A fortnight of two halves ....

….. is how to best describe my calf muscle tear recuperation. The first week or so it felt like nothing was improving at all, probably not helped by a) going in to work the day after it happened and b) abandoning my crutches on day 3 and walking like a penguin which as you’ll know not only looks stupid but can also lead to hip alignment problems .

The second week was brilliant. My boss adopted his normal attitude of ‘take as much time off as you need’. In all honesty I’m not sure whether that means they can or can’t do without me but I took him at his word and did a lot of physio (both land and water) and I think got the rest/exercise ratio about right.

Now abandoned my crutches, driving again and I’ve been told to do some cycling although this hasn’t quite materialised. Generally feeling very positive although wish I had a firm time scale as to when I could run/play football.

As far as future runs are concerned I’ve cancelled the December 10k (shame as I was looking to beating my 2 unbelievably hot, extremely slow summer runs) but have decided to do the January 10 mile as a run/walk exercise and not worry too much about time. This may change nearer the date (7th Jan) so we’ll see.

Still hoping to do the February 10 mile and the Reading half marathon (March) but also applied for the FLM 2007 (that’s Flora London Marathon to the uninitiated). My main reason for applying was to build up credits so that in 5 or 6 years I’d get a GUARANTEED place without having to go down the fundraising route. I’ll find out in the first week of December whether I’ve got in or not but according to various running forums my cheque was cashed on the 2/11 (bad luck) as opposed to the 31/10 (well done).

FLM options:
If I’m in – pretend I’m injured and get a guaranteed place for next year OR run it without raising money OR run it for charity
If I’m not in – see how we go with the 10m, 10m, 13m and perhaps choose another marathon later OR run it for a charity having promised them I’ll raise £1500 for them beforehand.

Difficult to make any kind of decision when injured.

When Becky was pregnant I couldn’t help noticing how many pregnant women there were ‘out there’ – it’s the same with runners. In my current state of infirmity (infirmness/unfirmness??) I’m seeing runners at every turn. Very frustrating and mildly upsetting but as the current governor of California once said ‘I’ll be back’. He also said ‘Hasta la vista baby’ but as I’ve no idea what that means it would be inappropriate to comment.

One last ramble. Whilst my running has taken off and many people have kindly commented on my weight loss I do feel it could be a lot better. The eating danger times are mainly on the way to and from work when buying a newspaper and sometimes at work in the middle of the afternoon but I blame my work colleagues for that one. There’s also the small issue of getting a bus when it’s not absolutely necessary. I’m going to try and cut all of these out with IMMEDIATE effect. That’s right IMMEDIATE effect.

And finally – does anyone know how to get rid of wiry grey hairs from head, ears, nose and eyebrows. Not for me you understand, I’m asking on behalf of a friend.