I took up jogging when I was 21 years old. Before that I'd got quite unfit from years of heavy drinking, not eating properly, and sedentary activities like guitar and office work. The first thing I did was go to a sports shoe shop (in my memory of it that was all they sold) and buy a fancy pair of running shoes.

They seemed like a really special thing to own. I'd put them near my bed — and look at them last thing before I went to sleep, and first thing when I woke up in the morning.

They got used a lot. At first I could only run 500 metres, down a slight hill. Over many weeks I gradually increased that to 10 kilometres, about once a week, on a Saturday or Sunday morning. From Belrose (in the North of Sydney) to St. Ives Showground, once around the oval, and then back home. It took me about an hour. I never tried to seriously and precisely time it, nor put a heap of effort into increasing my speed. At the time I was very, very happy with that much of an improvement on my previous, quite sedentary life.