Breaking Radio Silence.....

We're on the mainland for a holiday (just a week) my foot has been rested and the cross trainier in the living room has been used to keep some degree of fitness going. My last two runs were on 26th January and the first of February. Both were problematic to one degree or another with pain at the base of my right calf muscle. Now though...... I have been several days without any twinges or feelings of the muscle being "stretched" so this morning I set out into the freezing (literally) air of rural West Cornwall on a very set run. The Aim. to run around 4.5 miles in one hour. Slow by my standards (should take around 46/47 minutes) but with good reason. No rush, no strain, no pressure on the leg. A couple of walking sessions to break it up and an ease back into the punishment to come.

It went well, a lot of it is psychological. I believe that running on a regular basis puts your brain into a lot closer contact with the rest of your body, a kind of "running diagnostic" you can feel and sense different parts working, warming up or doing things they shouldn't... which was probably the downfall to the first start of the run. There was too much thinking and feeling, particularly in the first 20 minutes. But once I reached the 30 minute mark and started the run home, it was a lot more comfortable. Smoother and with more rhythm, it felt like I covered the ground a lot more efficiently.

Just to top it off, I went for a swim at lunchtime and put in a few laps at the leisure centre (I won't mention the KFC we had in the evening though)

Tomorrows effort involves the same route but at a steadier pace from the outset and see if I can cover a greater distance. No pushing though.......... not yet.