As part of the Life Style Sports #GirlsRunTheWorld campaign, Michelle McMahon, Editor of Her.ie and Sue Murphy, TV & Film Editor,were challenged to run a 10k race after 12 weeks of training. MICHELLE'S DIARY! D DAY IS COMING I've finally started watching Game of Thrones in the last week and "Winter is Coming" is my new favourite catch-all response to anything I don't want to do. The 10km run is now my winter, and winter really is coming. Next Sunday, Sue and I will take part in the Samsung Night Run, the culmination of our training programme with Life Style Sports and pb3 coaching. I was nervous before the 5km I ran at the start of March, but it's nothing compared to how nervous I feel ahead of this race. Doubling my previous efforts is no mean feat. I didn't have time to feel nervous or sorry for myself last week though. Poor Sue really got to the end of her emotional tether on Tuesday, so we both had to regroup and start focusing on the positives. Peter was away last week, so went out training on our own and we actually enjoyed the run! Really. On Friday, I took advantage of the sunshine and headed to my local park for a jog. I only managed about a half an hour, but every little helps. The rest of the Bank Holiday weekend was a bit of a write-off, but I'm heading out this evening absolutely determined to cover my longest distance yet. The countdown is on, and with only five days to go to the race this final burst will be make or break. Wish us luck! SUE'S DIARY! TRY A LITTLE PATIENCE! Well, last week certainly could be counted as my mental breakdown week of the entire challenge. With a pretty bad weekend behind me the weekend before (I went out and had a few drinks, just a few) I was finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things. Yes, it's true, drinking on a night out does not help a fitness regime. On Monday morning, I hobbled downstairs and decided I was going to hit the bike for an hour. I managed to make it for about forty minutes, but to be honest, that was still an achievement. On Tuesday, I had a little breakdown. I went out for a run in the morning, but probably feeling the after effects of a busy week and just failing at life in general, I decided that I wasn't going to be able to run the 10k. I sent Michelle a very emotional email and basically cried my eyes out when I got into work. I was panicking about not getting in the mind frame of a 10k and that I may actually die along the way. Michelle spent most of the meeting trying to just make me either a) stop crying or b) talk some sense into me. On Wednesday, I went along to my usual class of Pilates that I am absolutely loving. I really do feel the strength from working constantly on my core and I am certainly toning up with the help of the class. So on Thursday with my breakdown out of the way, we went out for a training session, without Peter as he was away working on another race. This time, Michelle paced me and I found that I was actually just going too fast and basically killing myself. We managed to cover about 5k through walking and running and I felt SO much better about myself thanks to the encouragement from Michelle. Newly motivated, I headed out for a run again on Saturday and managed to cover about 5k by myself! This was a huge achievement considering I thought I wasn't going to be able to run the 10k at all. After the Easter weekend, I went along to a Total Body Tone class, a class that most certainly would have killed me about three months ago. However, I made it to about 40 minutes of the class before feeling I was going to die, although I was just sticking at a beginner's level. Word of warning, don't look at the really fit people at the front of the class. Concentrate on yourself! To join Sue this week: Train 5 x times per week plus one Pilates class for strengthening. Two swimming sessions – Up to about forty lengths now. One bike sessions – 45mins/1 hour on bike on a very easy setting. Two running sessions – Short running sessions, thirty mins, two minutes running, one min walk. Exercises – Single leg lifts, sit-ups, press-ups, strengthening knee muscles, foam roller on the calves and on the outside of the legs. Find pb3 coaching on Facebook for more details on the training programme Whatever kind of training you are involved in, the Life Style Sports Product Experts (in stores nationwide) are on hand to ensure each customer selects the correct clothing and footwear to meet their individual needs, reducing risk of injury and achieving better results. Life Style Sports also offers customers a free Gait Analysis service in select stores which provides runners with an essential insight into their individual running styles. Customers can also find all the information they need on wearing the right technical apparel, including “Sports Bra Fitting Guides” and footwear while running or working out at “The Fitness Hub” on lifestylesports.com.