Cool Runnings

Yeah the title is from the 1993 movie about a Jamaican bobsled team and sportsmanship. But this is about my tryst with running. Since I was finding a little more time on my hands given the almost non-existent social life, I thought I would kick the sedentary lifestyle and do something about the weight problem. Started off a year and half ago with very humble beginnings, I was doing a mile in about 20 minutes and I was all out of breath and the shin splints were painful. I asked the doctor about it during the physical and I think the reply was something close to: suck it up, pop some Advil. Fast forward until about a month ago, I was doing about 3 miles in 30-35 minutes, no shin splints, I could almost go about another mile, I'd lost about 40 pounds and for the first time, I'd religiously stuck to an exercise regimen for over a year. Life was good, I could wear all the clothes that I could only look wistfully at, I was beginning to feel good about myself.
But it looks like that was not to be. You see I have been having this pain in the lower back and it disappears somewhere in the butt and reappears as a burning-searing pain at the side of the butt. It's more marked in the mornings and makes any bending at the back really painful. So I gave it a rest for a week and was icing the painful area. But it didn't help, I would think it was gone and there it was back in the morning. The trip to the doctor's didn't help either, he sent me back with 600 mgs of Ibuprofen and asked me to check with my primary care physician if the pain persisted after 2-3 weeks and that will be 15 dollars thank you and who knows how much insurance paid. I am begining to lose all faith in doctors and the medical insurance framework as such. So this week, I said to hell with it and started running again. I remember it used to be such a liberating experience, now I have to be so cautious about exerting myself. I can barely do 2 miles in 30 minutes and I am gasping for breath and the pain is still the same mostly. I hate having to be held hostage by this pain. Am I asking for too much, just want to be able to run again.