Slowly getting there...

The pullling of the calf muscle has slowed my progress down by having to take longer days to rest the muscle.  It seemed every time I was ending an exercise session the tweaked calf muscle would let me know it was there. 

Going carefully with running distances - recommendations state that start with 1/4 mile and increase by 10% per week - is key to building up the calf muscles which get more use using this style of running.

After poncing about with 1/4 mile runs, I had a great 1/2 mile session and thought I had gone through the barrier and proceeded to go a further 1/4 mile with no problems.  It was only on the 6km/hr pace walk for warm down after that I was aware of the tweaked calf muscle again, so rest was on the cards again.

With the UK summer cancelled this year, the ability to go for a bit of a hike in the hills wasnt a tempting option for gentle exercise while waiting for the calf muscle to heal.  One of the delights of hill walking in this wet, little island is the ability to quickly reach a viewpoint that gives great panoramic views of the area.  Walking when its hissing it down, not only demands the wearing of waterproofs (with their supposed breathability) but drastically limits the view range when you get to any viewpoints.

So nursing the calf muscle, and being too lightweight to go hiking in the rain, has limited progress to improving fitness levels and reducing weight.  Ive probably only lost about 6lb but Im now running 1/2 mile distances and looking to build up - look likely that London 2012 is coming too soon for me.