Marathon Training!

Back in September someone gave me the idea to run in the Urban Cow Half Marathon, I had just finished Eppie's Great Race with a good time considering the lackadaisical training I had put in, so I figured, what the hell. I'll do it! That's the answer I try to give unless I have a really good reason not to do a thing. I did it too! I did it 2:04:07! Not knowing any better, I just figured it was ok. The more jaws I saw dropping at my announcement of the time, the more I came to realize that was a pretty good time. Especially for a 50 year old fat man who had only run 8 times in preparation for both this race and the Great Race.
Filled with the confidence of my triumph, I decide to register for the California International Marathon! The CIM! It's one of the Marathons you can use to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I found this out when filling out the online registration. I saw the box asking if I was attempting to qualify for Boston, and in my inimitable fashion, I checked YES! I later found out I'll have to finish in 3:35:00 to do it. That's not realistic for me, but who knows? Stranger things have happened.
I had built up to running 8 miles 3 times per week when at mile 7 of one of my runs I felt like someone shot me in the calf. I could not believe how bad it hurt. I stayed off it for a week and tried to run again. It began to hurt in 500 feet. I stayed off it for another week and saw a doctor. Twentyfive days before the CIM, he told me I need to rest for six to eight weeks.
This marathon was not cheap. I'm not going to toss that non-refundable registration out! I decided to train the Army way. WORK YOUR WAY BACK!
A few days after seeing the doctor I ran as far as I could without pain. One mile that day. The next day I went two miles. Then 3 miles on stairs. Then four miles on stairs and finally five miles. I took a break for a day and ramped it up to seven, then eight miles. Today I added 50% and ran 12 miles without pain.
The CIM is in 14 days. We'll see how I do.