A hard pill to swallow

I like to run. I really like to run. I listen to music and clear my head. I get to spend some time chatting and bouncing stuff off Marissa - kinda like my own little therapy. Problem with running is that is sometimes hurts to run.

Last year it was my knees - some kind of patellafemoral syndrome crap. Basically my knees don't come forward right over my toes like their supposed too, but instead come inward. I got some great physical therapy and some new shoes to fix the problem (overpronation it's called) and now my knees are great.

Now it's my shins. But it's not as easy as some new shoes and some physical therapy. I actually have stress fractures (tiny fractures of the bone) in my shins. Quite painful and not an easy thing to fix. Basically the fix is to ice them and STAY OFF THEM. Anyone who knows me knows how damn hard it is for me to sit for any extended period of time. So basically I've been running on them for a few months now thinking they might go away - until last week I ran and they hurt so bad I thought I was going to cry (just ask Marissa). So today I talked to my doctor and the general consensus is - STOP RUNNING! Not forever - but he recommends 6-8 weeks. Well that's just not going to happen (since I really want to run the marathon in October), but I have decided that I'm going to stop running and start back up when we get back from Germany. So I agreed to give it basically five weeks. So now I'm faced with five weeks of no running. While this may sound strange, it's actually quite a depressing thought. I really like my running. Now I'm stuck with becoming totally deconditioned and only able to bike, swim and possibly the elliptical machine (which I like but am only allowed to do if pain free). It's a hard pill to swallow, but hopefully it will be worthwhile and I'll be all better soon.