What was I thinking?

I am nothing if I'm not impulsive.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I just sometimes open my mouth and say things before I think them through.
Like telling people I want to participate in the Great North Run in 2015.
I was inspired after watching the fabulous opening ceremonies online and by my niece who was running for her charity, Alzheimer's, because that's what took the life of her grandmother, my mother.

This is a 1/2 marathon, 13 miles to be exact and it takes place in the North East of England every September.
Over 50,000 people participate.

What was I thinking?

Now I'll have to put my money where my mouth is and start training. There are a few pros and cons to my entering a competitive race for the first time. A half marathon indeed.
The pros are:
It will be a great boost to my self esteem if I manage to pull it off and as a side benefit I will get fit and hopefully lose weight in the process.

Awesome!

The cons are:
I am 60 years of age and will be 61 next year when the event happens. Maybe it's too late to start doing half marathons. Perhaps my knees or back or ankles will give out and I'll be crippled.
I am unfit.
I am overweight.
I haven't, in spite of searching my memory in a vain attempt to find something that would justify my madness,  ran for any period of time greater than the time it takes to run from the car to a building when it's pishing down.
I don't do any form of exercise at all.
I am lazy.
I am good at starting things but not always good at seeing them through.

So if I can stay motivated that will be the challenge.

I've started a little group on Facebook for my daughter, sister, and three nieces.  We are all aiming to compete (participate) next year. There'll be no competition on my part. Participating is the goal. It's so we can post our activities and progress to 'keep the dream alive' as it were.

So far I've increased my activity by walking daily; with the exception of last week which was very traumatic and I will hopefully post about that this week.
I live at the top of a very steep hill so that should help increase my fitness right?
Ooh that sounds grand doesn't it?
You picture me in a grand mansion at the end of a long, long, driveway on top of a very steep hill?
Not quite.
We live on the Niagara Escarpment which is lovely and from some vantage points on the hill you can see across Lake Ontario to Toronto where the CN Tower marks the horizon. On a clear day it's beautiful.

I stole this picture from the Great North Run website.
That's the Red Arrows Flying over the Tyne Bridge at the start of the race.

What an amazing start. Now if they can just keep jets with multi-coloured jetstreams flying overhead while I run, okay walk, for 13 miles I might stay motivated to finish.