The One Where I Get a Medical and Switch Training Plans

According to The Non-Runner's Guide, if you are a female (check), under 50 (check) and have none of the risk factors of coronary heart disease (apart from being a bit sedentary,check), you don't need medical clearance to start training. Even though I am not in a high risk category, I thought that a trip to my beloved GP, Dr Ric, would be a good idea - and, in any event, I was sent a medical form to fill out as part of my registration. Which I totally get. If you're letting a complete novice take on a marathon as part of a charity team, from a risk management perspective, it makes sense to get a doctor to sign off. (Preferably a psychiatrist.)

I am relatively healthy, apart from the much-documented lack of exercise. I don't drink or smoke and am a good weight. I am carrying about three or four kilos too many but I blame that on last year's trip to France, more specifically, raclette, butter and the co-dependent relationship I developed with the local boulangerie.
Wobbly bits aside (my words, not his), Dr Ric says I am fit to train. My blood pressure is 137/76 and I can answer 'no' to all the underlying conditions they want to know about - no diabetes, no epilepsy, no asthma or heart disease - hoorah! Good to go!

As for the running/walking combination of Week 5 of Pre-Training ... as my favourite 13 year old girl would say ... Epic. Fail. Five minutes of jogging just didn't happen - I managed only about 2 or 3 minutes maximum. I was a bit disappointed but I think a slower start might be sensible. As of next week, I'm going to use the 'Couch Potato to 5kms' iPhone app that I talked about last post. One of things that concerned me about the app was that it would take longer to finish pre-training but if I start at Week 3 of the 8 week programme I'll finish only a week later than if I'd stuck to the Non-Runner's Guide. Week 3 requires 90 seconds of jogging, 90 seconds of walking, 3 minutes of jogging and 3 minutes of walking for 30 minutes, which I know I can manage. Plus a nice voice tells me when to switch between the two.  So I'll never walk alone.

An interesting article was sent to me by the lovely Elaine from WorldVision about charitable giving. According to the Gallup World Giving Index, Australians and New Zealanders are the world's most generous people. Hoorah for us. This seems like the perfect time to thank you all once again for the donations that continue to arrive for the SEE project. By the way, planning for our very first fund-raiser, an open-air movie night in late-Feb/early March, is currently underway - with more details coming soon. In the meantime, you might like to check out my teammates for this event and have a look at Mike Edyejones' wonderfully titled blog, 'Muffin Top to Marathoner'. I know what he means!