Running like a baby giraffe

Will Johnston. Photo/George Novak

I'm not a runner. In fact I've been known to say, like so many people, that I hate running! So I decided that I needed to have a life a bit more free of hate and maybe a little more full of health. The only way I know how to tackle a problem is to run towards it, not away from it. I live near the Mount, so I decided that I would run towards that!

I've been to a few City to Surfs over the years to support others doing it. So this year, I'm going to go and support myself doing it! About two months ago I put running shoes on, my headphones in (oh and clothes on too - the last thing anyone needs to see is a tall white man in his30s running naked down Marine Parade... unless it's New Year's Eve) and went for a run to see how far I could get.

Turns out I got 9.5km! There were a couple of walks near the end there, but I was stoked that after years of not running I got that far. I was expecting to give up by the end of the street! Dear lord was I sore for the next four days though.

So I went for a couple more runs over the next 10 days and things were progressing nicely.

Imagine a baby giraffe running. That's my 'running style'. It's been likened to an octopus falling out of a tree. So it's a miracle I make any progress really.

Then disaster! I was out for a run, crossing a road, looking to see if a car was turning in I bent my big toe right back as I missed the kerb. What an idiot! I kept running the last couple of kms home and could feel it swelling by the time I got home.

The next day it was like a balloon. It was kind of like a sprained ankle, but of my big toe big joint! It took three weeks to come right. I was limping like an old man... what an insight in to my future.

I realise that I now won't be ready to do the 11km of the City to Surf. I refuse to do it half assed. I will not walk it... otherwise it would be a walk, not a run. So I've set a lower goal, the 5km option of the race.

I'm sure I can do that without stopping, so now it becomes a balance of doing better and better times over that distance and not hurting myself again...

I felt like a bit of a quitter when I decided not to do the 11km. But, if I'm going to do some sort of running race - with my previous hate of running in mind - then it's going to be something that I can enjoy and see real progress in.

Bring on November 5! Remind me I said that when I'm 4km in and blowing a lung out my nose please!

■ Will Johnston is host of The Hits 95FM Day Show. Live and local from 9am-3pm, every weekday in the Bay of Plenty.