Highs and lows of a 20 mile training run

Pre run:	Have I got everything I need? hydration pack ✅, gels ✅ , podcasts ✅, Garmin and headphones charged ✅, route planned ✅, phone ✅, emergency£2 ✅….  Right let’s do this🏃
Mile 2:	20 miles is a long way, perhaps I could shorten it, do 14 miles now and go out for 6 later? I’m I mentally strong enough to do this, I still have 18 miles to go
Mile 6:	whoop whoop gel time! Also, I get to stop and take in my surroundings but mainly the joy of stopping is quite nice.
Mile 8:	this is really silly, why does anyone want to run a marathon, I still have another 4 miles until I can stop and have another gel
Mile 10:	only mile 10, I know it’s halfway but really it feels like it should be more like 12-14 miles,  still 2 miles before my next gel/stop is this route long enough or am I going to have to reroute
Mile 12:	whoop whoop gel stop!! A gel has never tasted so good!! Oh no it's over too quickly time to get going again and brilliant only 8 miles to go
Mile 13:	what I still have 7 miles to go!!! Gutted
Mile 14:	why on earth did you plan a route which includes a hill at mile 14, you could have gone along the canal again!!
Mile 16:	only 4 miles to go, but in distance, it’s only 3 miles, need to re-route!
Mile 17.5	left turn extend extend
Mile 19:5	another bloody hill, we are going move to the bottom of the hill
Mile 20:	Done IT!!!! To be fair there was a point between mile 6 and 14 where I was kinda in the zone, whilst these were my random thoughts I didn't once think about giving up. The podcasts I listened to this run where: David Tennant does a podcast with James Corden Oxygen Addict with Simone Mitchell Ted Talk - can't remember for the life of me! Marathon Talk - night at the science museum with Martin

Running podcasts

If you have ever had the misfortune to talk to me for any length of time about running, or indeed anything, you may have heard me say "well on this podcast I was listening to they said...." 

So I thought it was about time that I shared my full running podcast library with you all, I use beyond pod to listen to them but I believe all of them can be found on I-tunes.   All are free to download and some have subscriber only content, most post a podcast on a weekly basis and these are a mix between English and USA. I have added a hyperlink to the actual website for the podcast too, if you want to find out more, just click on the name of the podcast (not the logo)

Enjoy and if you like what you hear, pay it forward by leaving them a rating on itunes.





Training Academy





Run Run Live

Marathon Talk 

Runners World

Embrace running 

running stories






connect run club


 I have shamelessly borrowed their logos' I hope I don't get in to too much trouble, but if any of the podcasters, see this and want me to remove them just drop me an email.