Long run frustration

On Thursday we did intervals again and it was not horrible. My breathing was under control again and I was able to jog in between faster runs.

Yesterday we went for a long run of 50 minutes. Unfortunately my breathing decided it was not going to be under control. I never felt comfortable and it didn't seem like I was ever getting enough breath. At 35 minutes I had to slow down to a walk and again see the depressing sight of Mark and Kirsty running on ahead. I got my breath back pretty quickly, threw up - just to make the experience complete - and resumed running after 2 minutes. The others turned back to join me and we got to 50 minutes together. I was still not breathing properly.

The frustrating thing is that I can't predict when this will happen, or what I can do when it does, except stop. I don't want to stop. I am going to Google some stuff on breathing exercises for asthma; maybe that will help. I'm also not going to eat anything less than 3 hours before a run!

Our first 5k race is on Monday, and after yesterday I am not looking forward to it.

Steady as she goes

Our plan is at its 4-week point, which is an 'easy' consolidation week. But we started from week 3, so we replaced the suggested 20-minute run with 25 minutes. Today is cooler than it has been for several weeks, and the run felt good. Yes, that's right, it actually felt good! It seemed fast, even though my iphone app disagrees. We mainly ran in Green Park which I consider a harder run as it has gradients - which are absent from all of the other locations we run in. There is no flat but no mad hills either - perfect for a slightly tougher run, I think. Kirsty tried to push for a few minutes longer but my mind was set on 25; I compromised by doing the last minute at a faster pace.

Breathing was well under control today and I am so happy. I believe the return to 3 sessions per week has made a big difference, helped along by lower humidity. Let that be a lesson, Lisa, 3x per week is a minimum.

Back on a plan

Running became really hard for me. The uncommonly hot summer and the less frequent training made every step a long one. I have cursed London's humidity to everyone who will listen; why can't it be a rubbish summer like last year??

13 miles started to look like a hell of a long way again. We had been talking about getting on a proper training plan but failed to find one that appealed. I don't want to be required to run more than 3 times per week as there are other things in my life. I decided to bite the bullet, get the Royal Parks' beginner training plan, and put it into Excel so that we could adapt as necessary. It's a good plan I think, a 'steady run', interval or hill run, 'tempo run' (slightly faster than is comfortable) and then a long run at the end of each week. Distance and intensity increases each week. We will alternate between interval and tempo each week to give three runs. I also want to do some other sort of exercise on some of the off days; but it seems unlikely that I'll do much of that.

The interval run was, of course, horrible. I struggle to get my breath back after one minute of brisk running, and I have to walk instead of 'jog' in between brisks. Another point of frustration as I know that Kirsty doesn't need to walk. It was also the hottest day of the year so far and simply entirely unpleasant.

Today we met at Regent's Park for a change of scenery. We tried to get there early to avoid the heat, but earliness rarely happens on a Sunday. By the time we got our act together it was 10.45 and baking. It was less humid, though, and we did a thoroughly heart-warming 45 minutes, mainly hiding under the shade of trees. It wasn't easy and I didn't feel quite in control of the breathing, but we did it! It feels like we have started to get back on track.

Slacking and Amsterdam

Our plan became to extend our long run by 5 minutes per week, and we did a 45 minute, 6.69km run on June 22nd. But we soon realised *cliche alert* that failing to plan is planning to fail. The end of June came with us doing just 2 runs per week and losing our way somewhat.

The next run was in lovely Amsterdam, where Kirsty, Mark and I went for a short break. We failed to find a park to run in (what we thought was a park was a zoo) and ended up following a random route through the quiet streets and canals of Amsterdam on a Sunday morning. Plus a car park. It was hot; we got to 30 minutes and I was really tired, having forgotten my Ventolin and having to work so much harder for breath. I felt a sort of accomplishment which outwieghed my slightly uncomfortable thought that I've become one of those people that runs on holiday.

As we were both away at the weekend, Kirsty and I decided to go for 40 minutes on a Monday. We did it! Actually it was 40 minutes and 15 seconds as that took us to a magical 6km distance. Unfortunately from about 35 minutes, I started to feel some pain in my left knee and groin area. It was still there in the morning and I could feel it when walking. I decided to skip the planned Wednesay and Friday run to give it time to calm down. I helped it along by stretching. Groin stretches, woo!

