(Image credit: Getty images)
It's been nearly a month, and I'm still bitter. Like several other members of the Tom's Guide fitness team, I was due to take part in the London Marathon last month, and I had my sights firmly set on a new personal record.I'd trained rigorously throughout the winter and, after a disappointing first attempt at the marathon in 2023, I was ready to take on the course again. I planned to try and complete the race in under four hours, with a target finish time of somewhere between 3 hours 45 minutes and 3 hours 59 minutes. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.The best training plans for running a successful marathon set out a mixture of easy runs, tempo runs, and long runs that increase week by week. Then, as you get closer to race day, you reduce your mileage in a tapering process. I was in the midst of this when I took a few days away for a family holiday. No running, no exercise, and a little too much food and drink.Four miles into my first run back after five days and two weeks out from race day (very early on a cold, damp morning), I felt a short stab of pain in the back of my right calf that intensified with every step I took. I stopped the run immediately and walked home. When it didn't go away for the next couple of days, I spoke to a physiotherapist who confirmed I had a grade 1 soleus muscle strain. In the best case, it would take three or four weeks to recover.
