Day 37: A Sluggish Sunday and the Importance of Listening to Your Body

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Well, here we are at Day 37 of the London Marathon 2025 training plan, and today’s run was definitely one for the books—though perhaps not for the reasons I might have hoped. After a fantastic late night out enjoying Bat Out of Hell the musical, I was up bright and early for my Sunday run. However, unlike many of the runs I've had recently, today just didn't go as planned.

When Every Step Feels Like a Marathon

Usually, I find that I can shake off any tiredness after a few minutes, but today it felt like I was running through treacle. Not a smooth, golden syrupy kind of treacle, but the thick, sticky, feet-dragging black treacle that suggests someone may have accidentally upended an entire vat of it onto the pavement. I pushed through to finish the run, but it was a struggle from start to finish, and I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other until I got back to the front door. It’s a strange sensation when a run doesn’t flow, and you have to work so hard just to keep moving.

The Mystery of the Off Day

It's always difficult to pinpoint exactly why a run doesn’t feel good. I could try and analyse my nutrition over the last few days, but in truth, it’s not really been any different from usual. It could just be that the demands of training are finally starting to take their toll, and my body is pushing back a little, the way a well-fed cat pushes things off a table just because it can.

I was thinking about this yesterday. During the interval at Bat Out of Hell, I had a moment where I felt a bit unwell and had to go outside for some water. Sometimes these are signs that you need to listen to your body and not push too hard. Of course, listening to your body is one thing—understanding its rather cryptic messages is another matter entirely.

The Value of Rest and Recovery

In previous posts, I've talked about the importance of rest and recovery, and I’m beginning to realise that these aren’t just words on a training plan but crucial parts of the whole process. For example, on Day 31, I noted how my body communicated its displeasure after the Canterbury 10-mile race with aches and pains. Also, on Day 34, I had to decide whether to push on or ease up because my legs were voicing a strong opinion—an opinion that, on reflection, probably deserved more attention than I gave it at the time.

As a recent article from Garmin explains, "successful athletes typically concentrate on improving a single aspect of performance at a time." This involves "tackling varied challenges" and not pushing to the max every day. The article also highlights the importance of mixing harder training weeks with more modest ones. My body, in its own charmingly stubborn way, is clearly telling me that today is not a day to push too hard.

Reset and Recharge

Therefore, I’m going to take it easy for the rest of the day, try to get a decent night's sleep, and be ready for another week of training tomorrow. The London Marathon isn't going to run itself, but it also requires me to listen to my body and give it what it needs to prepare properly. After all, even the greatest of heroes know when it’s time to pause, take a deep breath, and live to fight another day—preferably with fewer complaints from their knees. 

Location: Sittingbourne, UK

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