This year I did no preparation for the 10k races that I entered, also I did not get any weight loss going at the start of the year. The result was some of my slowest times for the 10k and I decided not to run the Great Scottish and the Stirling 10k’s that I have done the last two years. Instead I am making a proper effort to get fit and lose weight and I will take on the 10k races again in 2009.

I started using a site called Gyminee.com in July so that I could monitor my food intake and exercise. So far I have lost 18lb. My profile is here

My exercise has consisted of using the rowing machine that I bought at the start of the year, long walks, some free weights and a jog with a friend once a week. I have started to hit the limit that I can do with the walking, although I can easily walk 30km as I did on Saturday, it does take a long time and I am not in training for walking from Land’s End to John o’Groats, not yet anyway   I need to up the tempo of my exercise so I decided to join a gym. I have previously been a gym member but I fell into the usual way of going for the first three months then just resenting it. This time however I am not starting cold and I have longer term aims than I did before. Today I signed up for the Glasgow Club so I get unlimited access to most of the facilities at the Glasgow Leisure centres. My gym induction is on Friday so I will need to get a new pair of trainers.

I am hoping that in the next few weeks I will start to be able to actually jog a full 10k course. My current best is 7.2km, this is a lot further than I have ever managed in a race.

My personal best for a 10k race is 1 hour 2 minutes and 57 seconds which was in the Dumbarton 10k in 2007.