Dough

Fitness is like dough. Keep stretching it and it will break. You need to stretch, stretch and then let it rest. My calf has been giving me concerns. This week I have laid of the running and went to see the doc.

Some time last year I got a an insect bite on my calf and it swelled up to double the size. I got given some antibiotics and sent home from work (It's the most scared I have ever seen a doctor). However I still have a scar. My concern was that this was still the problem with the calf. The doc gave it the all clear. The pain doesn't bother me, pain is pain. What I don't want to do is really damage something.

Talking with my friend Bec who has now started her marathon training I realised I needed to start my Marathon training. I have a rough and ready plan. Each Sunday will be a long run. After a week off running I decide to take it easy. I decide an hour will be about right.

There was a run I used to do from my old house up through Hayes past the common and back that takes around half an hour. I decide to to this. The run to the old house takes around 15 minutes.

I was going to take the iPod but I can't find my headphones. I run audibly naked. A good decision. Because I haven't been running I feel fresh.

I enjoy the whole run. It is freezing cold, and there are few people braving the weather. At one point there is a dusting of snow. I am aware of and feel the calf but it does not bother me. As I enter the final couple of hundred metres I look at the watch. The time will be around 30seconds short of the hour!

During the run I reflected on the Marathon that is looming. Cold freezing, long training runs. Hill training, intervals. Runs home from work. Pain and suffering on the day. And the truth is, I couldn't be more excited.

9.83km 59:30 Cold, enjoyable!