?The biggest thing I learnt was the importance of peaking at the right time. To qualify for London 2012, the Hyde Park race was key. I aimed to peak for that and gave it everything, so now I've learnt how to do that. I know I'll need a training block before

had to make do with some long off-road runs where the ground has been uneven and some long runs on Rotten Row, which is a 1-mile long sand track in Hyde Park. I did get some odd ‘What’s that nutter doing?’ looks, running up and down it for three hours

London in winter. Laps of the sandy horse track in Hyde Park and a few trips to the sauna at the gym had to suffice.  It has been said that the key to completing the Marathon des Sables is good management - of your feet, your food, your emotions. I simply

? Perhaps. But I took the attitude that anything was possible until proved otherwise and I immediately started training and filming. Suffering from shin splints because I was overweight, my first 5K runs around Hyde Park often took over half an hour