Well, my training is going well, and I'm now trying to run four times a week, all with the running club. A month ago I successfully ran the Great North Run half marathon. It was a very hard run though, and I'm sure that I set off too quickly in the early miles, and all the walking I did with my back pack on the previous day can't have helped. In the end I finished with an official time of 1 hour 50 minutes 44 seconds in a position of 5469th.

I found the course between Newcastle and South Shields to be quite boring apart from the first two miles. The weather started hot and finished cold and drizzley, and of course it'd be better the other way around. I can't say my day was greatly pleasurable, which was a shame. If I run it again next year, I'll know better about the preparation I need.

Yesterday I ran the Great South Run, which is the largest european ten mile race, run around Portsmouth. The weather was superb for running (not too hot and a little drizzle at times), and the course was good - flat and fast, and you twice had a good view of runners in the opposite direction as well as finishing along the sea front.

The family came to watch me which was good, and I finished the race with an official time of 1 hour 17 minutes 31 seconds in a position of 1426th. I am a little more proud of this result in comparision with my Great North Run result, and felt that I timed my run better, and ran more strongly.

I hope I don't sound too hard on myself if I sound down hearted about this result though. I am feeling really fit at the moment, but I still can't match my personal best over 10 miles, set two years ago at 1 hour 15 minutes over a hilly course. I've now decided that I need to run more races to learn to pace myself properly, and I also need to take off a little weight, as I was up to half a stone lighter two years ago.

My collection for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship will shortly reach £800, which I am very pleased with. I am on target for over £1,000 by Christmas.

I have the Brighton 10K coming up, as well as the Tadworth 10 and cross country races. I'll probably try to run other races too in the next few months in my preparations towards the London Marathon 2002.