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I have recently started running. I am taking up the triathlon next year and as somebody that hasn't run for nearly twenty years, this is the discipline I need to work hardest on.

I hate it. My first run was with my Wife. Our kids were at school, it was a Saturday morning and guests were not due until after lunch. We ran around three minutes before my acting started, you know the acting you need to do when you are trying to show no pain or failure.

Mine was both acting and failure. It hurt. It hurt my lungs, my legs and my shoulders. I could even taste blood from somewhere!

We carried on for nearly five kilometres. That is a long way for the first time. Only when we got to our destination did I realise just how much pain I was in. I did the "let's stop and stretch" trick. Just to get some breath and try to get some life into me!

The five kilometres back was part walk, part run. The part run was especially useful when other people were running towards me, like the token 70 year olds. Why are there always 70 year old running when I go out?

By the time our guests arrived, I couldn't stand up or walk very easily. That night, I felt like crying!!! The next day sitting down hurt, not my bum but my legs and the motion of doing it killed me!

It took one week to get over the excruciating pain. One week, where is the fun in that?

Still, I ran it again the week after, it still hurt. Now, I thought, I must have picked up some kind of injury years ago, it shouldn't be that bad!

I am still running now, about a month and a half after starting. I am upto running twice easily per week and about to step up to three times next week. I am running around 7k in just over 35 minutes now...getting there finally. I just cannot stand running, it feels like hard work and indeed is hard work!

I swim a couple of times per week and can do a mile in around thirty minutes, this equates to 1.5k or in a pool, 32 Olympic lengths or 64 in a standard 25 metre pool. I am happy to swim, enjoy the benefits of living five minutes walk from an Olympic size pool and ten minutes to the sea on foot. This part is my banker, I need to speed up and go an extra five minutes quicker, but this will happen when I take some advanced lessons.

I need to do more of this but in fairness, haven't had a spare weekend since August and this has not really helped. I can ride 20k flat out in around 35 minutes, so I need to increase this dramatically but all said and done, this doesn't hurt and I just need practice.

So in conclusion, I am sitting here in my shorts, sweating after this mornings run by the ocean. I think the fact that I can now run through the pain barrier has helped me hugely.

If anyone has any tips to offer me on how to speed up my swim, i'd appreciate it. If am off this afternoon to do a mile and see what reaction I have in my legs!!!