I think it was a good decision as I had a pain-free run on Saturday. I tried short intervals but only got to 3 before deciding I lack the motivation to do intervals alone. I then did a 20 minute normal pace to atone for my sin. It was quite achey.

Long runs

*Retrospective updating has messed up my sense of dates, so I'm writing about a run from a couple of weeks ago and one on the post date, haha*

One Sunday Kirsty came to Battersea for a shot at running 35 minutes together. I had run 35 minutes with Mark, which was a really good run; at his suggestion, we'd even run faster for the last minute and it felt great. That was a real boost to the spirits. But Sunday was a horribly hot and humid day and it was a thoroughly unpleasant run. We got to 32 minutes and gave up. I think Kirsty was more annoyed at it than me as she hadn't done 35 minutes before. I hope there isn't too much of this sort of weather over the summer.

Our second shot at 35 came on this day, I believe, and it was successful. Unmemorably so.

Short intervals

Short intervals are hard work. I think I tried running them too fast, around 5min/km. But I managed the required 5 intervals with a bit of extra walking, plus the 5min lead-in and lead-out runs. I kind of wanted to die afterwards. As I'm updating this retrospectively I've messed up timings a bit, but I know that on June 10th I tried my second short interval run with Kirsty. Yet another thing that is better and easier with my running buddy. Still bloody hard though! The thing is, I really really like running at the faster speed, for about 30 seconds until I completely lose my breath.

That run is memorable because we got a couple of really nice compliments; from someone at work and from a (hot) random as we ran past. Running is a good thing :)

Plateau? Second wind? Actual fitness?

I concluded that a lack of proper warm-up contributed to my failure at longer intervals. However I keep forgetting that in warm up phase. Still brisk walking to warm up, but it quickly tails off into an easier walk and a chat. Warming up is boring!

After the disaster Kirsty and I did a 30-minuter on a dreary, rainy Saturday starting at Waterloo. We meant to run east along the South Bank, but the path was closed off so we ended up going over Blackfriars Bridge and doing exactly the same route we would do after work! Our desire for variety was thus thwarted, but happily the running went well.

I've started noticing a pattern. The first 5 minutes is easy. 5 - 15 is some sort of hell; breathing is difficult, muscles are complaining in their muscley way and I want to stop. Somewhere around 17 minutes - I don't know why - everything gets easier. I can't describe what happens exactly, but the breathing definitely settles into something I feel like I could maintain over a long distance. Happy Lisa!

Interval madness

After looking at a few different plans, we settled on the Royal Parks Foundation's half-marathon training plan as a basic guide, but that we would essentially do what we wanted. I personally like the RPF plan because it has training weeks dated exactly to race day. I know, little things. There are intervals (starting at: run really fast for 1 minute, walk for 1 minute, etc), longer intervals (starting at: 5mins easy pace, 10mins a bit faster, 5mins easy) and long runs at the weekend.

So we decided to try a longer interval run. I was still recovering from my cough and really not ready for that push. The faster pace was at 6min/km and I managed 4.5 minutes but my breathing was ragged and my legs really hurt. Kirsty and Mark were both along and they slowed down with me, but my legs hurt so much that eventually I had to stop. They kept running for a bit and, during this whole thing, I've never felt worse than when I watched them run on. Very frustrating, but a couple of ciders in the pub afterwards helped somewhat.

So after my enforced break and 28-minute achievement, we moved up to 30 and started looking for a half marathon training plan. We didn't fully finish couch to 5k and I wondered whether we should have. They must have recommended 3x 28 and 3x 30 minutes for a reason. But the important thing is, we kept going.

Couch to 5k is a clearly outstanding programme for the average lardass to get up to a level of fitness, but I haven't found anything so good for taking someone on to longer distances. Even beginner plans have you running 4 times a week plus cross training, and ranges of experts have different opinions and agendas behind their plans. But none of them seem to match my agenda, which is that I want to run the whole way. That is the main goal, and I'll be so happy if I achieve it. My ideal secret plan is to finish the half in 2hrs 6 minutes, or 6 minutes per km. And I can't see me exercising 5 times per week - there are other things in my life!

Running vs jogging

One thing that I've occasionally thought about is the difference between running and jogging. Naturally the internet disagrees with itself and I haven't invested any money on books or magazines about running. One does detect a slightly derisory tone about jogging, as if it is some essentially different and inferior activity, but without any definitions to qualify it.

