Well, had I gone ahead with it I should have just been coming near to the end of the Eden Project Marathon 2014. It's a slightly odd feeling knowing this is the marathon that I didn't manage to get to...there is a lot of social pressure once you have signed up to a marathon and started collecting money for charity. However, I also feel that I was right to pull out given that my body is still making slight complaints as I increase distances a little again, my calf is still properly recovering and each time I increase the distance it is a balance between strengthening and re-injuring it. I know that I will complete a marathon at some point.
So, I have currently signed up for the Heartbreaker Marathon on 22nd February 2015, which gives me another 4 months to train over the winter...I'll commit completely to that and see how I go. My overall aim would still be to complete a marathon at roughly 8-minute miling, getting me around in under 3:30 hours altogether. At the moment, with having to run at slower speeds to keep the calf happy, this could be a big ask, but fitness-wise I already know I ran a 20 mile training run at around 8-minute miling before the injury so it is possible if a big challenge!
Yesterday I ran my longest run since the injury - 8 miles with some hills at about 8:15 minute miling. The right calf started to feel weird in the last 2 miles - definitely different from the left calf which was untroubled - but I warmed down on the bike and stretched everything out and it was okay in the evening. I rode for 30 mins on the bike today (just over 11 miles, increased the resistance to 6 out of 8 whatever that means). Ideally, I need to get my long run up to a half-marathon (13.1 miles) as soon as possible, then start varying it upwards in steps then back down to half, etc. However, initially, just getting back to a half marathon will be a huge achievement...
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