The marathon starts here!

With the news that I’d been lucky (probably the wrong word to use) enough to gain entry into the 2009 Flora London Marathon as a part of the Cancer Research team, this weekend saw the first formative steps being taken towards getting into the right mindset for the training ahead. First port of call was Running Free, a fantastic running shop in Ashley Cross, Poole where David, Tracey and the team were on hand to provide me with the perfect advice on what trainers are needed for the miles ahead. The great thing is they don’t just tell you about what the shoe can do, they sit down and take a look at your feet, how you run, bend and rest as well as the physiological impact those miles pounding around the Dorset streets ahead of London in April are going to have on the rest of your body.

Lucky me as well, the guys from Asics were in town that day and had the camera set up on the treadmill to check out my gait analysis and biometrics whilst in the new shoes and in others too. Once I’d been diagnosed as having a slight overpronation, the only testing left to do was some quick laps of the stores car park in the various trainers designed to support this condition much to the bemusement of the nearby residents and high street shoppers. I got over it though and now feel totally set up and raring to go for hard miles ahead.

Stay tuned to the blog for more tales as I progress through the months of training with my trusty aid the Forerunner 405, Garmin Connect and my brand new trainers. I’m sure I’ll be making many more visits to Running Free to pick up some great tit bits of advice from the hugely knowledgeable team, especially as I’ve now accumulated some loyalty points on the store card to use for some hi-vis clothing for the early morning runs this winter.