Recovering from calf strain and marathon waahoo

I saw a physio on Saturday and she confirmed that I'd pulled my calf muscle whilst doing vigorous early morning stretching. Doh, a seriously unnecessary and annoying thing to have done. It put paid to my long weekend run on Saturday which is frustrating as it was my last scheduled long one before the Fling. I've decided to be cautious since my last run on Wednesday last week made it sore. Luckily it is responding to treatment well (massage, gentle stretching and ice) so I went for a swim yesterday (mild loading), will use an exercise bike today (moderate loading) and then back to running tomorrow (serious loading).

Looks like I'll be running as a member of the Aussie team at the Highland Fling with some real top blokes - Keith Hughes, Jim Clarke and Karl Winkler. My wife is a rural Queenslander from Canungra and I am an enthusiastic afficionado of the Aussie drinking vending innovation of the drive-thru bottle shop. These are sufficient qualifications to join the team. Honorary Aussie for the day, eh? I'll have to talk slower than I normally do, wink a lot and say 'she'll be roight' (or is this my wife's peculiar Queensland culture I am letting through?). Jeez.

Before I go I must say very well done to all the WHWR's and Shenley Striders who completed the Flors London Marathon yesterday. It sounds like everyone was running on top form, beating expected times. Well done! Waahoo!