quick background- i finally finished all my x-train package and submitted everything and am just waiting on a class seat. My cals, and swimming are good no problems at all there, but i am not a natural runner so that has been a hard road to get my times down for the past year or so. My times are improving good, but just last week i started having some pain and tingling in my left lower buttocks and down the back of my left leg. The pain so far, I can push through and keep training the same as i have been, but it has slowly started getting worse. Mainly when i sit, lay down, and just recently run! I was wondering if anyone has had any similar problems, and what to do so it doesn't come back during training. Thanks

I had the same thing in the right leg...basically due to 20+ years of jumping. Nothing showed on an x-ray, but the MRI showed "the mother of all herniated disks" according to the neurosurgeon. I had surgery in 2007. I finally got it checked out after the pain was so intense I'd have to get off my bike and lie flat to continue...couldn't run, etc. If you have a problem now, I'd highly recommend getting it checked out, and getting an MRI...there are lots of causes for it I'm sure, but if it's a disk problem, it's best to know about it and get it fixed (doesn't always require surgery).

I pushed through pain (as many other operators do) for years...it eventually catches up to you...get it looked at now, before it gets any worse...especially if you're just about to enter the most intense training of your life.

TE, do you think that if it were something that might require surgery or even not, would that disqualify me or trump my flight physical, or even make me lose my class seat(when i get one)?

It all depends on the cause and recommended treatment from the doc...it may not be a disk problem, there is no way to know until you have it checked. It could delay you, or if it's a simple fix, it may not...either way, it's best to get it checked because it will only get worse at indoc and likely prevent you from finishing...and could make your recovery time even longer.

Kawaboy14, while TE is correct and the symptoms you are experiencing are symptoms someone with a bulging disc would experience there is another possibility, Piriformis Syndrome. The sciatic nerve runs through the Piriformis muscle in a significant percent of the population so when that muscle is tight or inflamed the nerve root is pinched and the symptoms of a herniated disc impinging on the sciatic nerve root is mimicked. I can't tell you what specifically your injury is however if the pain doesn't start in your low back and your training intensity has been increasing and your stretching has not been adequate my money is on piriformis syndrome. The article on wikipedia has a good explanation and history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_syndrome). The baseline treatment is stretching the muscles acting on the hip such as the piriformis, the ITB, the hamstrings, the quads and hip flexors. Once the inflammation has calmed down a lot of the rehab involves strengthening of hip muscles such as the gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, the core muscles often neglected in standard training (specifically the internal and external obliques and the transverse abdominis).

The non-surgical treatment for a herniated disc is roughly the same, but with greater emphasis on core strength and neuromuscular coordination of core and extremity exercises once the inflammation has calmed down.