tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40343369941267603602024-03-05T11:16:10.196+00:00superhero ninja warrior...or I will be...because I will do the unthinkable and run the London Marathon 2013Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-28901679633493840552016-11-01T23:46:00.000+00:002016-11-01T23:46:30.219+00:00blurting out all sorts of things<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blimey, nearly TWO months has passed since I last scribbled down something here.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Those two months have been life changing and busy. I started studying again. Once a week I travel to Cambridge (the School of Art not the University for the brainiest people), then rest of the time I try to squeeze in </span>studying. Because of this life change I had to start working on Sundays too to keep on earning enough to survive. I'm also dating someone new which makes life very exciting but all this makes me very BUSY. In the middle of being extremely busy it would be easy to cut off training. I've had to reduce karate lessons already as they are on the same day I need to be in Cambridge but I refuse to reduce any more training. Being physically healthy keeps me going and keeps me sane. On Cambridge mornings I have to wake up stupid early to catch the train. This has made me wake up earlier on other days as well and I am finally getting back to running in the mornings again. Morning runs are the best! Autumn mornings are already cold enough that I've had to dig out my long sleeved running tops. The neon orange top matches the sunrise actually. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ7Xypj4t18vmNXJikveDBnFR4VYPCezOiA8t0ggHk3umwOi9ZJ4fifUyvuj5hLoUBu6A6lC7lEk0h2Cty2NjFJa_A8oEXl6-08CRBldQ6BZlo_ZrFaGajAm8WFivco-7KaSVr1-CVHA/s1600/IMG_1363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ7Xypj4t18vmNXJikveDBnFR4VYPCezOiA8t0ggHk3umwOi9ZJ4fifUyvuj5hLoUBu6A6lC7lEk0h2Cty2NjFJa_A8oEXl6-08CRBldQ6BZlo_ZrFaGajAm8WFivco-7KaSVr1-CVHA/s640/IMG_1363.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's me after running to the Castle, the climbing place. It's a sweaty selfie of me wearing not much. I don't do exercise primarily to look good. I do exercise to be better and to feel good. However, I'm happy to hang around half naked. I don't really have great body hang ups. This is probably because I exercise and live fairly healthily. I do get annoyed when people keep on talking about dieting and weight control. I try to promote sport as a feel good thing and not a body shaping thing BUT I have come to the conclusion that this is easy for me to say. I am happy in my body. I like the way it looks too. I'm lucky that I don't need to obsess over it because I am content enough. This is not the case with lots of people. I wasn't totally like this always either. I've been always slim (the body shape people falsely think as healthy and ideal) but I haven't always been healthy. There was a time I was skinny and sick. I had an eating disorder. My head and body were both ill. It was a vicious circle. One made the other ill and vice versa. I was ashamed of my illness then and long after. Only lately have I been able to confess that I had it and talk bit more openly about it. It's hard to pin point exact reasons that spiralled me into that bad place. It is obvious though that the obsession on HOW BODIES LOOK LIKE in our culture played a part. This is exactly why I have consciously learned not to obsess over the looks but concentrate on how I feel instead. This is also why I am rather allergic to diet talk. No matter how innocent people think negative body comments are, they are still NEGATIVE and never ever innocent. Now, it probably is that if I would put significant amount of weight on, the old monster would raise it's head again, so from that perspective I am not immune for the look side of things. I obviously like looking ok. But for me looking ok has also become very different to what it used to mean to me. Looking ok is to love my capable body, not to sculpt it so that I can then love it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm not sure where all this came from tonight. Why my fingers just wrote all that down but guess it has been waiting to get out for some time. My head is still full of deep and less deep thoughts on why I take sport so seriously. Why I do this all. How did I get to this point. What made me, the superhero wannabe. Why do I so desperately want to be a super something?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-41398036052788710442016-09-06T23:35:00.004+01:002016-09-06T23:35:57.520+01:00Plague<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDZ6CE2Xk1SAm3A8q9w8j5Bx2FU2cTCuC7In0NS9RpGZyHPacJ6rByz4y8kSr4i_b2kIQCP3XIQ4qTVi-F9tvtjgFEVy2i5lyozsEo60pS6P8wig_GhzR_CIPyTR8yxSggpzfY9t5gb8/s1600/scream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDZ6CE2Xk1SAm3A8q9w8j5Bx2FU2cTCuC7In0NS9RpGZyHPacJ6rByz4y8kSr4i_b2kIQCP3XIQ4qTVi-F9tvtjgFEVy2i5lyozsEo60pS6P8wig_GhzR_CIPyTR8yxSggpzfY9t5gb8/s640/scream.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">After I had officially decided to pursue with the new marathon challenge, I got understandably excited. I wanted to start training properly straight away. One week passed and then the universe decided to spoil everything</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">. My flatmate Amanda got the plague. She was coughing up everything including all her inner organs. We declared her patient zero of the zombie apocalypse that was starting from our flat. After a week the coughing just got worse and worse. Now we rediagnosed her situation and realised it must be one hell of a demon living inside her that is trying to get out. Somewhere along the way I obviously caught the bug as well. There was no escaping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Day before her birthday I felt alive and happy. I cycled to Hampstead ladies pond for an evening swim after work. On my way home I stopped to pick blackberries. The next morning I woke up early to make Amanda a cake using my freshly picked berries. She was very poorly but I wanted to try to make her birthday special regardless. Then I went for a long run. I managed bit over 17 km but felt bit weird and tired. My speed was slower than usual. The zombie bug had entered the early stages of it's destruction in my body. The birthday was very special indeed. The whole birthday week was so special we spent most of it indoors feeling miserable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I was luckier than Amanda and never really got the killer demon cough. Both of us finally returned to work yesterday. Today I returned to exercise. I was worried but dying to get back moving. I decided to start with bouldering as I could only do couple of walls if I felt too shitty. I felt brilliant. Doing stuff and moving my body felt AMAZING. Once more this experience have taught me how terrible it is if I can't move. How fucking much I hate being ill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Oh and the photo above demonstrates the different stages of the zombie killer plague.