I’d been thinking about doing something like it for a few months (since my brother completed the London Marathon in 2009,) and when my friend Tom asked if I wanted to do a half-marathon, I jumped at the chance.

This now leaves me with a problem though. Although I do a reasonable amount of training for rowing, and I don’t consider myself to be unfit, I’m not a runner and now I have to do a load of training in three months in order to get myself prepared in time. Add to this the pressure that my experienced half-marathon running girlfriend is also doing the same half-marathon, and you’ve got yourself a little challenge going on (there’s no way I’m being beaten by a girl!

So, I’ve begun my research into half-marathon training schedule. Most of them fit into a 12-to-10 week schedule, which is perfect. What’s not perfect, is the amount of running they get you to do.

The assumption is, is that you’re not doing any other exercise. For example, there are some that get you to run 6 days a week. With my schedule 4 days a week rowing sessions, that just isn’t suitable.

I’m going to have to come up with my own schedule so that I can work out a sensible plan.

First thing to do then, is to work out how far, and for how long I can currently run before I drop dead in a heap on the floor. I need to do this both in the gym, and on the roads.