The trainers now leaving Hyde Park... (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

The trainers now leaving Hyde Park...

2:32pm Thursday 3rd July 2008

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So, here we go again.

After months of planning and days of training, part two of my charitable endeavour looms large on the horizon.

The train is booked, the hotel sorted, the pre-race meal planned. All that's needed now is the idea preparation.

Sadly, that bit has proved to be a smidge tricky.

The race in Leeds took more out of me than I anticipated, and it was almost a week before I could tackle a flight of stairs without swearing and muttering.

Fortunately I didn't then go and stand in among a large crowd for a day on Sunday, getting baked as global warming showed Milton Keynes what the future holds. Because that would have been stupid.

At least I wasn't standing all day - Enter Shikari's half hour on stage provided me with the ideal chance to lie down and have a kip. Not good for the face (I woke up on Monday looking like an embarrassed lobster), but ideal for the legs. And they sounded better when I was asleep, so it was win-win.

Still, I digress.

The training is back in place, the legs have stopped aching, Scamp has been relieved of running duty owing to his coat not being suited to warm weather, and the cats are carrying on as if none of this affected them. Which, in truth it doesn't.

So, by the time I doze off in front of Dexter on Sunday night, I will have raised almost £2,000, run 20 kilometres and bought my first ever pair of running shoes.

I'm not sure which of those three landmarks shocks me more.