Pain is normal, right?

I've been keeping something from you.  I saw a doctor yesterday.

Of course, that's not weird at all.  I see my primary care physician usually three times a month and my hematologist about four times a year.  That's a lot of doctor visits.

But this wasn't one of those doctors.  This was a sports medicine specialist.

I'm currently experiencing some shin pain.  It's on the right shin, along the bone on the front of the leg and radiating ever so slightly to the interior of the calf, slightly above mid-calf.  It's more acute than shin splints but less acute than a stress fracture (it's not a stress fracture, right? I've had two, and the pain is not the same).  So far, I'm just doing what we runners do and carrying on, pretending there's no pain.  I'm sure it's nothing.  Right?  It's totally nothing?  I mean, I don't run enough to have a repetitive stress injury, right?

I am actually not freaking out about this.  It started fairly suddenly - no gradual build up, although there was never an "Ow!" moment - around the first week of June.  It gets worse after runs, but (oddly) it didn't after Mount Washington.

The doctor pressed around my leg a bit, told me that my hips are crooked (they are), and put a lift onto my right insole.  I feel very Tom Cruise about it.

I'm being paranoid, and I know it.  But I feel so strong going into marathon training.  Maybe not PR-strong, but fairly close to it.  After my stupid blood clots, I didn't know that I would ever run again - let alone that I would ever contemplate  new, loftier goals.  If I can help it, I will not let leg pain stop me!