But this morning I came across a BBC article by some sport trainer guy defining 6mph as a cut off point. So you have to be doing 10 minute miles to be running, any less is jogging. And what's more, if you are jogging, you might as well be walking, because it supposedly has the same calorie-burning benefits with less strain. I am a little incensed. My comfortable RUNNING pace is currently just under 11 minute miles. I certainly can't walk that fast, and in all my running, I've never been outpaced by a walker. It also says that you should always run on the balls of your feet, but I know the jury is out on this one - I saw a proper running article suggesting that up to 70% percent of elite runners are heel first, and that what matters is what's comfortable and doesn't result in injury. I'll keep heeling it, thanks.

I want to run faster - I currently get a little too out of breath, but I believe that if I keep at it, I'll get there. I don't think condescending articles like that really have any place on the BBC, which aims to promote health and fitness. It's potentially very discouraging to be told that you might as well be walking, when you've put all your best effort into doing something better. And I will keep going. Whether it's called running or not.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/health_and_fitness/4286146.stm

A weighty issue

It's no secret that I am overweight. Going to the doctor is a ritual hell - whether I'm going for an asthma check up or travel vaccinations, they always trot out the medical wisdom that just losing weight would be good for me. Now I'm not going to complain about how hard 'just' losing weight is. I think people should accept responsibility for themselves - no matter how I got here or how easy others may find it to keep the weight down - it is my problem and only mine to change.

Weight loss was never my goal with this running thing; I've always had it in my mind that if I have to run that distance and still be this fat, so be it. But, but. I have not lost a single pound in weight since I started running; not one. Everyone has said that I must be replacing fat with muscle and I'm happy to believe that. I am still wondering if my weighing scales are stuck, though.

Not really finishing C25K

Weeks 7 and 8 were where it became difficult. I got another cold and bad cough, so on the programme week 7, I hardly ran at all. I did 15 minutes on one occasion, coughing and spluttering the whole way. Kirsty seemed to lose her way too, and suddenly we weren't on programme anymore. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but I really would have hoped for fewer problems than I've had. Nonetheless, I have kept the sense that I must continue, and I need to keep running regularly if I am to complete that thirteen miles.

This period emphasised to both Kirsty and I that running alone is much harder. Having that other person, or persons, there alongside you changes all sorts of psychology. For me it makes me 'man up' a bit, focus less on my various complaints, and removes the temptation to stop early. When my cough cleared up, we ran 28 minutes together and it really didn't feel hard.

Week 6 was a couple of split run/walks and a 25 minute run on the weekend. Everything felt ok after breaking the 20 minute milestone. The long run was interesting as I began to notice a pattern. The first couple of minutes felt easy, then I began to get out of breath. From about 5 minutes on, everything was hard, but after about 12-15 minutes it started to get a little easier. But, no sign of that 'runner's high' yet!

Happily, there was no sign of that headache. Dr Google's other ideas on it were dehydration, caffeine and hangover. So I make sure I drink enough water, limit my guzzling of coffee before runs, and run late in the day if I am hungover.

20 MINUTES

Yes, Week 5, Run 3, 20 minutes - I did it! Even as I stopped running, I could barely believe it.

But, this is me - it wasn't easy. The first 8 minutes were ok. 8 - 15 really dragged; my nose was running uncontrollably (glam), my breathing was quite ragged and my quadraceps felt pretty tight. Then around 15 it got easier; the breathing was clearer and I felt like I could make it. Then I got a headache which lasted until about 10 minutes after I stopped.

I mean, a headache! My body is protesting this thing in any old way it can. Dr Google suggests that some people get headaches from strenuous exercise and there's not too much one can do about it. It wasn't pleasant so I hope to hell it was just a one-off.

Week 5 Run 2

2 sets of 8 minutes with 5 min walk in between. The breathing wasn't so good today; I'm thinking it was a combination of hayfever and humidity. London air is pretty intolerable when it's humid , and I hope it's not going to be that sort of summer.

Personally I'm up for a bit of bank holiday weekend rain to clear all the mugginess away, leaving a nice fresh day for our 20-minute odyssey on Monday. I'm looking forward to it but a little scared. 8 minutes felt fairly easy today but it doesn't take a statistician to know that 20 is a lot more than 8. I hope I can do it, I want to do it and if I do, it will be fuelled by willpower and rewarded with cake.

