Sit on some golf balls for an hour ...

... and you might know how I feel. It's so hard to explain what my rear feels like. I can sit in certain ways and it's fine; I can walk just fine; and generally when I lay down on my sofa it's fine. However, when I run it hurts. Running, though, isn't making it worse -- it's just a dull aching pain when I'm trying to trot along. I'm having trouble staying asleep because it's tough to stay in one position for long even when I'm laying down, so that's my biggest complaint right now.

To put the pain in perspective, it's actually gotten a little bit better every day ... but four days later it's still pretty bad. I have made attempts to run every day this week. On Monday, I could do more than two-tenths of a mile. I did that three times. Yesterday I got in a half-mile without stopping to do a total of 0.7. This morning was the best so far when I was able to do a mile without stopping, for a total of 1.7 miles. I may do a little more this evening when my dog gets walk No. 2 for the day.

When I sit, it sort of feels like I'm sitting on a tennis ball on a very weird part of my butt. Actually, a golf ball may be a better comparison. Maybe even two golf balls. When I run, the pounding creates a similar feeling, but it's not as bad as when sitting. Like I said when I started, running is not making it worse. In fact, by the end of my short run this morning I felt like I could have gone farther. To put it in my day-to-day sporting terms, if the Rock 'n' Roll Half was tomorrow, I'd probably skip it and find another race later on.

This is such a crucial time in my training. I don't mind having to take it easy this week -- but I can't do that two weeks in a row. If the pain keeps slowly going away like it has so far, I think I'll be OK. I'll make a decision by late tomorrow on whether or not I'll do the 5-mile race this weekend. My biggest concern with that is driving 2-plus hours the day before to my mom's house and then driving a half hour the next morning to the race. Sitting in a car has been the hardest thing to do so far.

My shoulder is better, but it's still hurts a little bit. It's enough to lay off lifting weights for at least another day.

I think one of the most frustrating parts of this is that it's a non-running injury. Had I hurt myself while running, I think my response would be different. I think I'm just angry at myself for something I could have controlled.