Many of you who read this blog will know that in the last couple of years I have taken up running.

I was going to use the term taken to running like a ‘duck to water’, but in all honesty, in my case it was more like a ‘whale to a fish tank’.

I might not be the thinnest guy around and never ever thought I’d get into running, let alone running half marathons. But two years ago I joined the OptiFit Half Marathon program at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, based in Cape Town, where they train you how to run a half marathon in 8 weeks, amongst other programs they run.

I had run a couple of 10km races before joining, but the idea of a half marathon was a very daunting one but joining this group was undoubtedly a life-changing 8 weeks.

After 8 weeks of training and a lot of heavy breathing up Southern Cross Drive in Newlands, I completed my first ever half marathon, the Landmarks half marathon and I can honestly say that it was one of the best feelings ever, to know that I had committed to something that would change my life forever.

I am not part of this program any longer, but I still run in the same group that I started with and I can safely say that I couldn’t have done it without them and it was the perfect way to get off my arse and make a change in life.

If you’ve made that new year’s resolution to get fit and healthy in 2013, this is the perfect way to start off.
I look forward to seeing many of you at various finish lines throughout the year.