IT'S cold, it's wet... and I still haven't started to take this getting fit thing very seriously.

The intentions are good, the mind raring to go. But unfortunately, the flesh is still be warmed up and time is hardly on my side.

In fact, I'm already beginning to understand why so many people try and fail to eat the right things and get enough exercise.

Let's weigh up the options.

I really know that I should go for a run, but don't think it's such a good idea to pull on my trainers when it's 9pm, I'm already whacked, and the eldest of the kids has been read a bed-time story.

I could get up at 5.30am instead of 6.30am, but then that doesn't feel like a walk in the park either.

It would also be seen as an attempt to wriggle out of getting-the-kids-ready- for-the-day duties.

And if I haven't started exercising, there's really no need to bother being good by avoiding chocolates, beer and curries, is there? No, it's got to be in for a penny, in for a pound, or else it's not worth investing at all.

Flip-side

On the flip-side, the crisps are as good as they ever were, the wine is finally starting to taste good again after the Christmas glug-fest, and there are loads of things to watch on my new Virgin Media TV service.

It all adds up to instant gratification without so much as a single droplet of sweat. Suddenly I don't miss the idea of blisters that much at all.

There's the nagging worry that I'm supposed to be helping to celebrate Manchester World Sport 08 by running in the BUPA Great Manchester Run.

But then, just as it's important for me to show that an ordinary Joe can train like an elite athlete (see last week's incredibly tiring column) it's also important for me to show that I understand as much as anyone else why getting fit is easier said than done.

It's at this point I should offer some motivational advice… but I really can't be bothered.

But on a serious note, there is a way ahead. Let the end of January be the starting gun for a fantastic few months of fitness mayhem.

And I'll be there right with you... just as soon as I've finished my last packet of cheese and onion.

Simon, our learner athlete, is in training for the BUPA Great Manchester Run - a 10k race to be held in May and one of the numerous world championship events which form part of Manchester World Sport 08.

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