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You're halfway there, then.

I used to run a lot when I was at university, though hadn't done anything like it before.

My first attempt, three hilly miles through south Belfast streets at 7am, along with a couple of very fit guys from the athletics club, very nearly did me in.

But I persevered and within two years I'd think nothing of six miles in the morning - more than keeping pace with the athletics guys (they'd always put in a sprint for the last 400 metres or so).

By then I was also playing a great deal of table tennis (I mean hours of it at a time), pumping iron at the weights room 3-4 times a week, athletics circuit training every Wednesday evening, swimming a mile almost every day and playing squash or badminton almost every day too.

I estimated I was putting away about 6,000 calories a day, but maintaining weight at 10 and a half stone.

These days I just cycle and swim. Running, which I've always found very boring and uncomfortable, is a thing of the past as I've decided it hurts my joints too much. God, I'm feeling old!

-- congokid Eating out in London? Read my tips...