As I type this, my left hip is aching. A lot. The large blister on my left big toe is reminding me of it's presence and sitting down actually hurts. Today is the day after I ran my first marathon. 

I'm not a runner. I've known this all along. But for some reason I have chosen to try to get this body 'doing that for which it was never intended'; running distances.

In my quest to ruin my scrawny frame at a (not so) early age, I have signed up for another event. To make sure I couldn't back out after the marathon pain, I signed up two days before for the Manchester 10k. And it's for charideeee! "10k?" I hear you cry. "That's no distance at all after a marathon." 

Well.... I'm definitely still not a runner!

The kind people at the Seashell Trust (yes, my former employer while I was up in the UK's best city, Manchester) have granted me a place on their charity running team, even though I admit I'm not a runner! I wanted to have an excuse to return to Manchester, so what better reason than to raise a few quid for a worthwhile cause. 

On 16th May 2010 I'll be joining 36,000 others for the BUPA Great Manchester Run.

This isn't one of those thinly veiled excuses for a holiday in a hot country "building a school" efforts. It's just me, my chicken legs and a pair of trainers running 10k (or 6.25 miles for those of us who prefer old money) in as quick a time as I can. 

If anyone wants to make it a bit of a challenge, I think I'll do it in under an hour based on my marathon training being around the 10 minute mile mark. 9 minute miles will be 56 mins, which would be somewhat more difficult and 8 1/2 minute miles get me in at 53 minutes. If anyone wants to offer a charity bonus for a realistic time, I'll have a go!

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