5km is so last month, 5 miles is where it's at!

The first aim for anyone starting out running seems to be 5km. Despite living in prehistoric Britain - where bananas can't be weighed in pounds but all the roads are measured in miles - 5km is the desirable first achievement for the average 0 - 10 week plan. Well, no offence to those plans but if you just shut up and run it doesn't take that long. I did it in 3 weeks and started from rock bottom carrying about 3 stone more than my body has ever been used to.

So I cracked the 5km barrier quite early and decided with my new bestest running buddy Jane that we would sign up for the Great North 10km which nestles rather nicely between now and our half marathon in September. But I'm impatient and want lots of blingy medals (for Jane it's all about the tshirts) so a rather late decision saw us running the Greggs Children's Cancer Run on Sunday - it's a 5 mile largely offroad run. 5 miles. Yikes. That's quite a bit further than 5km.

"Jane, do you reckon we can do it all in one go?"

"I dunno, let's find out!"

We did. *fresh air high five*

I must admit, it was relatively easy. You see, the thing with running is this - once you're going and once your breathing has settled itself (usually at about 1.5 - 2 miles for me) it's actually really easy to keep going. Sure my legs were hurting and I was getting a little more than annoyed at the hold ups en route (kids blocking the pavements, but then it was a children's cancer run so I didn't verbalise my annoyance, how horrible would that make me!) and there were a couple of minor inclines which proved tough when you're tired but this little diesel engine in my chest just kept churning away carrying me around.

When Jane and I crossed the finish line we held hands and lofted them up with pride - the furthest we've ever ran and boy did we feel good! I remember driving past the park last year and seeing the runners doing this very run and thinking to myself that I'd love to be able to run. At the time I just assumed it was something I'd never ever be capable of, yet there I was, across the finish line medal in one hand, commemorative tshirt in the other with a grin on my face that would make even the Cheshire cat green jelly.

Running is easy. Honestly. And if you stop procrastinating and just get on with it you soon realise how great it makes you feel.

Today is my birthday and as a gift from my dear friends Robyn, Rich and Ralphie I got some motivational and inspirational reading to keep me going for a while so this newfound love of running is obviously becoming known among my friends.

Maybe one day I'll be writing a book about my running adventures. Hey, a girl can dream.