SO, ONE down and three to go – and what a relief it is to have notched up the first of my races. My half marathon time was a very pleasing 2hrs 13 minutes and I kept with the 10 minute a mile pacemakers until around 28k. But if I’m honest, much of the last quarter of the event went by in a bit of a blur and my finishing time of 4hrs and 47 minutes was only one minute faster than my London Marathon time three years ago.

Slowing up in the last quarter seems an occupational hazard for me. My decision to train without using energy drinks is definitely to blame, I think, but I just find it so difficult to drink anything but water during a long run since more often that not I am quite queasy. The downside is that I end up feeling so tired that I stop taking in the sights, fix my eyes firmly on the ground and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other to get me to the finish line.

I’m not that keen on stocking up on carbs too much the night before either or eating much at breakfast on the big day – not least because anything that might precipitate a visit to the marathon loos is enough to quell my appetite. Only someone who has run such a race will know what I mean – but just to give you an idea, those of you who have seen Slumdog Millionaire, remember the latrines the boys were minding when the Bollywood star arrived by helicopter? That’s on a par with marathon port-a-loos - trust me I know!

In fact, running a marathon is one of the few times I wish I’d been born male – firstly, because I’d probably run a faster time, but mostly because the queues for the portable urinals are just so much shorter and to add insult to injury the male runners can pull up anywhere en-route and water a tree, not such an easy feat for us female runners if we are to protect our modesty!

I plan to try some energy drinks during the London Marathon next weekend, since the chances are I’ll still be feeling the affects of last weekend’s race, but regardless I still plan to keep my eyes firmly planted on the ground – 35k into the Paris run I spotted a 20 euro note on the road – so sometimes it does pay to be knackered!