Every so often work comes up with a ticket offer, or a give away, or a charity event. So a few months back there were some spare places for the Bupa Great Manchester Run (BGMR). In order to qualify for them you had to sign up to sponsorship for a charity; in this case DebRA. To be honest, I'd never heard of it before and was only initially interested because, 1. I wanted to have a go at the BGMR and raise a bit of money for a charity and 2. I'd nicked-named my car Debra, so I thought it was about right.

Like I say, I'd never heard of the charity before, but someone at work told me there had been a bit about it on TV. I got a load of literature through and had a browse on their website. It's actually pretty harsh and seems to affect children more than anyone else.

From the website:

"The condition has a number of distinct forms. At its mildest, the blistering is confined to the hands and feet making holding things and walking extremely painful. In more severe forms all the body is affected and the wounds heal very slowly, giving rise to scarring, physical deformity and significant disability. For many affected by the condition the blistering is not limited to the skin, but also affects the inner body linings, such as the mouth and oesophagus. The eating of solids is, in these cases, almost impossible, and the disposal of the body waste incredibly painful. When this condition applies, malnutrition is often a consequence, further reducing the body’s resistance to infection."

If you get chance and have a bit of spare cash lying around, then donate some cash to a good cause.

When I sent the application form off it must have been a good month or two before the run. I was sent all good stuff about what clothes to wear, how to train, etc, etc. I couldn't be bothered though and left it until a week and a half before and decided it was about time I got myself some proper trainers. Off to JJB Sports. £95 poorer I walked out not only with a new pair of trainers/running shoes, but I also got two pairs of shorts, three pairs of sock, two sweatbands and a football (I don't even play!!). I just get a little carried away.

1 week, 1 day to go, it was time to try out my new gear and see how my running was (it had been a while). I got ready (not with the shorts on as it was pissing it down) feeling like I had springs on my feet with these new trainers. Starting off I felt pretty energetic and was striding along quiet happily for about 500 metres. I then started to slow down. My gigs were splattered with rain and annoying the hell out of me; I also had to clear my nostrils. A mile or so went by and I started to struggle. Not good. I had 6.2 miles (10k) to do for the BGMR! I must have run about 2 miles by the time I finished. I was in a bit of a state to say the least. My chest was hurting, my head was throbbing, and most of all, my bottom set of teeth were hurting! What's all that about!? I figured that I had over exerted myself in the first 500m and it affected the rest of the run. Next time I'd calm it down a bit.

5 days to go. Tuesday, enough time to allow my calf muscles to calm down. Tried the same distance again, without rain and without running like a man possessed at the beginning. Finished feeling much better this time. I'd tried to control my breathing just using my nose to stop me panting like a dog. It seemed to do the business. More importantly, my teeth weren't ragging. Result!

3 days to go and it's Thursday. Time to push myself a little. I was concerned that my dodgy knees might have something to say if I increased the distance, but I thought 'what the hell' (that's just how wild I am sometimes). The new course was devised and I'd approximated that it was about 3-4 miles. Problem was that within the first 1-1.5 miles there were two 'hills'. One right at the very beginning, which would take some motoring, and the other after about 0.5 miles, which would be less of an incline. Setting off up the first 'hill', it was only after half way that I felt my legs burning - I'd only gone 200 metres, FFS! Next was a bit of a flat bit, but meant crossing a busy main road, and didn't fancy stopping to wait for a gap, so I carried on legging it down the pavement until a suitable gap appeared. I was in luck as it came along almost straight away.

Next was the long incline. I'd done this one a few years back and knew it was a bitch. Not just because you were running up hill, but because the trees dangle down, so for part of it you're bend right forwards whilst running. Also the pavement is fairly high up, and so the dips where the driveways are seem massive. Sure enough, my calf muscles were hurting from the ascent, my thighs were killing from having to lunge forwards dodging a mass of branches, and my right ankle was causing me some distress from the dips in the pavement.

I cleared that section and was struggling a bit. I figured I was hitting my 'wall' and that in a few more 100 metres worth it would be okay. My breathing was back under control. Fluids had been taken. Things were back on track. Funnily enough, my pace hadn't really suffered that much. I got round the next corner and the old calves starting to give me some jip proper. It was one of those niggling pains that you think, if I stop I'd be okay, where as if I carry on, I might risk injury. I carried on :) Put up and shut up and all that.

