The tailbone's connected to the.....?

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now. Actually, about a month. But I didn't, thinking that by sticking my head in the blogging sand the problem would go away on it's own.

It didn't.

So here's the story. During the last half of the Detroit marathon on October 19th my hips and thighs really tightened up, causing me to walk/jog the rest of the race. For the two days after I still had pain in these areas, but by the Wednesday after I was pain free.

Fast forward to a week and a half later. We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night. I got pretty lit, but I know I didn't fall. I was wearing white, I would remember this. Anyway the next morning I woke up and could not put ANY weight or pressure on my tailbone. It was killing me! It even hurt to walk. My hips and thighs (and everything else) were pain free. It was just my tailbone.

W. T. F.

If I sit straight up it doesn't hurt, but the minute I lean back (like on a sofa) the pain is right there. And yes, I am still having this pain over a month later. It lessened in intensity after about a week but has maintained since then.

What gives? I googled, which is something you should never do with an injury...so now I think I'm dying of cancer. I also read that they can take tailbones out? Huh?

So what do you all think? Do I call the doctor? I really really don't care for rectal exams. And besides, what the hell do I say when I call? My tailbone hurts?

Weak.

Injuries

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'm certainly not doing everything right.

I've had shin splints for a while now. Probably since this spring when I got back into regular running. I ice. I elevate. I rest. I repeat. They eventually go away during the run but are always there in the beginning. Nothing curbs them, until recently when I put orthotics into my shoes. The shin splint pain has either lessened, or it pales into comparison to my new injuries.

About three weeks ago my right front lower leg muscle (I always forget what it's called) has been inflamed and giving me grief to the point of cancelling a few runs. I followed the suggestions given to me by the coach at Runners and I think it's getting better. The orthotics seem to help with this as well...the pain is still there but it has been lessened.

Enter September, and my new point of pain: The Left Knee. Not to be outdone by The Left Hip, who is also making her presence known. Last night's 5ish miles turned into two limped laps around the track before I called it quits. My knee feels like it needs to pop, and my hip feels like it's going to snap. Is this my IT band? I researched but didn't find anything that clearly describes what I have going on. The knee pain is in the inside...if you were facing me, it'd be at 10pm on my kneecap clock. :)

I stretch regularly. I ice and do ice baths after my long runs. I take ibuprofen. I only workout 3-4 days per week, so I have plenty of full rest days. I hydrate. I warm up. I cool down. I gradually increase my mileage. I don't run on concrete.

What am I missing??

I'm also wondering if it could be my shoes. They have close to 300 miles on them and I was told they should last for 500, but I honestly have no idea if they still have "life" because I am ALWAYS RUNNING IN PAIN. Perhaps they are the wrong size? I've been told that I overpronate and have high arches. Maybe I should just get a different pair of shoes...?

So frustrating.

I am open to ANY suggestions or hypotheses.

PS: Sorry for the whine ass post. ;)

High Arches + Overpronation = Me

In addition to the wicked shin splints I now have inflammed front-of-the-lower-leg muscles. (I can never remember what they are called). Last night's 8 miler quickly turned into a 1.5 miler with me limping off the track. I usually push through the shin splints but this was completely different. And it sucked. I almost mad-cried my way home.

So I went to Runners
today (twice hoping for some insight. The runner there (I love that the Runners peeps are actually runners) said that the wear pattern on my current shoes --heavy on the inside, light on the outside-- indicated that I am an overpronator. He said that my shoes still have life in them and that orthotics should help with my leg problems. He also showed me some ways to strengthen my hip and inner thigh muscles, as well as another stretch to add to my calf stretches. I'll be testing out the orthotics on my 13-miler Sunday morning. *fingers crossed*

I knew I had high arches but just learned today that I overpronate. This really kind of sucks! Most (all?) peeps with high arches underpronate; it's the flat footers that overpronate. Of course I could never be normal. Always gotta be a challenge, this shopperjoggerblogger.

Training Plan

I am attempting to follow this training plan but having been skipping a run eack week. My shins are a concern of mine (read: they hurt like a mutha!) and I don't want to injure myself. I think I've decided that instead of four running days, I am going to do the three that I have been doing, and add in a fourth day of cross-training. I need to do this for a few weeks and I hope that my shins will improve in that time. I stopped in at Runners yesterday and got some advice (and Gu!) from the nice guy there. If they don't improve...well, eff me! I swear I read about some guy that training for a marathon solely on an elliptical machine with no running whatsoever. I wonder how that turned out for him.

My 8 miler Sunday was fabulous! I stopped for water at 3.5 and 5 miles and finished up in the darkness. I guess the days are getting shorter already. Anyway it took 84 minutes not including the water breaks which is about a 10:30 pace. That's right about where my LSD needs to be I think.

I am doing a 5k tonight and it is disgustingly humid outside. My goal for tonight is 28 minutes. I just need to remember to start out slow - I always work myself up and start too fast and then tank, so I'm going to have to remind myself of that all day today. :)