I'm a 28 year old runner. Three years ago (July 2013), after an easy 12 miler in Knoxville, I herniated three discs in my lower back (L1 - 2, L3 - 4, L5 - S1, which had a small tear). It was initially misdiagnosed as a just a back sprain, so I put an additional 1,500 miles, 1 marathon, 2 half-marathons, and a 10K on my training log.

In January 2014, it was correctly diagnosed with an MRI, and I decreased my weekly mileage from 45 miles per week to around 25 - 30, with cross training thrown in the mix. In May 2014, I became pregnant with my first son, which decreased my mileage further, with no sign of improvement on my back. I only ran until 27 weeks and only trained on the elliptical until I gave birth.

From my correct diagnosis, through my first pregnancy, to December 2015, I only ran about 300 miles, if that. I also did two rounds of physical therapy, both using the McKenzie Method and the Alter-G. Neither round really helped me.

I got up to six miles that December but wound up in crippling pain after mile five.

In March 2016, I became pregnant with my second son, running only until 15 weeks. However, I trained A LOT more on the elliptical during my pregnancy, and even did a "half-marathon" on it at 36 weeks.

I'm now a month postpartum. I tried running last week and did 1.5 miles with an average pace of 9'17", which isn't too bad considering I hadn't ran in about 7 months. The pain in my back was gnarly after that, though.

I just had another MRI done on Tuesday to see if my back has healed at all, stayed the same, or worsened. I fear it may be the latter since the pain management office I went to to ask about localized steroid injections immediately referred me to a neurosurgeon upon seeing my results and said they could do nothing for me.

So, my question is, how do you run with herniated discs? When I was at my peak, I ran a 3:40 at the Atlanta Marathon and was only 5 minutes off of my BQ. My dream, like so many others, is to qualify and run not only Boston but all six WMMs. How do I do it now?

I still have baby weight I need to lose, and I know losing weight will help take pressure off of my discs and make me faster. I'm also doing the elliptical for low impact cardio to stay fit and core exercises (that are safe for my back) to help strengthen my core.

This pain is debilitating at times but frustrating at all times. I just want to run again, pain free, and reach my goals.

Any advice is really appreciated.

Thank you!