The Elliptical is my Best Friend

If I repeat the phrase, "The elliptical is my best friend" enough times, will it come true? I didn't count how many times I said it today in my hour-long stint on the machine, but I think I might have set a world record.

Last week I ran a lot of miles and after a nice 8.5 mile run on Tuesday, my left leg hurt in 2 specific spots. I thought I might have a stress fracture since the early fall, but my sports medicine doctor said no. I was 95% certain that when I work up on Wednesday morning I had one, if not two. (picture me crying now) I thought that maybe the pain would magically disappear as the day progressed yesterday, but it didn't happen. Today the pain is definitely less, but still there. Therefore, when I went to work out, I could not even look at the treadmills. I headed straight to the elliptical.

I don't know what it is about the machine, but I just find it boring beyond belief. I know some people feel this way about a treadmill, although I don't mind it. Going into my workout today, which I knew was going to be at least an hour on the elliptical, I decided to engage in positive self-talk, stating numerous times over and over again while watching Wheel of Fortune that the elliptical and I were friends. Good friends. Best friends. Over and over and over again. It helped, as anything goes better if you have the right attitude, but it still wasn't the best. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to stay on the machine longer and have a better workout.

I decided not to call the doctor because I'm going back in a week and a half. Do you think this is the right choice? If my leg feels better and I don't have any pain tomorrow or this weekend, would you risk running on it? It is hard, because I love running, but don't want to hurt my body more.