This was going to be a blog about what a fantastic start my running has got off to, but as I’m writing this with my leg elevated after a morning trip to A+E that’s not quite how it’s going to go.

This morning I was on my fifth training run when something went ping and I started to experience a lot of pain in my left calf. I stopped running and limped home, then got ready for work wincing in pain. I hobbled to the bus stop and then the shock of the pain must have settled in, feeling nauseous and faint I decided to get off the bus at the hospital and get it checked out before I did any more damage. I learned the lesson from messing up my knee when I was 16, not doing anything about it at the time and still having problems with it a decade later.

The good news was that having explained to the doctor how it happened she said two positive things. One that I have been doing everything the right way with my running, warm up, cool down and stretches, this was just bad luck. The second was that once I’ve recovered she told me not to give up on the running. Probably the best thing I could have hoped to hear.

However the downside is the interim. The doctor thinks it’s a torn calf muscle, but I won’t know the verdict and implications until I have a full physio assessment on Friday morning. The pain seems bearable as long as I take pain relief and keep the leg elevated, although with an hour to go until my next pain relief fix it’s starting to twinge with pain again. There is the minor annoyance of learning how to use crutches and not being able to walk properly. I have the immediate disappointment of missing out on a date this evening, I seem to have a habit of injuring myself just before something I’m really looking forward to. Then the biggest worry is the lack of exercise for at least a couple of weeks, possibly longer. Getting fit the past few months has been the best thing that has happened to me. Physically and mentally I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been and I’m scared of that slipping. It keeps my stress levels low and means I can fit into the clothes I want without giving up chocolate!

After everything that has happened over the past couple of years this feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth (or the calf!) when life is finally going so well. I would have never thought I’d be exercising this much, enjoying it and getting up earlier to make sure I can fit it in. It’s brilliant. I don’t want to lose the motivation or any of the benefits.

I also don’t want this to put off anyone who’s thinking of getting into running or anything else. Injuries happen to everyone, even the pros. I won’t let it stop me. Once I’m fully fit again I will pick up with the running where I left off and I will run a marathon come hell or high water. At least this happened earlier rather than later and I will just have to learn how to listen to my body better so I know when I can push myself and when to ease off. I had a twinge this morning and I was in to minds whether to go for a run but did it anyway. I don’t take the ability to run or anything else for granted and I’d be gutted if I lost the ability to do all these things because of future injuries so I’m taking this a minor warning to take care of myself.

Two days ago I was so proud that I had woken up on my birthday and gone for run, marking a year where I would get fitter than ever before… I didn’t imagine that two days later I’d be forced to take a break. I can only hope it’s a very short one!