I don’t mess about on my long runs.

This isn’t the time to be appreciating the South Norfolk countryside, marvelling at how lucky I am to be out there doing something I love.

There are other runs for that. There are other times for that. The lead-up to a marathon has to be taken seriously because, frankly, it scares me.

When you’re marathon training the long run is the most important one of the week.

But they’re not just about banking miles in your legs; they’re about nailing your fuelling strategy to ensure you get to that finish line as quickly as possible without physically (and mentally) falling to pieces.

It’s why I’ve been running the same six-mile loop on my long runs for the last month.

It makes me sound boring; I realise that. But it’s also the easiest way to ensure I can fuel and hydrate properly on my runs as I’ve made up a little station outside my home where I can replenish my supplies.

It’s actually quite a comical scene each time I arrive back because I’m certainly not stopping. I grab the water on-the-go and desperately try to refill my soft flask as I’m running along.

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Water goes everywhere and it’s only once I’m satisfied that I have refilled enough that I turn to head back out on the famous ‘Armstrong Loop’ once again.

It’s also a great test mentally because there are times when the little devil on my shoulder tells me at the end of each loop: ‘Cut it short this week, 12 miles is enough.’

Controlling this little blighter is of course all part of the training as well.

The run starts again with each new loop and I give myself a little virtual pat on the back at the beginning of each one.

I hope it doesn’t make it sound like I’m not enjoying it because I am.

I’m loving the process of finding out again what my body needs to get through 26.2 miles as quickly as possible.

Discomfort is the name of the game... but being comfortable with feeling like that is when you know you’re really making progress.

Having said all this, you would think I’m bang on top of my fuelling strategy... I’m not.

I finished a 17-miler on Sunday feeling absolutely done. I hadn’t managed to take on enough water (perhaps spilling too much...) and the warm conditions were such that six miles was too long to wait to get another drink.

I trudged home fantasising about a pint of ice-cold squash and jumping in some pretty questionable paddling pool water in my garden.

After the dust has settled on a run, I always let Neil know how it has gone.

“You’ve probably lost five or six kilos,” he said.

I certainly wouldn’t recommend it as a weight-loss strategy.

When a long run hasn’t quite gone to plan as I spend the rest of the day playing catch-up: I just can’t drink enough and it takes me hours for my body to return to some sort of homeostasis.

There’s only one thing for it this Sunday.

I’m going to have to set up another pop-up fuel station near a friend’s house on my route – this all makes perfect sense to me as a runner but I think I will look back one day and question my sanity.

But let’s face it... we’re runners and we’ve long since accepted that we’re not normal.

It’s why I think my six-mile loop is one of the most logical concepts I’ve come up with... or am I just plain loopy?