I’m very happy about one thing, though not about everything. What I’m not happy about is that, after Saturday’s run over uneven ground, the Achilles has been quite sore. More importantly, however, I ran 15 km this morning and it didn’t hurt at all. I’m definitely happy about that.

It’s not such a bad situation if the soreness is restricted to non-running activities. I just wish I knew how to make it go away completely. The pain is most pronounced when a small region of the Achilles is pressed upon. It can also ache without reason at night, is briefly tender in the morning, and can react to sudden twisting and turning. But running, so long as it’s on fairly even ground, doesn’t seem to affect the injury any more. I can even run quite quickly – not exactly sprinting, but much faster than normal – without any issues at all. Strange indeed.

The first review of the book about my run should be back from the publisher in the next week or so. I’ll then get a chance to make any minor additions before the final proofread. As mentioned previously, it’s due in the book stores on August 3, so don’t get too excited just yet.

I thought I’d continue with the “Memorable Races from the Past” segment I started a couple of months ago. One I recall well was the Vancouver Island Marathon in 2002. It’s the only marathon I’ve ever run outside of Australia. It was a fantastic course – any marathon course on Vancouver Island would be – but was quite difficult, with several steep hills and a constant extreme camber on the road. I wasn’t particularly fit and went out too hard. Although I finished in the top ten, it was my slowest ever marathon race (3:30) and I had to walk briefly toward the end with my hips feeling seriously “out of whack” from the camber. Everyone knows marathons can be very painful, and that one certainly was for me. Other than that, it was a very enjoyable experience. Vancouver Island is a great place to run.