Rebecca Mcveigh BBC Sport Academy

After an "off-feet" week, my training has been back on the running machine, back on the road and back on the beach!

Tuesday's session with Dan was great fun. I hit the running machine for a few kilometres and then stretched it out.

Dreaming of sunny Scarborough

Dan has now introduced boxing into the cross training mix and I absolutely love it!

Not only is it a great stress reliever, but it really helps build fitness and speed without too much impact on the leg joints.

It's also quite fun to reverse roles and inflict some pain on my trainer with a few misplaced punches! Don't tell him I said that...

I briefly did a bit of boxing training at university in Dublin and have always enjoyed kickboxing aerobics. I highly recommend it for cross training.

For the rest of the week it was back to good old fashioned running - a 10k at the gym and then my weekend run.

I was in Scarborough with friends on a church weekend away so on Saturday you could have found me running along the beach (cue the Baywatch theme music).

I have to say Scarborough isn't quite as glamorous as Malibu, and there are a few more donkey riders to dodge.

However, beach running is great for training.

Advice for marathon day

The sand means low impact for the joints, and also a harder work-out for the leg muscles.

When I ran the Paris marathon two years ago I was living in the south of France, so I did lots of running on the beach and found it so beneficial - mentally and physically.

Anybody seen Rebecca for her Baywatch audition?

Sadly there aren't too many golden beaches where I live in south London!

It was so good to be out in the fresh air and not breathing in London traffic fumes.

There was a really steep hill to climb at the end of the beach run, but you'll be glad to hear I attacked it head-on and didn't take the hillside tram - although it was tempting!

At this stage in training it can be quite mentally tough to keep going. I often find it difficult to fit in training with work and other commitments.

Cold, wet mornings are not much of an encouragement either, but a visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital this week has reminded me that it really is worth it... every single mile.

Find out how I get on in my next diary, and don't forget that you can chat about your own marathon experiences on our messageboards.