30 is the new 20

Apologies for my sheer laziness this last week. My online presence has been lacking slightly due to the fact that on Tuesday I waved farewell to my 20s and started a whole new decade...

It's fair to say that I've been thrown off track and am feeling a tad disorientated. One minute I feel completely happy, settled and overall accepting of the fact that I am a grown up with responsibilities and a face that resembles that of my Mother. Then without warning nostalgia, regret, sadness and fear sets in! 30 years have gone and they aren't coming back.  I still can't speak french, play the piano, run 10k, make a pair of curtains, bake a decent cake, pole dance, hang wallpaper, complete a crossword......the list goes on and on and on!

On the plus side I have bought 2 houses, got engaged, given birth twice

been an air hostess, booked a wedding, met Richard Branson, been scuba diving, learned how to crochet, come 2nd in a Jamaican dancing competition, had a pixie hair cut, been to New York, climbed a waterfall, spent a week crying on a pair of skis, played hockey dressed as The Stig and lots of other things I'd rather not mention!

Ahhhhhhhhh *exhales* I feel better already :)

So here I am in, throwing myself into the next stage of my life. Yes I'm a stay at home Mum spending hours dashing to school, cleaning, cooking, crying, shouting and generally feeling frazzled but that doesn't mean that I can't start on that still to accomplish list.

So in keeping with my desperate plight to fit into my too small wedding dress I'm going to make my first goal to be able to run 10k! I would class myself as a reasonably fit lady, much more so during hockey season but for some reason running is something which I really struggle with. After doing a little research I've discovered that my approach of doing nothing for months and then heading straight out to do 5k isn't the most effective. Apparently it's much better to start with a run/walk regime. Pfft! Would be my normal response to that - if I'm bothering to put my trainers on then I'm going for it. Not this time, this time I'm going to do it properly, no breaking rules, cutting corners or generally doing what I think is right because finally at the grand old age of 30 I can admit that I don't know everything and am wrong majority of the time.

The schedule I have chosen is courtesy of the lovely people at Runnersworld and it aims to get you to be able to continuously run for 30 minutes within 8 weeks.

The Schedule

• Week 1 Run one min, walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times. Do three times a week.
• Week 2 Run two mins, walk one min. Repeat seven times. Do three times a week.
• Week 3 Run three mins walk one mins. Repeat six times. Do three times a week.
• Week 4 Run five mins, walk two mins. Repeat four times. Do three times a week.
• Week 5 Run eight mins, walk two mins. Repeat three times. Do three times a week.
• Week 6 Run 12 mins, walk one min. Repeat three times. Do three times a week.
• Week 7 Run 15 mins, walk one min, Run fifteen mins. Do three times a week
• Week 8 Run 30 mins continuously.

I imagine this will seem easy to some people (especially my bud Stephen) but I already feel nervous. The trainers and kit are out ready for my 6.30am alarm call, blurgh! So wish me luck, oh and of course, if you have any kind words of advise/wisdom then please do comment. Happy running!