By day I work in a busy IT team at the NEC, which basically means I am deskbound  for at least 8 hours a day and by night I help run a gaming website called This is my Joystick which involves either sat in front of a laptop or in my throne with an Xbox controller in my hands. All of this is great for this self confessed geek but add a lethal combination of alcohol and a love of chocolate and it is no surprise that I found myself weighing 15.5 stone and feeling breathless when climbing stairs or running for my train home.

I also hate the whole gym culture and the many self obsessed characters with heavy hints of narcissism that frequent them, but maybe most of that is in my over-active imagination. Whichever way you look at it, I was out of shape, overweight and heading into the infamous heart attack alley which is never a good thing. However, I found salvation in the Get Running App (couch potato to 5k in 9 weeks) which enabled me to combine my love of technology, photography and music whilst also making me get a little fitter, with the added bonus of also losing a little weight in the process in a cunning move that was very similar to a Jedi mind trick.

I started out 9 weeks ago weighing 15 Stone 5lb struggling to run for sessions that consisted of one minute runs and I’m quite proud to say that as I leave the couch potato to 5k in 9 weeks program, I’m now 14 stone 7lbs and I have finally reached my first target of running 5k in just under 30 minutes.

As my first goal has now been reached, it also time to say goodbye to the Get Running app that made it all possible. I will definitely miss the words of encouragement from Claire telling me to keep going because there are only 30 seconds left but I guess this is the time where I leave the camp and go on a walkabout to fend for myself on a voyage of self discovery or should I say aim for my goal of entering a 10k run.

Before I do though, I thought I would have a little fun with my running and find myself very tempted by the Zombie Running App where you are told to tie your shoes, put on your headphones, and take your first steps outside. You’ve barely covered 100 yards when you hear them. They must be close. You can hear every guttural breath, every rattling groan – they’re everywhere. Zombies. There’s only one thing you can do: Run! It sounds like the perfect antidote to this apocalyptic weather that we are having here in the UK.

The running in the rain novelty is wearing off a little now, and this weeks runs were quite tough which is not made any easier by me carrying a coat along with my work clothes in my rucksack but still managed around 12 miles this week.

With a Bank Holiday weekend upon us, I will try and get out without the handicap of my bag and get some miles under my belt armed only with my trusty Runkeeper app and Spotify running playlist as I begin heading for my next goal of running in a 10k race. Only when this milestone is reached will I refer to myself as a runner, so until then a massive thank you to everyone who made the Get Running App and a fond farewell to the encouraging voice of Claire as I head out for another run.