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Its 8:30 in the morning an I have just returned from a 1 hour run. I am beaming like a Cheshire Cat. Even though my lips are cracked and sore from my 3 hour run in Sunday sunshine, I can't hold back the smile. My energy and enthusiasm still pumping around my body. Even as my muscles tighten a deep sense of satisfaction flows like a warm current around my limbs, gently caressing and healing the aches as they present themselves. So what, you might be thinking. You are looking at someone who 10 weeks ago only owned one pair of what can only be described as fashion trainers and avoided exercise at all costs. Today I am a runner and in less than two weeks time I will be one of the 32,000 people who will be running the London Marathon!

For years now I have vaguely tussled with the idea that I would like to run the London Marathon. So what is the difference for me to shift from the talk to the walk or run in this case. Like most significant changes it started with a belief "I know I can do it". This was backed by a strong sense of purpose and a desire to give something back. I am passionate about the work undertaken by the NSPCC, so I wrote to them explaining how proud I would be to represent them in the Marathon. You can imagine the stunned look on my face when a few days later the phone rang and Laura at the NSPCC confirmed I had a place provided I could raise the sponsorship money!! I put the phone down both excited and triumphant, then without warning the tidal wave of doubt hit me. "What had I done?" My internal chatterbox was having a field day, putting me down saying I'll never do it. It mocked me with an incessant list of doubts interspersed with rampant hysterics!

What a different story today, 10 weeks on. For those of you who know me, be prepare to be shocked. I am now the proud owner of running gear, a fluorescent yellow Peter Storm anorak, a large tub of Vaseline, new running shoes and a chunky Timex Watch and heart rate monitor.

Talk about the NLP presupposition that there is no failure only feedback. Until now I do not believe that there has ever been a time when I have truly listened and heard what my body is saying. I can now accurately predict my heartbeat from my breathing alone, before getting confirmation from my watch. The power of visualising my desired outcome paid dividends on my 3 hour run last Sunday. I imagined the country lanes and backroads transforming into the streets of London. Lampposts and post boxes became people cheering and encouraging me along my route. Their voices positive and upbeat filling the air with energy and words like "you can do it" "come on" "you're so well". At times it is so real that my eyes overflow with emotion and my heart swells in my chest. I am fortunate to be being coached by Rick Kiddle of Internet-Spinoffs. Rick has produced monthly training schedules that have challenged and stretched my capability day by day. He lives 2 hours drive from me so has never seen me run, yet in my mind he stands at the top of a hill or near the end of a run encouraging me onwards.

I have even been able to experience being in the zone. When I'm in it everything within me feels totally aligned, even though I know my feet are pounding the pavement, I am encased in silence. Time seems to stretch itself as I move with focused attention from moment to moment. The boundaries between me and the world seem to merge. I move through the world or is it the world moving through me. You too may recall a time when you have sensed being at one with the world around you and how fantastic this feels.

Last week my chatterbox managed to jostle itself back into the forefront so that it could be heard. The regular bully it chanted incessantly about how my training was no longer going well, how much I was struggling to run even an hour and mocking me at the thought that I was even thinking of turning up to run the Marathon. I don't know about you but I have to admire the persistence and determination with which this voice squirms its way back into my head. It seems to get a strong foothold before I even realise what is happening. I feel weighed down both in my mind and body with its negativity. Once I recognised what was happening I was able to choose to make a positive change. I picked a few words that inspired me: powerful, energised, strong and flow. I now chant these affirmations out load initially and then internally until I beat my own chatterbox into submission.

On 22 April I will successfully complete the London Marathon. I have learnt so much from this experience. I believe that I can achieve anything I set my heart on. That the resources I need to support me will present themselves. (I am amazed that once my eyes and mind are open the help and support I need are usually much closer to me than I thought.) I believe that everything is possible when inspired and will take this learning through to my coaching in business. For me it has been the case of mind over marathon.

I would encourage you to take a moment to look inside yourself right now and draw on those things that you to believe are possible and inspire you. Begin to imagine yourself having already achieved your outcome and take the first step towards your dream.