I think I’m going to call this ‘Week 1′. Today (Saturday) is the end of the first week, so here’s a recap of what I managed.

I’ve been trying to get into Fitness First, Uptown Mirdif (one of our sponsors) all week but due to missed emails and miscommunication, three visits this week have lead to nothing more than the exchanging of business cards. We (finally) met our new personal trainer, Dan, who seems very nice at the moment but I’m pretty sure I will come to hate seeing his slim, smiling, enthusiastic face, egging me on. We’re meeting tomorrow for a preliminary workout and to set a plan.

So, instead of taking the corporate, planned training route, Geordiebird and I have been forced to motivate ourselves into getting out there and running. We’ve done two nights around the jogging track in Mushrif Park, which is approximately 4.5km (I should stress that I am still interval jogging/walking. I’m getting better but it’s taking a while). The first night was extremely difficult. I was really struggling to regulate my breathing, having mini panic attacks and gasping for air. I’ve been given so much advice on how to breathe by more competent runners and I’ve tried most of them but nothing seemed to be working.

This was also my first run in the Adidas ‘AdiSTAR’ Formotion shoes. I came home with a blister on the inside of my left heel.

The second Mushrif Park run didn’t go much better. We set off anti-clockwise and the first burst of jogging seemed to go great. i thought I’d ran practically half the track. I was in the middle of telling Geordiebird how proud I was when I spotted a landmark and realised that I’d probably not even done a full kilometre. To say I was disheartened would be putting it mildly. From then on I did 100 paces running, 100 paces walking briskly for the rest of the park.

I’m happy to report no problems with the Adidas shoes this time. However, the following day, Nike delivered a pair of Lunarglide+ shoes for me to try out. Last night we set out to find the Khawaneej jogging track. It took us forever. A friend (who’d never actually been there) gave us the wrong directions so we ended-up miles away. It turns out it’s very close to where we live. Here it is on the map.

Because it had taken us a while to get there, my small reserve of enthusiasm for the session was running low but we jumped out of the car, got on the lovely, spongy track and set-off jogging. Because the track is marked every 50m, I could set myself targets in my head. Geordiebird prefers not to have these targets but they really work for me, plus I have something to gauge myself against each time I do the run. My initial target was to go for 1km without stopping or slowing down. I managed it but it wasn’t easy. At around the 700m mark I was at the stage where I would normally have slowed to a walk, tog et me breath back. Instead I pushed on. I continued to do this for the rest of the 3km loop. Walking 500m the running 500m. So, in all I ran 2km and walked 1km.

Again, by the end I was spent. An Emirati lady and her children watched in horror as this lumbering Englishman in rather unsightly, tiny shorts, hobbled past, impersonating an attention-seeking seal. We got in the car and I felt great! The best I’ve felt yet, post-run. How I managed to drive us back to Mirdif whilst patting myself on the back is anybody’s guess.

In case you were wondering, the Nike Lunarglide+ were absolutely fantastic shoes to run in. I’m going to try the Adidas on the same track for comparison and will let you know the results.

The diet is going well, too. We’ve not had a meeting with the nutritionist yet, so we’re pretty much just eating healthily and watching the carb intake. It’s been bye-bye to bread, pasta, rice and cereal so far. Last night Geordiebird went out but I stayed in and cooked homemade burgers, using low-fat mince, onions and a little Henderson’s Relish. Absolutely beautiful!

Overnight it seems our staircase had been replaced by a “swear-case”. Every step I took down was accompanied by f***, s*** or b*******. My knees seemed more than happy to know that they’re as happy about the running and my belly is about the diet.

It’s 90 days until the Dubai 92 Men’s Fitness 10k Challenge. I’m feeling more confident than ever. I’m looking forward to getting on the scales, I’m excited about running more and I’d like anyone out there who feels like it to come along for the experience. All the information is here – http://pass41.com/marathon – Pass it around to your friends, family and colleagues. If yo sign up, we run as a team. No man left behind. We’re looking for all shapes and sizes, too. I know it sounds clichéd, but don’t think you can’t do it. If I can, anyone can.

See you on the track!