All systems go!

The physio is still very confident that I can do the marathon. I'm doing all the right things to get through my injury. And, no, I'm not going to do myself any long term damage by running, and no I haven't torn a ligament. There is a little lateral play in both my legs, which isn't necessarily how the human body was designed to work, but nevertheless nothing to worry about. I need to keep on warming my quads before a run, icing my knee after a run, cross training (such as cycling or rowing) to keep exercising my leg muscles when not running, use ibuprofen gel to alleviate the discomfort being caused by the swelling (which is tiny, but what it causing the pain), stretch gently after a run (never before), and keep increasing the mileage, to make sure I'm fully prepared to run 26.2 miles in 8 weeks' time. Compression may help, but the massages are vital, so it's more time with the fitness roller and back to the physio next week, and maybe twice a week thereafter as necessary to really get my knee back to fitness.

Today's plan - four miles. It was cold, and it hurt (a bit), but with the added confidence that I'm up to the challenge and my knee is not going to spell a premature end to my running "hobby", I kept going, and upped my pace a little from the last couple of weeks, nothing too strenuous, but an improvement all the same:

Mile 1 - 12m43s
Mile 2 - 12m12s
Mile 3 - 12m01s
Mile 4 - 11m57s

A day off tomorrow, and then a 9-10 mile (2 hour) run on Sunday.