RUNNING THE LONDON MARATHON IN SUPPORT OF
SPINAL RESEARCH UK
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Day 1. 21 km
Day 2. Rest Day
Day 3. 5 km
Day 4. Rest 6 km
Day 5. Strength Exercises
Day 6. 13 km
Day 7. Stretch Day
Day 8. Rest Day
Day 9. 31 km
Day 10. Rest Day
The weekend that passed I visited my family in sunny Athens, Greece. It was a great opportunity to head south and run in the sunshine by the seaside. On Saturday (Day 1) morning, I managed to run 21km on a 5:56 mins/km. The view was incredible and I also run for the first time (wearing trainers) on the sand – a much more challenging run than I had anticipated yet very enjoyable!
I started my route from the beautiful Flisvos Marina and headed south to Glyfada and then all the way back. 
I ended my run with a stretch at the beautiful SNF – Cultural Centre!
On Monday (Day 3) morning prior to flying back to London, I managed to fit in a quick 5 km run. Easy run and very enjoyable as the sun was shining yet again and the sky had a beautiful blue colour!
On Tuesday (Day 4), although I had planned to have a rest day, London was sunny and I couldn’t resist to head out for a quick run. With university deadlines pilling up I never know if I will be able to complete my planned runs and when I get these urges to just jump out of bed and run, I go for it!
My original plan was to run 13 km on Thursday (Day 6), however as I didn’t run first thing in the morning, I just did not manage to fit in a run during the day. Instead, after finishing my morning lectures, I wondered around the sunny London streets with my best friend, Irene, who is visiting from Los Angeles! We managed to walk 18 km and although I don’t consider walking to be part of my marathon training, it was quality time spent with a person I love! No guilty feelings for missing this run! :p
The next two days, I woke up with a slightly soar lower back. My sister came to the rescue by giving me a deep tissue massage. With my planned 31 km run on Sunday I didn’t want to risk having an injury so took some days off running.
Come Sunday (Day 9), I headed out at 8 am for a 31km run. Thankfully for this long run I was joined by my running buddy, Giulia! We run a beautiful route from Southwark, cross Tower Bridge to the Limehouse, where we took the canal route all the way to Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park! Another 11 km and our route would have formed a shape of a heart…Not too long till the 42km!
An important point to raise this week that I haven’t mentioned in any of my previous updates is the importance of having a good night’s sleep prior to long runs. It seemed like the first few weeks of training I was too caught up with having the right outfit, setting up my Garmin and Runkeeper, ensuring that I ate the ‘right’ foods and hydrated prior, during and after the runs…that I forgot to monitor the most important thing: sleep!
Having completed 9 long runs (>21km), I can say with confidence that I enjoyed and felt more confident during the ones that I had slept at least 8 hours the prior night. My plan for the next few weeks is to prioritise getting a good night’s sleep…How realistic this is we’ll see as with exam fast approaching after the London Marathon, it is likely I will need to spend some long days revising, while also training…
I am hoping to complete the marathon in 4h30m! I know this training will be really hard for me and I need your help! To keep me accountable, I plan to post an update of my training every 10 days, so stay tuned for the next post on 50 Days till the London Marathon!
research girl today 