Unless you’re one of those annoying people who could run pretty much as soon as they could walk and that always looked forward to the annual school sports day with the excitement that most of us save for Christmas or a pint at the end of a long week, everyone sucks at running when they first start.
I am not one of those people. I skived off school on school sports days. I skived off PE and I couldn’t run one lap of the running track without collapsing with a stitch. I also hated the sporty kids because, while me and my frizzy ginger hair and sparrow legs got laughed at, they got applauded.
I’m blessed with many good traits: I look great after running 15 miles, I always have a cheery disposition and I’m always on time. OK, only the last one of those is true but there are some true, if boring and a bit boasty, things on my CV somewhere. One thing I am not, however, is patient. I get bored easily and I’m pretty lazy. So when I decided to start running it didn’t make the papers because nobody thought I’d stick to it.
This was my second attempt at starting running. On the first occasion I’d slowly worked my way up to the giddy heights of being able to run 1km without stopping, wearing trainers I now know were two sizes too small before I decided that early retirement was the next logical step for my running career. So when I came out of retirement to give it another shot in 2008, the running world was not worried.
Tidying a drawer today unearthed this. The British Library have already been on at me to get their hands on it. Presumably they want to put it in the case next to Scott’s diary of his expedition to the South Pole. But you can see it here now before it goes on display. It’s my first week training. The highlight, you’ll note, was that I was able to run for 5 minutes non-stop.
On Sunday I ran 20 miles by myself through London and in just over two weeks I’ll be lining up for my second marathon and aiming to go sub-4. Did I think, three years ago that either of those things would ever happen? Probably not. But I did want them to be true. And here’s the thing I learnt about myself: I’m a stubborn little git, and stubborness trumps over impatience. Stubborness is what gets me through 20 lonely, painful miles. 
It’s a much over-used phrase (usually by unbelievable actors in weight-loss adverts) but really, if I can do it so can you. You know, if you want to – no pressure.