KING OF SHAVES AZOR BLOG

Our hot new King of Shaves advert is here and features Diane Wood, the world's most famous female professional Master Barber as 'Barbarella X' and King of Shaves latest razor, the new Azor M. Add Myla Lingerie, a remix of Carmen and you don't just get a shave, you get the King of Shaves! Go on - Be A King!
Watch it now on Facebook by clicking here.

King of Shaves happy to be supporting the Lowestoft to Paris cycle tour:

Departing from UK, The Lowestoft to Paris Tour, will cross Netherland and Belgium with arrival at Paris 5 days later, in a total of 450 miles.Norwich-Paris Daily cycling itinerary as follows:

Tuesday - Lowestoft (UK) - Harwich (UK)
Wednesday - Hook (Holland) to Terneuzen (Holland)
Thursday - Terneuzen (Holland) to Roubaix (France)
Friday - Roubaix to St Quentin (France)
Saturday St Quentin - Paris (France)

Follow them here!

Our hot new King of Shaves advert on youtube.com features Diane Wood, the world's most famous female professional Master Barber as 'Barbarella X' and King of Shaves latest razor, the new Azor M. Add Myla Lingerie, a remix of Carmen and you don't just get a shave, you get the King of Shaves!

Our new King of Shaves shave sexy advert debuts on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/kingofshaves) and our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/kingofshaves) on July 19th 2010.

King of Shaves have been lending our support to James Corden's "Back the Beard" campaign via the independent website backthebeard.org. They have added a suitably irreverent information page for us! Hopefully we'll still be backing England at 5pm this evening...

Following the cool understated 'black' styling set by the new wider Azor System Razor and Shaving Gel packaging, we have launched a new range of more affordable skincare products for men. The range is currently available at Superdrug stores and online at kingofshavesdirect.com.

Our online store has just been re-branded www.kingofshavesdirect.com. It now onlyy stocks King of Shaves, Azor and Queen Of... products.

But don't panic, if you are a fan of Ted Baker, Fish and all the other brands that were stocked on the site, these can be found on a new online store called www.kmiclub.com.

After months of training and fund raising, followed by injury in the weeks prior to the race, on Sunday 25th April 2010 I finally made it to the start line of the London marathon - my first London marathon.
I had completed the Paris marathon in 2009 in a time of 4 hours and 4 minutes but the suspected stress fracture to my left femur had meant that I'd been unable to run for almost two months. To make up for the lack of running I had made the best of the local swimming pool and ridden what felt like the length and breadth of Britain at the gym on a spin bike. Despite this I was sure that the leg would force me to hobble a large part of the course.
After a sleepless night I woke and took my first dose of 'preventative' painkillers. After a hearty breakfast of muesli, porridge and bananas I left the hotel at 7.30am for Greenwich Park, the starting point for us 'Charity Runners'. Weather forecasting being what it is, I was not surprised to discover that "possibly the hottest London marathon ever" actually started with heavy drizzle. Just before the gun I downed a couple more painkillers and then we were off.
And then we stopped!
And then we were off again.
Due to the volume of runners you can't but help starting at a fairly relaxed pace, which is actually a blessing in disguise. After approximately 3 miles the 'Red starters' joined the 'Blue starters', (who had won a place in the ballot). The traditional "Boo's" were exchanged across the dual carriageway before we all came together as one huge train of what looked like bobbing ants.
As we progressed the leg was feeling good although the quads were starting to tighten just a little bit. After some quick hydration at the water station I passed the 10 miles marker feeling remarkably OK. It was then that I started furiously calculating my minutes per mile allowance. I knew that 9 minute miles would mean a finishing time just inside 4 hours (a dream). I focused on one mile at a time adding 9 minutes on each time to ascertain where I was in relation to the 4 hours finishing time. It might seem like elementary mathematics simply adding 9 minutes each mile but believe me, when you are running it's not so easy.

