Instead, I went back to my apartment and called it a day.

You shouldn't complain because you chose to live in Alaska. Anyone in their right minds would have moved to warmer climates by now. By the way, where abouts in Alaska?

Eric - bone growth stimulator