A perennial perineal problem and other high mileage woes

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a mess. Stuck in the most rural of rural north Norfolk in torrential rain, I felt unable to do a 20 mile run. I had no idea where I was, for a start, and the thought of trotting round country lanes and jumping into hedges when rich Norfolkians sped past me in their Range Rovers in rain so heavy I could barely see where I was going didn't seem like the wisest addition to the training plan. So my long run switched to Monday. It got done, but then it had a knock on effect on the next few training runs.

Basically, the niggles have set in. My left perineal seems to have been transformed into concrete, it's so inflexible, and I developed a nagging pain in my right knee. The knee pain doesn't really bother me when running, but it bothers me pretty much every other waking (and even sleeping) moment. So I took it to the physio for a second opinion. Apparently the knee problem is related to my lazy arsed right glute again, and the perineals are - well, I just run funny.

So it's all about the extra stretching and thinking about my gait on runs. On the positive side, focusing on my gait gives me something else to think about while running and stops me from weird food cravings for whatever packaging I see lying on the pavement. On the downside, it's additional time in the routine for even more stretching and massaging. This marathon is a full time job. And I've already got one of those.

As if the injuries weren't enough, my friend's 2 year old headbutted right on the nose when I was in Norfolk, leaving me with a sore face and a strange sensation while out running. It's as if my nose is not really part of my face anymore. I've also developed a strangely asthmatic cough out of nowhere.

With just over 3 weeks to go, am I just dropping to bits? Will I get to the start line intact, with any chance of hitting my goal time? Or I am just going to end up limping round, holding my nose and coughing. After the disappointment of New York, I'm not sure I could cope with another wasted training regime. I need a 26.2 race. Despite all these little niggles, I am really loving my training at the moment. I'm getting a buzz from every run (interspersed with the odd shooting pain in the perineal, of course).

I've got the Maidenhead 10 on Good Friday, followed by 20 miles on Saturday morning. I've pretty much decided it will either kill me or cure me. All I'm hoping is that I can make it to the taper period without a total breakdown, and then I can use the extra non-running time for even more stretching and massage so as to keep these legs on the road.