God. Really hard week. I've had a cold. Trying to run with the sweats, the shakes and a runny nose is no fun at all. I hardly ever get colds. I reckon it's been about five years since I last had one.

I was determined to still do all the runs as planned but I found it really tough this week, especially Wednesday when I ran on the treadmill. It was so boiling hot in the gym. Or maybe it was just me. Either way, I was dripping wet afterwards - nice.

This weeks long run was seven miles, and once again the heavens opened right on cue. I was supposed to meet G on the beach but when I got to the meeting point he was nowhere to be seen. I ran up and down looking for him but gave up in the end and just headed off in the general direction of where I thought he might be. So when my phone rang about half an hour later, and it was him, already back at home (!) I felt sooo miserable. I still had another four miles to go and I was soaked. I considered calling it a day, and just doing the whole thing again tomorrow in the gym. But that didn't seem very appealing either. I decided to just press on. Then it started really chucking it down even harder, and I was literally the only person around. I could not see another living soul. I could barely see past the end of my own nose though to be fair. I did wonder what the bloody hell am I doing? at least seventeen times.

Finally made it home looking like a drowned rat and had lentil soup.

Training this week:

Tues - 3 miles
Weds - 3 miles
Thurs - 3 miles
Sat - 7 miles

Feel disgusting. Snotty, sweaty, shakey and fluey. A really hard 3 miles tonight.

Ran with Stella yesterday which was really nice. It was good to have someone to run with who runs at roughly the same pace as me. It meant we were able to chat as we were plodding along. She hasn't run for years and she did three miles straight off without any problems at all. She said she was knackered at the end but she looked alright to me. Hopefully she'll join me for a few more in the next couple of weeks.

Despite the picture, today was a horrible rainy, freezing cold day. Windy too. First 'long run' of my training programme - 6 miles. G joined me down on the beach - in shorts! He hasn't run for years but this didn't seem to matter at all. He ran the whole distance without any problems. We ran together for the first couple of miles then he ran off ahead. Don't blame him, I'm very slow. I don't have any proper running gear so my clothes were soaked through within minutes which wasn't very pleasant.

We did an out-and-back route from Hove to the marina and back, and on the first stretch it was kind of ok because the wind was behind us but the way back was a different story. Running against the wind is impossible - I felt like a hamster on a wheel going nowhere. Finally made it back to the beach huts; thought I was never going to get there. Kept thinking I could see G up ahead but it turned out to be a giant plastic ice-cream cone perched against the side of a cafe. Well... Visibility was terrible.

Training this week:

Mon - 3 miles
Tues - 3 miles
Weds - 3 miles
Sun - 6 miles

Total - 15 miles