Haha!!! In my posting of photo’s on recent posts, I completely neglected to do an obligatory ‘new year‘ post. So here it is.

I have resolved to improve my personal life in one main way, which in the whole ‘cliched new year resolutions’ scheme of things, it to lose some weight and get fit.

So a little of my past, to understand where I’m coming from. I used to do road cycling, many years (10) ago. I would think nothing of eating up 30-40 miles 2-3 times a week, as I was unemployed at the time. I had a resting heart rate of 54bpm. I still had some flab, which would not shift, but I was fit.

I would love to return to something of these glory days of peak fitness, and my current lifestyle is not going to help that. Curse the DVD player, my love for foreign cinema, for making me sit on my behind, as my job now lacks any physical effort also!!!

I have planned to attain a return to fitness using an approved ‘ease in’ plan, which involves combinations of run/walks for eight weeks. I was never much of a runner, and hated the 1500m at school, so I find it amusing that I have started something which I used to hate, and it’s turned to something I enjoy. I guess one of the things being on a mountain bike taught me was that you must push the limits of what your body can do. I watched a trailer of a film, called ‘Spirit Of The Marathon’, which illustrated to me what running is all about. There seems to be an underlying philosophy that pretty much any other sport doesn’t have. It’s just you and the elements. No equipment (save shoes), no gadgets, racquets, wheels, clubs, etc. Just your legs. I’ve linked to the youtube video version below, although you can visit the site: www.marathonmovie.com.

So I’m into running. At the moment, I can last for 7 minutes. Not bad for someone who pretty much hasn’t run since school. I am desperately unfit, and am learning new things about pain, my body, and how I should treat it. Obviously, I’ve had digestive issues which are being investigated, but a diet geared towards running/general fitness if of benefit to me. Also, the nature of running and it’s physiological changes on the body will help, as my metabolism will change accordingly.

My new year resolution is an old, cliched one. But it’s by far the best one. And it’s nothing to do with resolutions, but with determination, willpower and a definite feeling of achieving something, even if other people don’t understand or appreciate it.

The aim of this? To complete a marathon. Had I thought earlier, I would have been getting ready for this year’s marathon in London. However, I believe that my fitness, the levels to which I need to achieve, are too great a stress on me, so I have decided that the London Marathon 2009 is a more realistic probability. It’s a definite goal, and I want to achieve it.

On a completely separate note - it was quite easy to place youtube videos on the site - so you may start to see more of them…