Injured

I was in England for business. I'd arrived that afternoon and having made a couple of phone calls and sent some mails, I'd unpacked my bags and taken my running kit out. I was going to go for an easy run befor dinner so that I could enjoy myself without feeling guilty.

It was a pleasant evening and the rain that had been falling in France was nowhere to be seen here. I was staying at the same fantastic hotel near Bagshot as last time and I was looking forward to the evening meal. I ran out of the hotel drive, admiring the hundredsof bunnies playing in the evening light, and headed up the hill towards Camberley. I took it fairly easily, running the first kilometre in just under 5 minutes to the top of the hill. The road flattened out here and I ran aong this flat and then began the downhill into Camberley.

I was looking to the left to see if I could make a circuit out of the run, rather than the put and back efforts I'd managed last time in the dark. I ran the next kilometre in 4:15 and then the third in 4:10. It was easy going down the hill and I thought I was coasting. I'd just run into town when disaster struck. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in the base of my calf and at the top of my achilles. It was if someone had stabbed me with a dagger in this zone and I was forced to stop immediately. I tried to do some stretching thinking that it was some form of cramp, but to no avail. Nothing I did made the slightest bit of difference and I resigned myself to the fact that I'd pulled a muscle.

I walked the 3.3 km back to the hotel, cursing myself the whole way. I was so frustrated at the thought of losing my current form and all of the lost training that I was almost beside myself. How serious was this injury and what would the consequences be? I lost all interest in the fantastic surroundings and no meal, however great, was going to compensate for this.