have never really wanted to do a marathon. However, I wanted to set myself a challenge to raise money for Cancer Research UK, and this seemed to be the most logical thing to do.

If you have been reading my previous blogs you will have noticed that I have had a few problems with my knees which has really scuppered my training. This didn’t help with my enjoyment of running either. If I wasn’t doing the marathon I think I would have quit running by now.

Come race day, it was safe to say I was a little anxious. Apart from the knees, I wasn’t happy with the distance that I have ran in training. And to top it off, it’s was going to be a scorcher of a day, making the whole experience that little bit more unbearable. Nerves were starting to kick in.

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This year saw me entering my 3rd Great Manchester Run, with the intention of running sub 45 minutes, however this wasn’t to be due to my stupidity.

I was able to head to the start of the race a lot earlier than I normally do, with the hope of getting a better starting position. Although 25 minutes before the race was to start, it was still relatively busy.

Just as I was about to head into the wave pen, I noticed the guy's feet in front of me and then realised something and thought ‘Oh f**k'. I had gone and forgotten the chip which is used to provide my official time. A quick u-turn and a dash home to get the chip, which is probably not the ideal thing you should be doing just before a 10k run.

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Monday: Rest
The weather really put the dampener on the Monday morning blues. I just wanted to get home and forget the day!!!

Tuesday: 1 hour run
Today has seen me the happiest for a long time because this has to be the best run I have had in ages. I had no knee problems before, during and after the session. I was ecstatic.

I wanted to continue, but my face was sore due to the copious amount of times I wiped the sweat from it.

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Monday: Rest
As you all know that the reason why Iam doing the Edinburgh Marathon is for my aunt. At the end of last year she was told that she had secondary cancer and that it had spread throughout her body All the doctors can do is provide treatment to prolong the inevitable.

I received a phone call from my mum this afternoon to tell me that my aunt had her latest results and they are good news. Although the cancer has not gone, it has retreated a little. The last time that the Doctor saw these type of resuls, the lasy lived for another four years. Although this doesn't mean the same for my aunt, it's great news taken into account that if the treatment didn't work, then this would most likely be her last.

My aunt is continuing with the treatment and if the bext set of results still show as positive, she is contemplating going back to work. I know many of us would like time off work not want to go back.

This is the reason why I support Cancer Research UK so much. Research is not about just trying to find cures, although ideally that is what we want, but it is also looks at ways to help several cancer sufferers by giving them a little repite.

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Monday – Rest
After a non-stop weekend I was glad to have a rest and get in front of the television and watch my programmes.

Tuesday – 40 min Tempo Session
Had another good run today. Kept the same speed as the last tempo session that I had, and I was also able to run an additional 9 minutes. Personally I would have liked to have run for longer, but I was starting to get twinges in my knees so thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

Still enjoyed the run, albeit slightly frustrating at times.

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