A stomach bug and, I think, some food poisoning has stopped my training for the last nine days. I tried 10 miles on the turbo last night but then felt ropy for the rest of the night.

So, it’s feet up, do nothing and just wait it out.

Last year I was also ill around the same time. I had the flu and lost two weeks when I should have been hitting the hardest weeks of training. I remember feeling frustrated and worried. If I wasn’t training would I be fit enough to complete the race? Even after recovering, the doubt remained. I never trained more than 100 miles and I felt that I was a few weeks behind where I should have been.

This year, I know my training has been better so I’m not as worried about illness affecting Norseman. I tell myself I still have six weeks to go, I have the Tenby Long Weekend as a final ‘big’ practice. But it’s still frustrating. I tell myself I should be training even though I know that I shouldn’t. I just have to wait.