Standen's Run - Time To Heel

East Magazine journalist Dave Standen with his weekly training update, as he prepares himself for the Beachy Head Marathon on Saturday October 25. After recent family illnesses, Dave decided to attempt running a marathon for the first time to raise money for Cancer Research and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Stats
Miles run this week – Nada
Pain level – Both walking and standing have become major issues
Completion likelihood – Highly unlikely, perhaps 23.94%

Bugger!
The Beachy Head Marathon takes place tomorrow (Sat Oct 25) and despite all the Trojan like work I’ve put into the training, my participation is hanging in the balance.
After four months, two hundred and five miles, two stone, four teeth, two pairs of trainers, one pot of Vaseline, an accidental purchase of ladies running shorts, several rat encounters and many broken promises, a heel injury is likely to scupper my chances of competing in the event.
My diet currently consists of pasta and Ibuprofen, I haven’t run for over a week due to the pain and I spend my evenings giving the guilty heel an ice massage (if indeed, rolling my foot over a bag of frozen peas constitutes an ice massage). It’s agonizing to stand, and walking isn’t too much fun either. In short; bugger.
Various stages of denial, recrimination (the heel has strong arguments) and accusation have come and gone, and after much deliberation, I’ve decided to at the very least try and walk the 26.2 miles, if I can’t run it. If I was doing it for myself, then I’d more than likely pull out, but as it stands, the big, circling, vulture-like shadow of charity is hanging over my head, so I feel the burden of responsibility weighing on my shoulders.
I’m not sure if I’ll make the whole distance, but I’m going to give it a go, pain be damned. I’ll face the consequences and, more than likely, the foot doctor, next week.

The marathon took its toll on Dave