Nerve-wracking

I didn’t run at all this week, and I’m typing this from a prone position on my living room floor. Yes, it’s yet another injury, but strangely enough, one not directly connected to running.

I ran 7 miles last Sunday and while it was a crappy run, I had no pain or twinges. Nor did I feel any soreness all day afterwards. But at about 4 a.m. Monday, I awoke with a stabbing pain on the outside of my right lower leg. Assuming it was a cramp, I massaged it. Nope. How about a peroneal tendonitis flare-up? Tried some ice and all I got was a frozen pain.

I took an Advil and went about my day Monday, but still had a dull ache. Monday night was sheer hell. I had migrating pain and muscle spasms deep in my right buttock,  then next to the fibular head behind my knee, then the outside of the right shin, leading to pins and needles and numbness in my right foot. I’m no doctor, but that sounds like nerve problems to me.

I was up all night with excruciating pain and I couldn’t find a comfortable position. Tuesday and Wednesday were a little better, but Wednesday night was ghastly. The stabbing pains were accompanied by muscle spasms. My right calf and thigh locked up. I finally broke down and made an immediate appointment on Thursday morning. My doctor is pretty sure (as am I) that I’m experiencing sciatica. He prescribed Vicodin and a muscle relaxant.

So now I’m hopping around the house like, well, House. But it beats running around the house like Jack Bauer, with all the screaming, torturous pain, and no sleep for 24 hours.

I have zero back pain, but sciatica can be caused by spinal problems, so I had an x-ray and will have a CT scan this week. Training is obviously on hold, considering it hurts to run, walk, stand still, sit down, lie down and bend. Other than that, I can do anything I want. However, recovery from this should be quicker than from an ankle injury or tendonitis. Technically, there is nothing wrong with my leg, just that one long nerve that runs the length of it. It’s firing off like the 4th of July and the muscles are responding accordingly.

I’m disappointed (again) because of the interruption, but unless some serious underlying cause is discovered, it will probably dissipate over the next week or so, and I can gradually get back to business as usual. In the meantime, I’m trying to learn to type while standing on one leg.