My training schedule comes from Dean Karnazes' book 50 50 Secret's I learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days, my brother raves about this man and thinks he is brilliant. From what I've heard (and the little I've read) he is very inspirational, if you can - buy his book and you'll learn a lot.

I thought I would let you all see the schedule here and you can get an idea of what I have coming up (or use it yourself). This comes from a schedule for a marathon, it extends to 26 weeks - at which stage you should be able to run 24 miles! This schedule is for people who don't currently run (me!!) but you can start later down the schedule if you already train.

I will be filling you in on how I get on but at the moment I have just been walking (very easy, even for me) so it's a very quiet start.

I also want to say I would really suggest using Runkeeper to keep track of your runs (and walks), it's a great way to keep track of what you are doing but also a brilliant bit of motivation as you want to continue beating yourself and updating what you do. I'll be sharingmy progress with you using Runkeeper.

These are the official mascot of my new blog BlackAndBlueShoes. My big brother has persuaded me to complete training for a half marathon, although there is no particular half marathon in mind we are just doing the training. It is a 17 week training schedule taken from Dean Karnazes' book 50 50 Secrets I learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days. 

The first thing I want to say is that I am NOT a runner. I ran the Race For Life a few years ago, well I say ran...I walked it mostly, and that is the extent of my running history. When my brother first suggested this, I did NOT want to do it... I did not want to put myself throught that much pain and difficulty just so I could run 13 miles. However, I quickly thought it would be pretty cool to be able to say I did, especially as I am far from a natural athlete and have never been able to do anything romotely athletic. After the suggestion of my brother (again), I also thought blogging about it would keep me motivated and when I finally can run the 13 miles, it will be a great way to look back at how I've changed.

I have completed the first week of training which involved 4 20 minute walks and I will progessing to running 1 minute, walking 1 minute next week so it is a gradual build up, hopefully not too much pain.

I am not very active but have decided to kick myself into gear so am doing an hour's dancing on a Tuesday with Sharon Kennard School of Dance and I will be increasing this to 2 hours in April, so my Tuesday's will be pretty intense. I have also got a Wii Fit which is surprisingly good, I'm not doing loads of Cardiovascular stuff but I'm doing lots of yoga, muscle strengthening and balancing which is doing really well for making me altogether much healthier.

So I invite you to join me in the next 17 weeks of my life as I attempt to do something that, at the moment, seems impossible for someone like me.

If you'd also like to wish me luck or give me any tips I wouldn't turn it down...

So you've seen my new running trainers and I thought I would tell you how I got these as I loved the service. I went to a Sweatshop and I got my running style analysed to see what trainers needed. It appears that I have the problem of most beginner runners in that my ankles fall inwards on my run, so I needed a stability shoe that would support the arches on my feet and make me more stable and stop the dangerous impact on my ankles. I got a pair of Brooks trainers for £87 which are apparently a little lighter than some of the other stability shoes. They record how you run before and after you try the shoes on and I could immediately see the difference wearing these shoes, my ankle was straight and the impact of my run was straight up and downn and not at an angle.

I am really pleased with them and I'm even more pleased with their exchange policy - you can bring them back and get a different pair (and another consultation) for 30 days after you get them, you can run off road, in the mud, whatever. I think it is a brilliant policy and makes the big investment worth while and as they say, some times the best way to see how well they work for you is to try them out.

So far so good for me.