Dubliner Elaine Roddy is one of the many thousands of women who’ll be pounding the pavement on 1 June to compete in this year’s Mini Marathon. The Kinsealy native will be sharing her training highs and lows with Herald.ie readers as she prepares for the race of her life.

Wednesday 1 April: My first triumph of the week was in registering to run the mini-marathon. It dawned on me that while I was very much committed to doing it, I had not yet communicated that to the officials who organise the event. The process online is so very simple and quick so I logged on and I’m now the proud owner of a race number and it's all systems go for me.

started off the week with a good 40 minute run and no complaints in the footwear department – success in itself. Then on Tuesday I had a personal training session at the gym followed by a cardio-kick boxing class, which has the benefits of aerobic fitness combined with flexibility and toning. I love this class. It’s non-contact activity that takes co-ordination and balance – both of which require great concentration. Mind you, I use the term co-ordination loosely. Picture, if you will, about ten women prancing about the studio, limbs flailing in a vain attempt to emulate the strength, control and agility of a boxer. Add to that some fast dance music and you’ve got a ‘performance’, which I can imagine is quite amusing to watch. But, I do enjoy it and happily played my part in the cardio-comedy, safe in the knowledge that I’m in good company.

Exalted by my stamina from the evening before, I prefaced my step class for Wednesday evening with a light warm-me-up run. The intelligent person would make this a short jaunt, but I kept going and was less warmed up and more run-down by the time I reached my class. Now this particular class is like step aerobics for those that enjoy extreme sports. The ‘steps’ are already higher than normal and for part of the class are extended to a level that for me feels like I’m jumping three normal stairs at a time. Granted this part of the class is a lot slower than the rest, so that you can muster up the energy to rise up and down. The term step can also be misleading, as it’s not as if I was only using my legs. If I’m not waving dumb bells around as I step up and down, I am expected to do press ups and tricep dips intermittently. Complain as I may, I do love this class too and again there’s a great distraction from the exertion. Indeed there are some experts who make it look easy and raise the bar in terms of skill , and while I may not be the best I refuse to be the worst in my class.

As the weekend approached so too did my tendency to be kind to myself a little too early. I did however take a major step in my quest to run in the mornings. On Friday, my sister is waking me up with a coffee as she leaves earlier than me each day, and low and behold, I actually got out of bed. However, a small venture from bed to bathroom reminded me just how cold it still is and that I had all weekend to train- that was enough to send me back under the duvet for an hour. Next week will be the week – I'm sure of it.

Next week: As her training schedule kicks into high gear, can Elaine maintain the pace required?

- Elaine Roddy