Week 5 Run 1

Sunday runs are often alone, as Kirsty, Mark and I live nowhere near each other. But Kirsty came to Battersea today, which was a good thing as it was our next step up into week 5. Actually, it's a whole week of steps up. Not to question the wisdom of the god of Couch to 5k, but doing a 20 minute continuous run at the end of this week is massive. We've decided to subvert it a bit as we are both away for the weekend and want to do that together. We'll have a go at the 20 minutes on Bank Holiday Monday, then head to a suitable pub or something as a reward for what feels like a huge milestone.

Anyway the run today was good - 3 sets of 5 minutes. Still really enjoying not fighting for breath, and I was even able to talk a little as I ran. My legs felt heavy and achey, but my body should know by now that trifling things like that are not going to stop me. We're repeating this run on Tuesday as we aim for the 20 minuter on May 3rd.

Week 4, run 3

Finally got to the GP yesterday and picked up a shiny new blue Salamol inhaler (that's Ventolin to commoners like me.) Took 2 puffs before running, as directed, and oh-my-god. What a difference! No wheezing at all. I am struggling to describe how good it felt not to wheeze and fight for breath. That just leaves the hayfever symptoms to sort out, and I'll be all set. The hayfever is a minor problem though; now I'm not wheezing I feel unbeatable!

The run went well. Legs were achey, but that is to be expected - after all, I am making them do things they've never done before, and don't really want to do now. The run pattern is still 3-5-3-5. That first 3 is by far the hardest. The second 3 feels easy after the 5, and I was surprised when Kirsty said to walk. With that and the breathing, it feels like turning a bit of a corner. I know there is lots of hard work ahead though.

We've been running along the Embankment which has fewer tourists milling about, and lots of runners. I couldn't help smiling at the sight of the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, and all the other stuff which makes me feel lucky to live in London.

Villains

In a very modest and unspectacular way, my little running challenge has all of the elements of a traditional sports film. Determination, an underdog, adversity, breakthroughs and and a number of girls in tight running vests (not including me!). The thing it doesn't have is a villain. The reactions of people I talk to about this range from mildly interested to surprised to very supportive. No-one has openly scorned or questioned my ability to do this, although I'm sure some of them are thinking it. The worst reaction I've had was an eyebrow raised in scepticism, quickly corrected.

That's where the Americans go wrong when they use middle-class English people for their movie villains. English people are rarely openly nasty or negative. They don't shout 'Pah! I scorn you, lazy fat person - you'll NEVER run 13 miles! Mwahahaha!'. They wish you luck while their mind quietly dismisses your chances, to be discussed with mutual acquaintances at a more polite and appropriate time. Maybe. So I don't have a villain and it seems unfair to focus on that eyebrow to give me the 'screw you' sort of motivation that sports films depict. I'm sure I can live without it. What would be much more useful is one of those 80s-style montages where all the hard training is done in about 30 seconds. That would be sweet.

Week 4 run 2

Best run yet. I did the whole 16 minutes. The breathing was pretty good; a bit of wheezing but it was more bothersome than preventative. Which was great. It was my first run with Kirsty in more than a week and her presence made a big difference, and she said the same. We don't push each other or shout fitness slogans, we just run. The simple presence of the other person makes it impossible to stop short unless something is really wrong. We both felt undaunted by the impending steps up in Week 5, and for the first time I felt like maybe I can improve enough to be able to do this thing.

WEEK FOUR, PEOPLE

On my 6th week of running, I began Couch to 5k week 4. 3 minutes run, 1.5 walk, 5 run, 2.5 walk. Lather, rinse and repeat. I failed quite miserably. I made the mistake of roller skating a lot the day before. My legs were tired and I was accustomed to not pushing myself to run. I managed to run 10 minutes out of the mandated 16, and decided not to be too hard on myself because that was still the most I had ever run.

Battersea Park is a great place to run. Flat, circular and chock full of Battersea sporties, who seem generally nice; some of them smile at me as I chug in the opposite direction. Lots of hotties too. But not so many that there is a lack of space. Running in St James' Park, as we have been doing after work, has gotten prgressively more annoying as the tourists and locals take advantage of the weather. I understand both sides of this antagonism; tourists are slow and chilled and want to take pictures of ducks, but damn! There's a crazy smug jogger in the frame. We live in a world of deletable digital pictures people, I'm not going to run around every cute couple or giant family posing in front of the lake.

TMI?

