And we're off... (again)

It's been quite a while since I've found myself on Tonbridge High Street on a Friday night, but yesterday I got to experience the sights and sounds of the town on a cold January evening. I hasten to add that I was not out drinking with the majority of townsfolk but pounding the pavement as I get well and truly into training for the forthcoming Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon.

I have once more decided to run around 13.1 miles (21 km) of lovely Weald of Kent countryside in order to raise much needed funds for the PSP Association. Chances are if you're reading this page then you'll almost definitely know that already so I'll stop banging on about it.

My training began 11 days ago and I have only 6 weeks until the main event: this is not an easy task. However, I have adopted an 8 week training guide designed for moderately unfit people and have been following it to the letter (well almost). In the last 11 days I have lost 2.5Kg in weight and am now (fairly) comfortably covering runs between 8 and 10 km. Tomorrow I set out for my first 12 km run of the year.

For those of you who are interested I will attach a copy of the training plan to this blog.

Unlike my last effort two years ago where I set a reasonable time of 1 hour 41 minutes, I will be covering the 21 km half marathon at a more pedestrian pace this year. I'll be coming home somewhere around the 1 hour 50 minute mark. The reason for this is twofold: firstly I haven't been able to run for the best part of a year which has left me somewhat less fit than I was two years ago. Secondly, I have managed to knacker both of my knees. The lack of running last year was mainly due to my knee problems, but more about that in a later post.

I have decided to make this year's training effort a more interactive experience, and as such have been recording my runs via the RunKeeper iPhone application. Basically it keeps a GPS track of me as I run and displays the results to all who are interested. You can view my run from last night by following the web link below:-

http://runkeeper.com/user/grahamtutt/activity/66252901

I will also be broadcasting my training runs live on the Internet so you can follow me as I pass slowly through the streets of Tonbridge in the evenings, and through our beautiful countryside on a Sunday morning. This will culminate in a live broadcast of me running the Tunbridge Wells marathon.

As soon as I have the technology sorted I will post instructions on this blog.

Well, that's enough from me for today. Please keep reading and don't forget to make a donation via my JustGiving page:-

http://www.justgiving.com/grahamtutt

You can also text a donation by sending a text message to 70070. Just type TUTT73 and the amount you want to donate. For example: TUTT73 £10.

While we're on the subject of mobile phones: this blog is also available on smart phones in a special smart phone format, so no excuses for not following me.

As usual comments and emails welcome.