Back in one piece

Monday was an interesting day. Following my lengthy run the previous night, I was in a new world of pain. Firstly, my knees were in agony. It hurt to keep my legs in one place for too long, but it also hurt to move. The only way to cope was to keep bending my legs the entire day and push through.

The second biggest pain was the chafe on my right thigh (mercifully, my nipples were intact). This was horrendous. It was like having a burn mark on my leg, right where my underwear rubs the skin. Every time I walked, my knees popped and my leg chafed. I was moving like a penguin who had just ridden a horse into town.

But the worst part of all this didn't actually hurt at all. The worst part of recovering was the feeling the tendons in my feet shifting under the skin with every step. Move forward, my heels slide and pop. That feeling was utterly disgusting and I never want to experience it again.

Thankfully, my future wife is a dab hand with yoga and suggested a few stretches to alleviate most of the aches and pains in my body. I can't describe what a relief it was to bend and stretch and feel the muscles returning to normal again.

I totally looked like this.

So I've allowed myself three days off from training to recuperate and make sure I'm fighting fit again before I push myself some more. My new goal is twenty miles by mid-February. At my current rate, it's looking good. I'm hoping to get some time off work at the end of March so I can put in one final burst of training and get completely prepared for the big day. I've read a few articles that advise reaching your peak a month before the race and then dialling it back in the weeks prior, to keep plenty of energy bottled up inside, so I'll give this advice a whirl and see what happens. What's the worst that could happen?

136 days to go!