As I've said before, my plan to not tell the world and his wife about the running was doomed from the start. So lots and lots of people (relatively) ask how it's going. So I tell them. 'Awful', 'Really hard', 'Not great' are phrases that have come up quite a lot. And of course this requires explanation as the natural conclusion of such whines is that I'm chubby and unfit; of course it's hard. Whilst this is true, it's not the full story. I would whine much less if I could breathe as well as your average unfit lardass.

It's like this: ashtma makes all the tiny expandable pockets in your lungs less expandy. They get all uptight; smaller. Need more air? Screw you, we're staying tight and you know what, we may even get smaller. Then the lungs handily throw in some phlegm. This gets tiring when you are breathing more.

So when people ask me how the running is going, I try to convey some sense of this and I see that people don't really know what to say. It's probably too much information but I am not one for bland answers for the sake of polite chat. You ask, you shall know. Sporties tend to bring out general exercising mantras, that it will get easier and I will improve etc. Bless them. I appreciate the advice and general supportiveness, and the mantras generally have truth to them. Maybe some day I'll come across an asthmatic sporty, and they will have a specialised mantra just for the wheezies.

Weeks 2, 3 and 3

Bad blogger!

My breathing problems continued for more than 2 weeks, but I chose to keep going and do what I could. What I could was generally running in 1.5 - 2 minute stints, then walking a lot until I finished coughing, spluttering and wheezing. It got pretty depressing and was part of the reason I stopped writing. I was frustrated that I couldn't get the asthma pump that I need, and concerned that I wasn't going to be able to do this.

I did 2 extra week 2 runs, and then 5 week 3 runs - alternating running 1.5 and 3 minutes. They became slowly, gradually easier but never easy. Always struggling to breathe and unable to talk. But the breathing started to improve and on Friday 16th I completed my last week 3.

So I managed to complete a Week 2 run today. There was a great deal of coughing and spluttering, phlegm and unpleasantness, but not so much that I couldn't do the running. So here's hoping upon hope that my problems over the past week are just the cold, not the asthma. In general I think I am getting too out-of-breath; the internet says you should be able to talk while you're running and I can't by any means. I'm going to do a full Week 2 and hope it all gets better.

It was the first rainy run today. We whined like girls at the beginning but it wasn't bad. I can see if you're running a long way that cold and rain can be a good thing. It did however destroy my hair, so I'll need to get a running hat. Do they make running hats? Or are they normal hats, but 30% dearer?

In other news I did not register at the docs; they require 2 proofs of address and I only have one. My BT bill is just not good enough!

Week 2, no fun to be had

Week 2 run 2 didn't really happen. I developed a cold and cough and decided to do brisk walk on Friday instead. It was probably the right choice, but very frustrating to see Kirsty and Mark set off on the run. I tried a week 2 run today and it was very hard and unpleasant to breathe. I managed to do 5 out of the 6 runs which I'm pleased about, but I imagine that that's what a full-on asthma attack is like. I didn't panic, but every breath was a struggle, with the wheezing and coughing up phlegm (I told you it was unpleasant.)

There is a bright side, in that my legs no longer hurt and I seem to be developing some rhythm. Also, I had music on for the first time and it helped immensely. Thanks, Wham!

Now I'm unsure if my breathing issues are due to the cold or the asthma. I'm going to try registering at the docs tomorrow so that I can get the inhaler I need, but they require two proofs of address and I only have one, so I'm not optimistic. In the meantime I'm going to stick with week 2 runs and hope that the cold, along with all of the wheezing, goes away.

Fuck you, asthma

Week 2, run 1. I went for the 1.5min run, 2min walk. As soon as I started the first run, the wheeze started. I kept up until run segment 5/6 . At that point I told the others that I wouldn't be doing run 6 with them and they should go ahead. It was too much to manage through breathing; the asthma doesn't usually bother me at all but in the back of my mind is the knowledge that the beast is not to be messed with. I called this blog the Big Wheeze as some dark humour but I do have to be careful of it. When you're working to make your body a better machine, you need everything to cooperate and you certainly don't need some bastard disease making it hard to breathe. After run 5, I kept walking for about 3.5 minutes then the breathing clamed down enough to let me have a pop at run 6, and I did 1 minute. I am happy that I did that.

On the bright side, no shin pain today, just plasantly tired legs. Mark, who used to run millions of miles for fun, thought I was striding too short, so I tried not to and it seemed to work. Also by the time I got home I felt positively bouncy. Must be those endorphins I've been reading about.

