After much deliberation, we decided to rest up today and give my muscles and blisters time to heal a little. Plan ‘A’ was to run a marathon every day from Rome to London and I have been persisting pretty stubbornly to achieve this since leaving Rome, despite running 5-and-a-half marathons through an injury. Looking more closely at the route ahead (through Italy, Switzerland and France) it is clear though that we can still make it to London in the 50 days we have (before term starts again in September!) with a few rest days when needed. My quadriceps muscle is okay at the start of each marathon but it is showing varying degrees of damage by the end – a rest day will hopefully give it time to repair more fully. I also have an ever- growing blister caused by walking (or limping!) and, having cut away some of the blistered skin, I’m l hopeful that this will begin to ease with a rest day. I have asked Hannah so, so much to get up at the crack of dawn each day (so I can avoid running in the searing afternoon heat!) and support me whilst out on the road. Hannah does this without complaint and with such amazing dedication and compassion, she is amazing! Although we have more friends and family joining us in Switzerland and France, it seems unfair to ask Hannah to do this every day of her holiday and she absolutely deserves some rest and recovery time of her own! So, it’s a sleep-in, a leisurely afternoon and perhaps a nice meal in Italy’s culinary capital Bologne later this evening. We will get back in the swing tomorrow and we’ll see how beneficial a day of rest proves to be.