I’ve still not really recovered from last week’s Portsmouth Coastal half marathon and Friday’s 20-mile cycle into the peaks, three-mile run yesterday morning and 12-mile hike yesterday afternoon haven’t helped – my left calf has started to give me some seriously worrying gip.

I’m not too bothered about not doing the long run… they’re mainly about getting time on your feet as much as distance and the fact that the hike took us more than five hours is good enough for one week – but on the face of this morning’s run, I might have to drop Brighton.

David and I set off around 8am while the other boys were still in bed. The wind war swirling sprinkles of snow around and we headed downhill into the village. Less than half a mile in, the heavier force of running down hill kicked in and I felt the calf tweak tighten right up.

We continued on but I was hobbling behind David with gritted teeth until we completed the circuit.

I’ve iced and taken lots of Ibuprofen but it’s not really helped much. Tomorrow will have to be very light and I’ve an hour of sports massage on Tuesday that I am finger crossing for… having to drop out now would be a real pain. Especially as I have another half marathon coming up in three weeks and have also signed up for the Leeds half marathon on May 9.

Click here for a Google Map and full details of the day’s run

Miles today: 3.17
Target: 486
Miles to date: 624.36

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We arrived in the Peaks yesterday after a two-hour journey from London to Chesterfield followed by a 20-mile cycle ride to the village  of Tideswell. Most of the ride was uphill, with the first five miles being a total beast  and the last eight being a gruelingly deceptive 8-mile steady incline It took us about four hours with one pub stop and one lunch stop.

There were three of us cycling, best man David, our pal Tom and myself and some of the time issue was probably down to Tom and myself being on inappropriate bikes… I was on my eight-speed commuter and Tom on a mountain bike with chunky tyres that slow right down on tarmac. Dave, on his sturdy road bike/tourer, seemed to eat up the miles with little effort.

A few beers followed last night in the Star pub in Tideswell and so it was with heavy legs and a heavy head that David and I set out on a three-miler this morning.

Conscious of the fact that we were hiking later in the day, I thought we’d take it easy but David is a good bit fitter than me (his marathon PB is about 3.20) and he went off at a slightly faster pace that had me puffing early on thanks to both the speed and the fact we were pretty high up so the air was a little thinner. There was also a raging wind and sleet to contend with and the full English served in the Star an hour later seemed well deserved if not the best fuel for a hike.

Click here for a Google Map and full details of the day’s run

Miles today: 3.00
Target: 483
Miles to date: 621.19

Want to dedicate a run to someone or have one dedicated to you? Click here