Now seems like a good time to update the BAMR community on the state of my butt.

For those who missed it, I spent my New Year’s Eve whacked out on pain killers and muscle relaxers because my sciatic nerve was being a jerk. Superstition says that your year will end however you began it. For the record, I’m kind of okay with being mostly comatose on December 31. I could do without the pain, however.

The acute phase of the injury passed quickly. I do not have, however, sciatica relief yet.

I did get up and go for a very, very easy run on Jan. 6. I’ve mostly run about three miles every other day. On Saturday, I did a long run of four miles. I know. I’m the next Amelia Boone.

An easy lope in the snow is not the same thing as back to full health. Because of your comments on the first post about my butt and because the toes on my right foot keep going numb, I called my doctor. She got me hooked up with a local physical therapy practice. My first appointment was last week.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, frankly. I was hoping I could just sit there while someone else moved my limbs around for me but that wasn’t in the cards. Instead, what I did mostly was talk about how it happened (I sat in a chair), how I spend my days (sitting in chairs), and what outcome I wanted (to be able to sit in chairs). We also talked about running, because that seemed like an important topic.

“Does it hurt more when you run?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “It doesn’t hurt any less, either, but I stop wanting to yell at people.”

“Then keep running,” she said. “Stop if it’s painful.”

I decided right then that she was my new favorite.

After more talking, she confirmed that something is pressing on my sciatic nerve. There are two (well, actually three) options for what that something is. It could be a bulging disc. It could be piriformis syndrome. Or—and this is the one I’m betting on—it’s both at the same time.

At this point, she explained, it doesn’t matter what the cause is because the treatment is the same. Then we started to do the world’s least complicated, most intense stretches I’ve done ever. There were pelvic tilts and knee twists, which every runner knows. At one point, I had to cross my legs, then gently push my top leg away from my hip joint.

The exercise that nearly broke me was the simplest of all. For two minutes, I had to lie on my belly. That’s it. For the first ten seconds, I thought the whole thing was ridiculous and that I ran a marathon, for Pete’s sake. Then I spent the last 110 seconds of those two minutes so uncomfortable that I couldn’t think about anything else. It wasn’t painful, mind. Just profoundly uncomfortable.

My PT printed out the exercises. I was to do them twice per day and come in twice per week. If I made progress, I could drop down to once a week. While the PT seemed nice enough, I’ve decided to be as compliant as I can. Training is a process I understand. This is just more of that — but with fewer reps and visible changes.

My second appointment was more of the same, mostly. I suspect my third will be remarkably similar as well — and on and on until I can lay on my belly for hours on end without so much as a heavy sigh.

Sitting for long periods of time remains a challenge right now. My sciatic nerve will pitch a toddler-level tantrum once it has had enough. I’m the tin man in the morning until I move around enough to warm up. It’s a hassle but I do get to run. For that, I will be grateful.

Adrienne Martini writes about more than running. Her most recent book is Somebody’s Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won’t Save the Nation but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can.