Next month, for the third year running (or power walking) the Good Housekeeping team will join the 15,000 women and men on a half or a full marathon through the night, showing off our decorated bras to raise funds for the UK’s biggest grant-making breast cancer charity, Walk the Walk. Read on to find out how we're training for this fantastic event and follow this blog to keep up with the highs and lows of the Good Housekeeping MoonWalk team between now and 12 May.

Karen says:

When the going gets tough, it’s all about mind over matter… When I signed up to this year’s MoonWalk, my first challenge was to decide whether to walk the full or half marathon distance. I ummed and I aahed, and while I have to say the shorter distance was extremely tempting, having completed the London Marathon last year (for the first and perhaps only time!), I decided that if I could run for 26.2 miles (v slowly, I might add!) then surely I could walk it?

Which is why, since committing to the MoonWalk at the start of the year, I’ve been donning my trainers every day and walking my four-mile commute to work and back. I’ve found it a fantastic way to fit walking in to my daily routine, plus it leaves me feeling great for the rest of the day, helps me sleep better at night, and I save money on my bus fare, too!

But that’s been the (relatively) easy part. Increasing my mileage at the weekend, however, has proved a lot tougher, and I’ll hold my hands up and admit it’s been virtually non-existent. The thing is, as a runner, I'm used to my training sessions being relatively short and fast, leaving me with the rest of my day, but with a recent house move, plus essential trips to Ikea and waiting in for the man from Virgin Media to install my phone line taking up my weekends – okay, enough with the excuses! – I’ve simply struggled to find the time to do those longer walks.

I’m not panicking, though – instead I’m opting for the mind-over-matter technique. You see, the one thing I’ve learned from running is that if you truly believe you can do something, you can – and will – achieve it. During my Marathon training I picked up a knee injury and wasn’t able to run as far as I’d hoped before the big day, and while it was frustrating and disappointing, it made me more determined than ever. Yes, the run was hard and took me longer than I’d hoped, but words simply cannot describe how good I felt when I crossed that finish line and received my medal. Which is why I know that I can complete the MoonWalk on 12th May, I just need to believe in myself (plus there’s still one training weekend to go!) and think of all that money we’ll all be raising to help women fight breast cancer.

See you there!

If you’re joining us on May 12, do comment and let us know how you’re getting on – and come back next week to find out how the rest of the Good Housekeeping team are handling the training...

Find out more about the Moonwalk

Try the GH no-gym, no-time walking get-fit plan

More from GH online