Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog …

OK. I admit I couldn’t get hold of any of those ingredients, but now I’ve started on longer runs they are being followed by consumption of some strange brews. The base is something called “Pharma whey”, which sounds like something a milkmaid may cry out in a moment of passion, but is nowhere near as much fun. I believe some people just mix it with water and down it after a run. I tried it that way once and almost gagged. The trick is to put a couple of scoops in the blender, lob in a banana (and anything else that’s been hanging around in the fruit bowl for a while) add water and yoghurt and whizz it up.

I took out a mortgage and bought a big tub in preparation for London last year and still had half left so I had to enter this year just to use the damn stuff up. You need to proceed with caution though. After one particularly gruelling run last year Liz made up a potion using frozen fruit. The resultant ice cream headache from dogging it off too quickly was so intense it made me weep.

I ran further today than at any time since the marathon last year. I was aiming to run sixteen eight minute miles but I felt a hamstring twinge after four miles so slowed the pace right down as I really needed to get a long run in, irrespective of the time. Ran out to Golden Acre Park, out the back to Eccup, across the A61 to Shadwell, short stretch on the ring road and back up Harrogate Road to Eccup. Threw in a lap of the rezza and ran back past our house to the Dyneley Arms to get the mileage up. 18.69 miles in two hours and forty minutes. Confidence boosted by getting in a long run, but worrying that the hamstrings and calves might let me down.

It was a cracking morning with loads of runners about getting their long runs in. I’ve got three twenty mile runs planned for the next three Sundays and none of them are solo runs, so it feels like training should be more enjoyable from here on in. Not planning on doing anything excessive for the rest of each week, just keep things ticking over. For one thing I couldn’t face more than one whey based smoothie per week.