So close, but yet so far...

When someone takes a week to post after their 20-miler, it's a good sign that something is wrong.

In my case, I have a strained/torn right calf muscle. I've been cycling through the stages of grief (cuss a little, cry a little, rinse, repeat...) but basically keep coming back to the concrete question: what can I do now to make sure that I finish in a good way on April 20th?

Current strategy:

1. Baby the leg! RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is tricky with a 3-year old and a house on three different levels, but I've been going down the stairs on my butt, to the delight of aforementioned 3 y.o.
2. Do stuff to feel like I'm still involved in my training/recovery. I'm doing a little swimming & pool running on my regular run days. Also seeking out every alternative therapy I can throw at one tiny body-part. Today, I lucked into a medicinal qi gong session with a friend at my shul. Trying to get in for sports massage & kinesiotaping, but apparently there are a lot of other runner in the same boat!
3. Think positively. I keep having to correct myself when I say/think "I'm training for Boston." Instead, "I'm going to run Boston next week."
   
4. Plan realistically. While I know I could "gut it out, " I have to be able to function as a spouse, mother, and designer after the marathon. If I don't have a race-day plan in place to rein myself in, competition and hard-headedness will get the best of me! So, I've dropped all time goals in favor of finishing safely.
5. When in doubt, fall back on all that theological training! Today at services, the leader pointed out that a lot of the psalms of praise aren't about giving thanks for good things. They're about the bad times, when we have faith that we'll have somthing for which to give thanks eventually. So, I'm having faith, and I'm also asking y'all to do whatever you do in the prayer/send-good-energy-into-the-universe department.

Worst case scenario: I know that I can walk 26.2 miles if I have to without laming myself. If I don't die from boredom, I will cross the finish line eventually.

The church at the finish line puts Isaiah 40:31 on a big banner on marathon day.
You may recognize the text from Chariots of Fire. Here's the full context (JPS trans.):

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, Why declare, O Israel,
"My way is hid from [HaShem], My cause is ignored by my G-d"?
²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
[HaShem] is G-d from of old, Creator of the earth from end to end,
He never grows faint or weary, His wisdom cannot be fathomed.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary, Fresh vigor to the spent.
³⁰ Youths may grow faint and weary, And young men stumble and fall;
³¹ But they who trust in [HaShem] shall renew their strength
As eagles grow new plumes:
They shall run and not grow weary, They shall march and not grow faint.