After motoring on for what seemed like ages, I checked my iPod to see what time had elapsed. Only 25 minutes. It felt like 25 hours. After running for a while, you think you're not running that fast as the lack of energy is deceptive. So, to me, everyone else looked like they were sprinting.

Finishing in 38 minutes, I was a little concerned, as the distance was actually 3.5 miles. Not good if I want to get under 60 minutes for the run. I didn't feel too knackered though (bar the calf muscles), which was a good sign.

2 days to go, Friday night, time for another run. Wanted to push it a little more than the previous day. Apart from my calves, I had relaxed and let my body do its thing. So I didn't have any real worries about running 4.4 miles (extended course). Off I went. Calf muscles weren't as bad, so it must have just been because they haven't been properly used for sometime. This time I did much better and felt more energetic (even with the last two days I'd had no lunch and had left my tea until after running).

After finishing this time, I checked my timings and I'd managed it in about 45 minutes. Still needed to improve, but there wasn't really the time to run on Saturday - I wanted a day of resting.

Night before, I got my stuff ready for the early-ish start (for a weekend anyway). I realised I had no safety pins in my flat for the race number, so resorted to using spray mount. It did the trick.

Morning of the run, I didn't have anything in for breakfast, so just had a bit of Lucozade sport to give me an energy boost. I read that I should arrive at 09:30 to allow enough time. However, clown here didn't realise that was for the Orange Wave (Elite Runners). So I ended up standing in the rain (after walking in to town) in a vest t-shirt and shorts for 1.5 hours before my Wave started. Very stupid. My body was cold when I squished up with the rest of the runners. Obviously because I had been there for what felt like a day and a half I had a decent place. It's surprising that the smell of BO was so strong... don't these guys have a shower in the morning. So with my body temp. and the stink I was gagging to get going. Alex F and a few other 'celebs' started us off. I kept up with the majority of the pack and overtook a few here and there. People were slowly passing me. It was demoralising, but I kept reminding myself that it was only 50 so far that had gone past and I'd done about 1km; there were up to 7000 in my Wave behind me.

I'd brought along some Lucozade, which was lucky cos the first and only water station was after 6km! Not very well planned. As with the first run I did for the whole 'training' period (if you want to call it that) the rain was hampering my vision. Taking off my glasses and attempting to clean them, I realised that my top was soaked from the rain and it was pointless trying. I even had a go with a sweatband to try and get rid of the rain / salty sweat combo. Of course, I ended up drenching my forehead as the sweatband had a layer of water hanging around on top. Great. After a few satisfying clearing of the nostrils (but almost hitting someone with the expelling substance) I decided to give up with trying to stay less wet.

Some of the people who had legged it past me at the beginning were now walking, but would then suddenly whizz past me later. Tortoise and the Hare spring (pardon the pun) to mind. Spirits were still high, even though the spectators dotted around Old Trafford were just gorping, rather than clapping or cheering. Maybe the rain was depressing them, but for god sake, they were under umbrellas, boring gits. Some of the kids would stick out the hand so I'd, of course, high-five them. After 8km my left knee went. By that I mean that my ligament (I think it's that....certainly feels like it) started feeling very pulled and very sore. It was causing me some discomfort and I found it hard to bend my knee. Sod it, I wasn't stopping now. By the time I got to 200 metres before the finish line, I thought my knee was going to rip out. At least I wasn't out of breath.

Crossing the finish line with quite a few others, the PA decided to come over to me and say, "And we've got someone running for DebRA!". All I could muster was "Thanks very much...!" My big moment to promote the charity and I didn't have the energy to come up with anything decent. Doh.

So that was that, I picked up my free Bupa gift bag and then off home for me, only to find that the block of flats I live in had a faulty lift - for the first time I've ever known it. Typical. Ooh, going up 5 flights of stairs made me suffer. I didn't find out what time I got until I got home to my mobile (register for a text alert). I'd run it in 53.38, so that's about 8.60 minutes/mile. I was pretty happy considering my training considered of a week's worth of jogging. Next step...peel off the soaking clothes and have a shower. Time to collect the sponsorship.