Guest post by Phil who is preparing for his first marathon in his home town of Manchester this April.

I was cruising at eleven miles when I tripped over the dog.

I had observed it chasing a ball to my left, while spying the owners on a possible intercept course directly ahead.

I calculated. Lots of time and space to negotiate, ‘Steady as I go’, I thought. But, like a decloaking Romulan battle cruiser, the dog materialised at my feet and I was spinning out of control.

“Bloody stupid dogs!” I transmitted via the communication medium of my voice.

I just managed to hold steady and resume course, checking to see if anyone was about to claim £250 from ‘You’ve Been Spanieled’.

The dog had shaken me out of my pleasant reverie about the potential of the next Star Trek movie (to summarise: prob a bit crap but I will be going).

Now I was firmly back in my body. Creaky knee, tingly achilles, achey shoulder. Ah, but I can have a gel soon. And maybe a wee. Things were looking up.

This was my first 18-miler as I stagger towards the starting line of the Manchester marathon at the end of April.

If you are, or have been, in marathon training I am sure you are used to the mental meanderings that ensue during ‘the long run’.

I rarely listen to music – I usually play podcasts – but I am always tuned into ‘Radio Runner’.

Everyone will enjoy their own broadcast, but my station sounds like it’s stuck on a Radio Four afternoon play about a northern bloke avoiding people in London parks. But swearier.

Here’s a quick rundown of my charts at the moment:

1) “Yeah, bit knackering this, but the first three miles always are; you’ll settle down inabit”
2) “Not a fan of this long boring stretch at all (was that seven miles or eight? Better be eight)”
3) “Fair enough fellow runner cruising by, but I am on 12 miles here, you are probably only doing four. Or something”
4) “Hmmm not sure how this knee/calf/achilles/nipple is going to hold up”
5) “Oh no, here comes that bloody spaniel again”

I am at that stage where towards the end of the long run I question whether I can continue for a full marathon distance. I am in cliff hanging territory, like an Archers episode with a race number.

I will have to tune into Radio Runner on Sunday 28 April to find out.