I’ve been a lazy runner this week. Lazy in updating this blog: there was no 26 or 25 days to go. Lazy in running: three days, two runs, 14 miles, all easy, nothing taxing. Lazy in eating: I’ve been consuming too freely and too much junk (biscuits, chocolate and so on) – a notion (when expressed by a skinny runner) is lost on the majority of the population. Lazy in stretching: I’ve done none, hence – after a 30-mile effort on Sunday – I felt creaky and tight.

Lazy no more, I decided (while shaving, which, strangely, has been the cause of other historic motivational moments), so here I am updating this blog, eating a satsuma and drinking a glass of water, following a bath and painful consultation with the foam roller. I’ve also plotted my last long run pre-Vanguard Way: a 37-mile solo effort along the middle section of the route. Running life is prone to peaks and troughs, chiefly because the sport is such a solitary affair; if you can’t motivate yourself, there’s no team to gee you up. But, if there were no troughs, there would be no peaks, and I need a major peak in 24 days time.