Jogger's Journey - Chrissy Diaz

Chrissy Diaz

Latest update

This has certainly been a rollercoaster of a journey! I am exhausted, sore, nervous, emotional, and excited all at once. As the distance of the long run's increase, I am far more fatigued and find myself apprehensive of each run coming up, but at the same time I don't want to let the fears stop me! The best part of this journey by far is hearing people inspired by what I am doing and giving them hope. When friends or colleagues share that my story is helping them, I feel that they are on the journey with me, and it gives me a real boost to keep going. The worst part so far was training in the heatwave. Setting my alarm at 4am to go out for a run and the heat still being 23 degrees at that time of the morning was incredibly hard, and I would advise anyone training in such heat to hydrate well in the days leading up to your run, fuel properly and reduce your pace. Running in the heat took more out of me than I expected, and on top of suffering with long covid I found myself questioning if I have it in me to complete my training, and the marathon itself.

I have had many an argument with myself on my training runs where I acknowledge I am tired, frustrated, and sore so maybe I should just stop, but I quickly remind myself why I set out to run marathon in the first place, and the cause I am running for. This has kept me going each time.

If there was anything I would have done differently it would be to prioritise time for stretching and strength workouts, as I am currently healing from an injury that potentially would not have happened had I stretched properly from the outset. For anyone considering applying for the London Marathon I would say do it (even though I keep saying I will never do this again!!), as you learn so much about yourself and what your body is capable of doing that you never thought was possible. Running 26k nonstop, when I had previously never ran anything over 5k was amazing. I keep trying to vision what it will feel like on the day after 9 months of training, and have moved away from a pace time, to focusing on the start line and finish line instead.

Invest in sports massage's regularly as these can be incredible at keeping the body going if they are done correctly.

The thought of completing the marathon is overwhelming but positive, and I get goosebumps/teary when I do think about it.

About Chrissy

Charity running for: Mind

Fundraising Link: Just Giving 

Chrissy's story:

I've been applying to the London Marathon for over 20 years and have been selected in 2022 after spending the last 2 years recovering from Covid and being diagnosed with Long Covid. I've been left with permanent damage to my lungs and had to attend Covid rehab.

I have always been passionate about mental health and have personally experienced challenges with my mental health during recovering.

I am running the marathon in memory of my daughter’s friend, who lost his battle with mental health aged 15 years old. He would be 21 years old this year, which brings even more meaning to me completing the marathon.

I am not a natural runner, and prior to applying had not run more than 5k in my life.