I think it’s fair to say that I’m much more excited about my new running shoes than I am about running in general.

However, I needed to find a regular outdoor activity to replace my cycling, and running seemed like the easiest and cheapest option. I’m planning to follow a very gradual programme to get started, and I must say that my first outing this morning was extremely pleasant. Ok, so it involved much more walking than running, but the jogging minutes felt surprisingly comfortable (as did the shoes), and it was a pleasant start to my day.

In researching different shoe options I was originally looking for some basic trainers, but then I decided that barefoot running sounded interesting. Given the amount of glass lying around in my local park heading out with actual bare feet would be stupid, so I was delighted to find a pair of Fila skeletoes at a massively discounted price.

At the moment my only objective is to keep this up, so feel free to ask me how it’s going! The programme suggests training three times a week, which seems reasonable, though I’m guessing that once the summer’s over it won’t seem quite so appealing…!