Monday 24th October 2011 was day one of my training schedule for the 100 mile Endurancelife Ultra Trail South West. It was also the day I landed at Heathrow at 7.00 in the morning after a sales conference in the USA. I had a 4 hour drive back to Cornwall and when I arrived it was chucking it down with rain. I did not feel like going for a run, even though when running in the Kalahari I wished I was running during a cold, wet day in England.

I'm pleased to say that I did go for my run, the thought of chickening-out did cross my mind, we l actually, it pretty much filled it. However, when I give talks on running to those new to the pleasure I emphasise how difficult it is to get out of the door, but with the right strategies you can master getting out there. I would have felt a fraud had I failed on day one of my plan.

When I was on my run getting cold and wet I wished I was back in the Kalahari, and then I remembered an item I heard on Woman's Hour on my long drive from Heathrow. (Guys they have some great features on that programme, it's not all lippy and jam making.) They interviewed the actress Carmen Aguirre whose mother was a freedom-fighter in South America.  Carmen spent most of her childhood in hiding or on the run from capture and the possibility of suffering violence or death. She described it as a benefit, as it taught her to live in the moment and appreciate life. That, I decided, is what I need to do; live in the moment and appreciate it, not want cold and wet when I am in the desert or heat when I am in the cold. I should appreciate the beauty of the moment I am in.

I then remembered a sentence in the novel I read on the plane. 'If you allow yourself to be enchanted by the beauty to be seen in ordinary things, then all things prove to be extraordinary." Grady Adams - a character in Dean Koontz's novel Breathless. Now, if I can combine that thought with living in the moment, I will have fantastic running experiences every time. I am going to work on this as I train for the UTSW.

To really appreciate things you have to get out there and do stuff. You only really appreciate things when you experience them up close and personal. I had a great example of this recently. During the sales conference in the States, Jim Einhauser, from Wigwam Mills, Inc, went on about the technology in the socks they knit and how Wigwam uses technology to produce socks that performed. Now I believed Jim, he is a great guy and would not say anything unless he believed it, he did not have keep banging on about it - I got the message. Well actually I hadn't. When I was plodding through lots of cold puddles and my feet were comfortable and warm I fully appreciated what 'engineered to perform' really meant. Hearing something is one thing, experiencing it is something completely different. To maintain some balance I should mention that other sock companies exist. As this is not the BBC I can also say that this is of no interest to me as I will always wear Wigwam socks.

After you have read this get out there and do stuff, live in the moment and be enchanted by the beauty to be seen in ordinary things.

And one last thing as they said in Hill Street Blues - Be careful out there.