Yesterday I got out of bed early, put on my trainers, running shorts and a suitably commodious T-shirt and set off for my first training session for the Race for Life.

I downloaded a training plan from the Race for Life website last week, but it starts at six weeks to go. I have eight weeks to go, and I need to start even more gently.

So on Sunday I decided to go for a shorter version of the first session on the plan: alternating three minutes' walking with three minutes' jogging. I did some stretching in the kitchen, then walked out briskly. After three minutes I started jogging, and almost immediately realised the wisdom of spending some time on route planning. The road I was on - a pleasant lane flanked with shady banks - has an incline, and I find trotting along on the flat is quite taxing enough.

Another good idea is to have worn comfortable shoes the day before, not ones that gave you blisters on both heels.

After 1 min 20 secs of lumbering up the hill, I ground to a halt. Time for a rethink. Cunningly I thought I'd use the incline to my advantage, so I walked to the top, then turned around and jogged downhill for 3 mins. Then I turned around and walked uphill for 3 mins, then turned around and jogged back downhill for 3 mins. And then I walked briskly home, removed my bloodied socks (blister sites quite painful by this time) and went back to bed!

Having recognised that I am perhaps not the best-qualified person to devise a running plan, today I visited the Runner's World website . And here I found my kind of plan, aimed at the complete beginner, which starts with alternating single minutes of walking and single minutes of jogging. Perfect! I'm resting today, but I'll be starting this one tomorrow, and carrying on with it for the next two weeks, when I can join in with the start of the other one.

Are you doing a Race for Life? Let me know how it's going - or how it went.

Find out more about Race for Life here - with details of runs, training plans, and all the info you need.

Read my last Race for Life blog