I'm pretty bent out of shape at the moment. I'm almost sure that I have a stress fracture in my lower right tibia (shin bone). CJ came up with the analysis on her own (to which I stubbornly objected), which has been 90% confirmed true by Dr. Stephen Pribut.

I went to see Dr. Pribut yesterday afternoon, following a morning spent sight seeing here in Washington, DC, with CJ's brother David's family. We had a great time touring the Capitol and then going up in the Washington Monument. The later was the highlight for me, because of my affinity to overseeing cities from high above. However, I spent the majority of the morning on my feet, which contributed to the pain in my shin. By the time I was seen by the doctor in the late afternoon, my leg was kind of inflamed and warm.

The doctor was pretty cool. I'd listed "Artist Management" as my occupation on the information document I had to fill out and that led us off with a conversation about music. When I told him I worked with "Punk, Metal and Rock bands" his first question was whether or not I knew of the "Yeah Yeah Yeahs." I thought that was pretty cool, especially since I'd toured the UK with a band who supported them years ago.

I was even more impressed when he told me his young daughter had dragged him to see My Chemical Romance at UMBC a bit before they broke big and he said "I could just tell there was something about Gerard (the band's singer, Gerard Way) that would propel that band to greatness." I wanted to tell him that I was raising funds for SSE who have done a number of events with My Chemical Romance. However, my mind was really focused on what was wrong with my leg, and whether or not I'd be able to run the Boston Marathon.

He asked me a number of running questions and felt a number of places along either side of my shin bone. The outer side is where it hurt the most, but he was still able to generate a bit of discomfort by pressing along the bone on the inner side, too. That, unfortunately, led him to believe that the damage was to the bone, and not just the muscle and tendon surrounding the bone. He wouldn't tell me in so many words, but I could read it in his expressions, that if the results of the Xray and bone scan come back negative, he will not recommend that I run.

That was really tough to digest.

I didn't go into work after the exam. I was really bummed out and pretty pissed off. I've been training really hard and have been attempting to raise funds with almost equal fervor. So, not only would it be a huge let down not to be able to run for myself, but also to let down everyone who pledged money towards "each mile I can run."

I am taking it day by day and I am going to rest this entire week. Luckily, I've trained hard enough to allow myself the ability to take a week off, and still be able to perform well during the race.

It's very hard to NOT be able to run right now, however. It's been such an integral part of my morning routine (and such a "release" and "endorphin rush") that I'm worried how it's going to affect me both physically and mentally. If you're interested to see how I hold up, continue to read here throughout the rest of the week.