My left foot

After 3 days off running, resting my left calf, I decided that the best way to test out my muscle strain was an 8 mile run. It was either going to hurt straight away or not hurt for a while, so I thought I might as well get as far as I could after missing 3 training days
And it was ok - for 6 miles anyway. Even then, after 6 miles, I just had a bit of tightness. Nothing that stopped me from carrying on for another couple of miles, I didn't even have to break into a walk. I'll need to keep an eye on it, and use plenty of ice and muscle rubs when I'm not running but hopefully it won't get any worse. As a precaution, I'll cut down to 3 runs this week and my long run next week is actually a trail race, so perhaps the grassy surface will help take the strain.

The whole idea of being injured is quite worrying - after all, it's not like I 'm just doing a half marathon a few miles from home. This is another transatlantic project. So I really hope I don't end up being a spectator on the day!

On the plus side, this weekend I've started to see some other runners in my area. I presume they're all in training for the London marathon in April and are starting to log their long runs - they have certainly never surfaced before now, physical exercise is something that local residents  normally scorn. But it's reassuring to know that someone else is going to have to share in the verbal abuse from the local teenagers over the next few weeks.

LON