2007 - October

[El Gordo]

After my great week last week, I've had a setback.

Went for an excellent Sunday morning lope with the club in some glorious (and previously unknown to me) woods about 4 miles from home. The circuit was around 3 miles, and we were free to run 1, 2 or 3 laps depending on how we felt. I decided on 2 as a step up from last week's raft of 4 x 3.5 milers.

Lovely setting. Nice tracks through dense woodland marking out the borders of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Not hilly but the odd undulation to give it some interest.

Around the 5 mile mark, I felt a totally unexpected sharp pain in my right calf. Too severe to continue running. Limped the mile or so back to the start, and drove home, where I applied the old R-I-C-E treatment on and off for the rest of the day.

Monday it was painful, Tuesday and today I can feel it without it being too unpleasant. I've had calf imjuries before, and I know they can stetch on for weeks if not treated properly. So much against my instincts and renewed enthusiasm, I'm going to take the week off running and see how I feel towards the end of the weekend. Even when it feels back to normal, I know it can 'go' again, and more seriously, if it's not fully recovered.

A nuisance, but I need to do what's right.

I'm in Bournemouth for a couple of days at a conference. My only tilt towards athletics was attendance at a fascinating talk by the marketing director of the London Olympics 2012 bid. I'll write about it on the blog shortly.