“If a video documenting my half-marathon training was ever made the only suitable background music would be the Benny Hill theme song.
I’m the first to back my girl friends. I support them to apply for senior jobs, enrol in hard university courses or challenging physical races. I believe girls can do anything. But other girls. Not me.
Running long distances has always been something I hated, I just believed it was something I couldn’t do – so wouldn’t try.
But then WAGGGS was looking for runners so I signed on.
Training began on a treadmill at my gym just after Christmas. The building is loud and dark, potentially a good place to grow mushrooms when the lease finishes.
I like sport to be fast; sprinting, kickboxing or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are my preferences. Slogging out an hour of running was hard initially. I found it boring and repetitious, placing one foot after another, feeling my breathing in time with the plodding of my feet. I would make little goals in my head, "just keep going until you finish the next kilometre", or "finish this half hour then check your phone”.
But week after week I’ve noticed my head slotting into this happy place, like a meditative space where I can check out and relax.
This doesn’t happen every time, but it’s happening more and more often, allowing me to go further, faster.
I was starting to feel like I was hitting my stride a couple of weeks ago when I stepped onto the treadmill and gasped. A zap of pain ran across my lower back and down my bum. Nerve pain.
Either from running too much or sitting down all day. I changed my office routine, took walks and set alarms to prompt myself from my seat.
This week I completed my first, very slow and very cold, but outdoor run. From Clapham, through Battersea, along the Thames and around the London Eye and back. Around 15 kilometres - a solid effort.
We could make a runner out of me yet.”