My workplace is an odd one. It's half full of young/ish men who like sports and fitness challenges. Then there are the others - the non-sporties, either by nature or by illness. Very much in the second category, I do find the sporties a little bit inspiring, and insane. But now it's common knowledge that Kirsty and I are doing this thing, we seem to be inspiring some other non-sporties. Hence Mark running with us, knee-supports and all, and Laura running, but not with us. She went straight for seeing if she can run 20 minutes 3 times a week. I wish her nothing but luck with that but I am sceptical. All the signs and the sporties and the internet point to starting slowly, as I am doing. It will be interesting to see how that works out.

So.. tangent. I need to get my ass to the doctors asap. I don't have any Ventolin because of complacency but it looks like I can't get away with those sort of shenanigans now. (Fuck you, asthma.)

Almost week 2

Runs 2 and 3 were not so pleasant. My shins started hurting to the extent that I had to stop and stretch. But I completed both sessions, out of breath and feeling nothing but glad that it was over. I don't know if I'm running too fast, too awkward, strides too small, too big, whatever. Complicated stuff. I knew it would be hard.

After run 3 I felt sure that I'm unable to move on to week 2 of Couch to 5k and should instead repeat week 1. I ran this by Kirsty and she wants to push on. I don't want to hold her back and I don't want to hold myself back, so tomorrow I will try Week 2 - run 1.5mins, walk 2. (If I didn't do week 2 she'd do it on her own so I wouldn't actually hold her back, just feel shit.)

Incidentally, Susan are fanstastic. Just brilliant to run in. They even keep the feet ventilated.

My boss ran home from work today. The distance to his house is 12 miles; he was looking at routes to stretch it to 15. Yesterday I ran/walked 3km.

Week 1, Run 1

Took Susan out for their first spin today. They were fantastic and my feet felt great. The rest of me did not.

Couch to 5k is designed to be an easy start program for the previously lazy, and objectively, I can see that it is. Run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Repeat x8. By x4 my legs felt wobbly and I was too out of breath to talk properly. But I made it! I did all 8 and did not die. I see that grim determination will be required here; I am chunky and untrained and not designed to run, but I want to do it. I'm really glad to have company, even though the company found the whole thing easier and more fun than I did.

On the bright side, I am doing well at not thinking about how flabby or silly I look, and I do feel a teensy bit proud of myself for doing something.

Running shoes purchased. They are called Nike Air Zoom Structure Triax+ 12. That's 3 times as many letters as are in my full name. They have words like FOOTBRIDGE and DURALON written on them and they have nice purpley pink bits. I want to call them Susan.

My running vest from Asthma UK came today. It's considerably less awesome than the shoes; it is lurid green and will force me to say that I'm spreading my wings. But it is my vest. For running. I will proudly chug around London's finest parkland in it and feel glad that I am helping a charity that means something to me.

My fundraising and asthma fact pack had some surprises for me, including two balloons. One of which ended up behind my bookcase for no reason.. Anyway it made me reflect on how lucky I am. 3 people die every day from asthma, some people's medication doesn't work, some people can't get out of bed because of this stupid condition. Mine is under control and I can do what I want; it's amazing really. Maybe if I get fit it will get even better.

So the next step is to get the hell going! A slightly frustrating wait of a week while Kirsty is on holiday. I don't have to wait but think I need the motivation of the other person.

Beginnings

The pub - the place to plan wars, start religions, make illicit flirtations and tell your platonic friends that you'll love them forever. For me, it was the place, the venue, the sacred and hallowed watering-hole, where I agreed to run a half-marathon with my friend Kirsty.

Why this is something to write about

- I hate exercise;
- I am overweight;
- I am asthmatic;
- 'For the bus' is as far as I have ever run.

I am unfit, I know that and it's never really bothered me. But this year, I will tick over into my third decade.. I've never been fit.. never pushed myself that way.. can I do it?

The plan

We intend to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon in London on October 1oth. 222 days from today. I am running for Asthma UK and Kirsty is running for Mind. I need to raise £350 in sponsorship and I hope that I can.

We'll start by doing the couch to 5k training program. We kick off on March 16th and, should the gods smile on me, I will be able to run 5k by mid-May. Which, coincidentally, is the distance to work. That would save on bus fare! Then maybe we'll do the training program suggested by the Royal Parks, which is 16 weeks designed to start in June.

First on my agenda is buying running shoes. I don't want to be put off by technicalities like poor training shoes. Erm, I may also need to look into clothes suitable for exercising in..