1. Run in the heat - you’ll sweat more, needing to spend longer drinking (gulping) at the water stations
2. Starve yourself of electrolytes - it’ll make drinking the water as part of point 1 particularly ineffective
3. Ditch the pasta party - have a steak and chips pub lunch the day before instead
4. Don’t train - I ran twice in two weeks, which is probably twice too many times for the committed PW runner
5. Put on some weight - I’m a stone heavier since my inaugeral half marathon run; beer and crisps are particularly recommended

So, with absolute dedication to the PW 5 Point Guide, I manage an impressively slow 2.17 yesterday (previously I’ve hovered just over 2 hours). I know, I know, it’s not that bad, but I would like to have a proper crack of beating 2 hours. Actually I would have gone at least 15 minutes slower had my Reading running partner not cajoled me into running through the pain barrier.

With typical runners’ gold fish memory, I finished the race and then harked on about how much I enjoyed it (the reality was that from mile 9 onwards I had to, in coaching cliché, really ‘dig deep’).

The race itself was pretty well organised. Support from the locals was thin on the ground, but then most of the race was in the countryside. What was lacking in numbers was made up for in enthusiasm by the marshals, who cheered on every runner with, at times, manic enthusiasm.

While it didn’t compete with GNR, Hastings or Reading halves in terms of scale (which also meant no ‘goody bag’ and having plastic cups rather than Lucozade and bottles of water) it was a friendly and worthwhile event.

Also on the plus side, I have now completed the third of my seven Septathlon events, with the London to Brighton cycle ride lined up for next weekend.