Get On, Clip In, Fall Off

Increasing mileage

I'm looking at my running log on the screen and feeling a little despondent. Last Sunday I went for my first 10-mile (16km) long run, which took just over 81 minutes door to door - a merry little jaunt it was, despite getting sloshed liberally with rain on the way back into Surbiton. The day after that I went out and ran a hard 8km with bursts of speed when I felt like it (this type of unstructured interval training is known by the best word in the world - fartlek), which was tiring but satisfying as it showed me how much speed I've gained in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday I was still rather achey from the hard work on Monday, so decided not to go running, and besides, I had an important appointment to keep in the pub.

Today, my right calf muscle is still painful - nothing too nasty, but feels like a pulled muscle. I can walk fine (two miles today just walking from the station to work) but running would probably be a bad idea. The good news is that the weather is kind of cold and wet, so I'm glad not to have to go out in it. The bad news is that taking it easy is the last thing I want to do right now - I've had a great run (no pun intended) up to now, and right now I'd love nothing more than to go out and keep it going. But, well, people who don't listen to their body telling them to take it easy for a couple of days end up injured.

Still, there's little point in complaining. I've also been able to cheer myself up by laughing uproariously at my latest acquisition from the iTunes Music Store. Granted, when it was recorded it wasn't intended to be funny, but there's nothing quite like listening to William Shatner reciting lyrics. At least Leonard Nimoy can sing.