Week 13: Ciara King - 'I'm eating and sleeping better and in good form. I'm wondering why I didn't do this years ago?'

Not long to go now. The time has flown and before we know it, we will all be standing at that starting line on June 1.

I'm starting to get excited now; excited because I've managed to run 6km non-stop for the first time in my life! This might not be a big deal to many, but it is to me. I never thought that I would be able to do it, if I'm being honest.

I've never noticed how heavy my legs were before taking up jogging - it's not until I get to about 5km that they start to loosen up.

Stretching is so important; there were a few of days after running that I was walking like a 90-year-old woman, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to run again.

Each week from now on, I'm hoping to add that extra kilometre so that on the day, I'm ready for the 10km ahead.

I have three weeks, realistically, so I'm hoping for plain sailing now. No injuries please!

Another incentive I have to keep me going is the charity that I have decided to raise money for. It's Children in Hospital Ireland and it's a very worthy cause.

Children in Hospital Ireland is a 44-year-old charity involved in setting up, running and equipping hospital play schemes nationally. The charity also canvasses for changes in how children are cared for in hospital.

A lengthy hospital stay for children and their parents is never easy, so the services offered by Children in Hospital Ireland help provide an opportunity for children to play, and for their parents to take a break from the bedside.

However, like all charities, they are struggling with massive gaps in their services.

I've set up a My Charity page here, and any donations would be welcome: www.mycharity.ie/event/ciaraking.

Having a good music playlist is so important when running and, so far, I have accumulated some of the cheesiest 90s dance music to current pop music, which I adore to help me in training.

Eye of the Tiger, Taylor Swift's Shake it Off, Toto's Africa, Ushers' Yeah and even Enya's Orinoco Flow have made it in so far.

I recently just added some Bee Gee's You Win Again.

positive

So far, the Vhi Mini Marathon process has been an extremely positive one. I'm eating better, I'm sleeping better, and I'm in really good form.

People have been so nice and kind and supportive. Friends have offered to take me out running, and I've managed to get one of my housemates on board too. Why didn't I start this a LONG time ago?