(over the course of about 6 months) to knock my 5K PB time down from around 24 minutes to 19:56!Admittedly, this time is not official. It was measured during one particular Thursday in April, at a 5K handicap race against the people at the Virgin London

and it was a pleasure to represent team TW along side the GE relay teams.

this into this fartlek session this week:(2 mins easy, 30 secs hard, 1 min 30 secs easy,  30 sec hard) x 10. Cool down (10 mins)…where the 'hard' is 6:26 min-mile pace. The second area is my posture. I'm an incredibly inefficient runner, which I think is largely down

Time to work out a training schedule. The triathlon is now 8 weeks away. That's more than enough time to give me a fighting chance of running a sub 20-minute 5K. I'm booked into the Standard Chartered Great City Race, which takes place 4 weeks

very high in the Barnard camp. Speed session this week (post illness): 3x200m with 30sec rest – 3 minute break (repeat 3 times)

. It's at this point that you start to become less efficient with your exercise. After about 15 mins or so of running the results were in. In a nutshell I've got a massive lung capacity but a relatively low FEV1, which is the force of air exhaled

, to give me a good indication of how I'll fare when I do the running leg of Team TW's relay triathlon in Hyde Park (in two weeks' time). But on completion, fighting the urge to be sick, absolutely spent and looking as white as a sheet, I was a full 2