Day 34: Tired Legs and a Bridge to Strood

A Fine Line Between Pushing and Listening

Day 34 of London Marathon 2025 training, and after yesterday’s tough session, today’s run always had the potential to be more of a battle than a breeze. I set out once again from The Math School, this time crossing the M2 Medway Bridge and venturing into Strood. On paper, it was meant to be a base run—steady, controlled, nothing too strenuous. In reality, my legs were voicing a rather strong opinion about the previous day’s exertions.

The trouble with training is that improvement often masquerades as exhaustion, and knowing whether to push on or ease up requires the wisdom of a seasoned athlete or at least the common sense not to ignore your own knees when they start issuing threats. Twenty minutes in, I was already feeling the strain, making today’s run less about speed and more about persistence.

No Turning Back Now

Thankfully, my route choice was inspired—or at least, effectively limiting. Once I’d started, there was no real option but to continue, given that work awaited me back at The Math School. There's a certain genius to choosing a route that offers no easy way to quit; if running is a battle of willpower, then removing the option to surrender is half the fight won.

The run itself was made all the more atmospheric by a brief pause to take in that same scene from yesterday that would be befitting of a Hammer Horror film. I managed to take a picture of it today so that you can share in the eerie experience that I am having to put myself through each day! When you’re running, the last thing you want is to feel like the protagonist in the opening scene of a horror story, but it does keep things interesting.

The Sweet Relief of a Rest Day

An hour later, I was back at The Math School, tired but satisfied, and ready to get on with the rest of the day. Balancing marathon training with work and life is an art form, somewhere between time management and controlled chaos, but it’s all part of the challenge.

Tomorrow, however, is a rest day—a most welcome, much-needed rest day. If training is the work of building strength and endurance, then rest is the magic that makes it all worthwhile. A wise person once said that sometimes, doing absolutely nothing is the most productive thing you can do. That wise person was probably a long-distance runner.