This was the second week following my marathon and it was a disaster. It started off poorly and then got worse. By the end of the week I realized that my left calf was really injured and I'll need to take at least two weeks off from running. I am not overjoyed by the prospect of nothing but elliptical and bike training for a good chunk of time. At this point I am still determined to run a 5K on May 31 because I need the score for my local running club's Grand Prix series. I hope that I have enough time to heal. Here is what happened:

Monday - An hour long elliptical session. This workout is a struggle from the beginning and, unlike last week's recovery workouts; it never gets better once I warm up. My ending distance is my worst one in many months and I'm surprised that I had better sessions last week. I had hoped that I would be stronger given that more time had passed since the marathon.
Tuesday - An 8 mile run. It's a beautiful and sunny day that is perfect for running. I take it easy and have a pretty good time. My calf flares up for miles 6 and 7, but at this point I wasn't too concerned; I even had a strong last mile. My time was not too far below average which I took as a good sign.
Wednesday - A 40 minute reverse elliptical session (followed by 15 minutes of forward cool down). My calf is still tight and it takes me a bit to get going. Once I'm warmed up, however, I have a fine workout.
Thursday - An 8 mile run. I start off slow, but work up to a decent pace after the first couple of miles. Then my calf cramps up again around mile 6 and this time it never lets up. I even get pain shooting up my leg. I make it through the last couple of miles and even finish a few seconds faster than Tuesday's run, but I can no longer believe that this is just simple post-marathon soreness. When I try to jog in the halls, the pain comes back immediately.
Friday - An hour long elliptical session. After I had a poor strength training routine in the morning, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to achieve a decent distance during my afternoon workout. My calf was tight and I continue to need more time than usual to get warmed up, but overall it went fairly well. My calf starts to tingle after 50 minutes, but that never turns into any real pain. I am still unable to even start up a light jog, however, without pain so I realize I need to take this injury seriously. I make the decision to go into rehab mode.
Saturday - A 2 hour spin on my bike trainer. I'm bummed to not be out running. I take a short break at the hour mark to go to the bathroom and grab a bite to eat. I watch a lot of ESPN.
Sunday - A 90 minute spin on my bike trainer. I watch game 7 of the Celtics-Cavaliers series. My calf actually feels its best right after these bike workout because it's nice and warmed up.

A disappointing and frustrating week. I know that I can get decent workouts on the elliptical and bike trainer, but it's not the same as running. I miss it and didn't realize how much I run throughout the day: to the mail box, up the stairs, to the copy machine at work. I'm always in motion and I hate having to walk everywhere. I always want to test my calf in the hope that it might be getting better and it is a struggle to stop myself. I also tend to eat a lot more when I am feeling sorry for myself so I've put a few pounds on (which isn't all that bad considering where I was at). Looking back at the last few reports, it's amazing how quickly everything can change. I really hope I can run by the end of the month as I want to win the GP series, but now I'm not sure this will happen. I worry about the risk of even further injury to my calf. In order to stay positive, I did register for the Parks Half-Marathon on September 14. I think it will be a good final tune-up race before Baltimore.