7You Editor: These are the fitness, health and wellness essentials that have helped me to prepare for my first marathon

Running has been a part of my life for close to two decades, taking me across Australia and further afield in the search of a PB or a different experience somewhere else.

And so, when ASICS invited me to participate in the TCS Sydney Marathon on Sunday 30 August — a new major and a bucket-list experience — I was delighted.

And beyond downloading a running plan and swiftly getting obsessed with it, I’ve got hugely into the minutaie of training for a marathon: like which gel will taste the best on a 30km long run, which sock will give the most cushion and which magnesium powder help me the most in my recovery so I can run again the next day.

Below, I’ve revealed the training essentials I’ve come to know and swear by.

You might think that running is a relatively cheap sport — all you need is a pair of trainers and shorts and you’re good to go, right?

But in actual fact, I’ve discovered there are all sorts of trinkets, pieces of gear and accessories you can buy to get better. A look at them all, below.

For many runners, myself included, the running experience begins from the ground up — aka, the running shoes.

And for me, there is one brand (not sponsored) that reigns supreme here: ASICS .

Across the 16-week training block, I have rotated through five different pairs of running shoes, three of which are from ASICS.

The lineup? ASICS Superblast 3s ($340) , which I use for almost every single kind of run.

Whether it’s long, recovery, tempo or intervals, the Superblast 3s are a go-to trainer for me when I need cushion, bounce and enough support that means I don’t feel like I might roll an ankle.

The rest of the time, you’ll either find me in the ASICS Megablasts ($360) — good for speed work, faster long runs and tempo runs; the HOKA Mach 7s ($249.99) — an easy running day staple — or the Mizuno Neo Vista 3s ($320) — which I tend to pull on for shorter, snappier interval sessions.

I will race the Sydney Marathon in ASICS’ Metaspeed Sky Tokyos ($400) — a carbon-plated super shoe that is super snappy and speedy but crucially still feels like a regular shoe.

While I’ve been lucky in having the opportunity to rotate my running shoes (always preferable if possible and wanting to avoid getting injured), if I was to only be able to buy one or two of these shoes I’d 100 per cent invest in ASiCS’ Superblast 3s and the Megablasts .