By the time we reached Tower Bridge, almost the halfway point, I had 'banked' several minutes and was now ahead of schedule. I knew that I might suffer badly in the second half so the plan was to make hay whilst the sun was shining. The crowds on Tower Bridge were just fantastic and spanned the length of the landmark 5 or 6 persons deep.
If Tower Bridge was great Canary Wharf was amazing! This is where I first almost had 'emotional breakdown'. The volume of cheers and encouragement was humbling and it took many a hard swallow to keep the eyes dry.
At 20 miles I couldn't believe that I was still in one piece and still feeling fairly strong. The danger at this point is that you think "20 miles down only 5 to go" whereas the last 5 miles of a marathon is often called the third half of the race.
At 22 miles I grabbed some fuel at the gel station and held on for life until mile 23 where I downed the gloopy energy boost.
As I rounded the corner past Buckingham Palace, the finishing line in The Mall was just ahead and from then on I just ran on emotion for the tape.
Once passed the post I became a blubbering idiot (like the rest of the finishers around me). Regardless of age or gender there was hardly a dry eye about town.
The organisation was fantastic and after collecting my belongings and goodie bag I mad my way to the friends and family 'meet and greet' area. I waited for Mum under the tree with a letter "S" (for SOKO). And I waited. And I waited.
It turned out that given my pre-race condition Mum had actually made it to the 13 mile point just after I had passed on the opposite side of the road going in the other direction at mile 22!
Finally, after more tears at the reunion we made our way to the Macmillan Recovery Centre in the Foreign Office (very grand). Here we runners were treated like hero's and enjoyed a massage, sugary drinks, sandwiches and Pret-a-Manger chocolate brownies which had all been donated. Wow! - those brownies tasted good.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel but, not after speaking with friends, family and anyone else who would listen! The team morale was inspiring and would make anyone want to try running a marathon.

I have one last supermarket bag pack at the weekend during which I am hoping to take my fund raising total to £3,500 which would be amazing and reflects the fantastic support that people have given me throughout the past 6 months.

The icing on the cake?

A finishing time of 3 hours 35 minutes and 47 seconds

JOB DONE!

This will be last blog before the BIG DAY.
Following diagnosis of a suspected stress fracture of the left femur, the past few weeks have been rather a 'turbulent' time in the Sockett household! My well-meaning and very caring family, along with a number of friends and colleagues have tried to get me to see sense and pull out of this year's London marathon. I fully understand their argument and if I am totally honest I know what they are telling me is probably true but.....
For me, running London will be the culmination of a journey that I embarked on just over two years ago. After suffering from an eating disorder for almost two decades, my low point came in Jan 2008 when I was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia and a collapsed lung. That's when I finally realised that life was just too precious to go on as I had been.

The road to recovery has been long and sometimes difficult but every step along that road has been worth an infinite sum of money. I was suddenly aware that it was OK to feel happy and even laugh occasionally! I started to see the best in people and enjoyed new friendships. In a nutshell, I regained my life. I know that sounds sort of dramatic but, after being so low for so long you really appreciate small pleasures.
Since I signed up to run the 2010 London marathon, the support I have received has just been phenomenal and indeed quite humbling. Much of my fund raising has been via bag-packing in local supermarkets. During the worst recession for decades people have happily thrown their pounds into my collection bucket and wished me luck, such that I have now raised just over £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support, for whom I am running.
My training up to February was going great guns. I felt like I could run to the moon and back (subject to volcanic ash blowing in the opposite direction!).

That's the problem with stress fractures - they tend to creep up on you very gradually such that you don't really notice them until it's too late. After the diagnosis I knew that the only chance I had of running London was to rest the leg from all weight-bearing activities. For once in my life I actually listened to the physio and did what I was told. This has meant endless lengths of the local swimming baths and countless miles on the gym bike - not the most exciting of past times! A gym wall becomes very familiar after an hour and the lack of 'downhills' is somewhat frustrating.

I haven't run for some eight weeks. I am now just 5 days away from the race, the hotel is booked, the letters "S O K O" are ironed onto my running top and number 41,693 is fixed firmly in my mind!
I don't know what's going to happen. How long will the leg hold out? Will I be able to go on when it goes? Will the lack of preparation mean I simply haven't got the stamina to last? After eight weeks, can I even remember how to run?
All I know is that after the support shown to me by so many people I simply can't pull out without at least having a go.
That's why I need to at least attempt the run on the 25th.
If you have anything you can cross for please do - I'll need it! As the race is held on a Sunday I will be saying one final prayer before the siren signals the start. I just hope HE is listening!

Suppot Ian here