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-46967708288980595882016-08-21T00:02:00.002+01:002016-08-21T00:05:34.175+01:00Marathon again!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I will run a marathon again. It's official. I have to do it. It's only taken me few years to recover and forget how tough it might have been. Somewhere along the way it has become clear to me that running really is something I have to keep on doing. It's my meditation and my shrink. A week ago Helsinki City Marathon took place. Next year, around this time, I will run that marathon. I will run in my home town, on the streets I know better than anywhere else in this world. The route follows the coast and goes around islands including the one I spent my childhood in. This all makes me very emotional and determined to try my best.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The other marathon that happened last weekend was the Olympic women's one in Rio. The winner Jemima Sumgong from Kenya ran in 2 hours 23 minutes and 4 seconds! That's crazy fast. My goal is to go faster than last time and stay under 4 hours even if it's by only few seconds. I have no idea if I will succeed on this but what's the point in not trying. So from now on I will consider myself an athlete again. A crazy whiskey loving, beer loving, cake loving ATHLETE. I know it sounds grand but I call myself a fucking superhero ninja warrior already so... Also we were told to consider ourselves as athletes by someone wise in the marathon training day last time around.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-55262342259648679122016-06-02T00:10:00.003+01:002016-06-02T00:18:29.862+01:00Superhero ninja warrior mission 2 completed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00vl4LrLimc_Nk22udvPWsoWOil3hfyHjTNhyphenhyphenrZdd9H4rF86Gmy0PEF7WT5AYiPdABjjv2F0-wx_m2s6Ntih13kKrUQQgr1hgZonHom7V_nJMmJ396dqP5z0lp_kmwTD4yg9Bitxd-Zg/s1600/race_1890_photo_35788121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00vl4LrLimc_Nk22udvPWsoWOil3hfyHjTNhyphenhyphenrZdd9H4rF86Gmy0PEF7WT5AYiPdABjjv2F0-wx_m2s6Ntih13kKrUQQgr1hgZonHom7V_nJMmJ396dqP5z0lp_kmwTD4yg9Bitxd-Zg/s640/race_1890_photo_35788121.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">We survived. We survived already week and a half ago. Last week I was broken. This week I'm starting to feel human again and FORGET how seriously horrible it all was. We just got the official photos from the Tough Mudder and some of them show us looking like we had FUN. Like the photo of me and Annette above. Like we are fucking loving it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The truth is I didn't love it. The truth is that it was much more horrible than I feared and I did fear a lot. My tactic was all along not to know too much beforehand so that I wouldn't panic too much. It worked. I'm happy I did not know how freaking horrible it was going to be. And how MUDDY! It's weird how you get used to jumping in mud pools and ditches. You stop caring about anything pretty damn soon. There were 25 obstacles plus shit loads of extra swimming in the mud. And I mean swimming. I swallowed mud, the mud went into my most private parts, the mud is part of my DNA now. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">That's me crawling under BARBWIRE in MUD.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj771dqmpJOkpgn-CVLMD_qm2_jAEDAU1MVYf-QuuP4RPZdzrFOAA-mrnv3miM3bhIOEM66c8VR-mg865tuNVXvgOKUMLv59UGn6UK4KJv4QutdTGuORdOS5gCcmcNWl9GlHxnpJuJaTRQ/s1600/race_1890_photo_35797866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj771dqmpJOkpgn-CVLMD_qm2_jAEDAU1MVYf-QuuP4RPZdzrFOAA-mrnv3miM3bhIOEM66c8VR-mg865tuNVXvgOKUMLv59UGn6UK4KJv4QutdTGuORdOS5gCcmcNWl9GlHxnpJuJaTRQ/s640/race_1890_photo_35797866.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The one and only obstacle I was truly terrified of beforehand was the electro shocks. Those were nothing in comparison to some truly horrendous other shit that we went through. In fact I nearly liked being </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">electrocuted. Well, I liked it because it was the final thing just before the finish line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The obstacle I hated most, the one I would have definitely missed if I would have known about it, was Arctic Enema. Luckily(?) I was clueless about it until way too late. When I was on the starting line for this obstacle I started panicking seriously but it was too late to back off. I had to slide to a pool of ICE COLD water. It was more like a tank, less like a pool really. The only way out was to dive under big tyres. By the time I hit the water my heart nearly stopped and I really struggled to gasp enough air for the diving mission but also was very aware of the fact that there was no other way out. It was HORRIBLE. No, it was something zillion times worse than horrible. I might have shouted abuse at Jim after I emerged from this torture devise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Bizarrely enough I did all the obstacles. I was the only one from our group to complete Everest, a super high wall. This has nothing to do with my amazing climbing skills though (mind you, generally speaking I found the climbing obstacles much easier than the other ones). Everest was impossible to get over alone. You had to rely on other people to pull you up after you've ran towards them as fast as you possibly could and tried to reach their hands. I was lucky enough to be pulled up by THREE fit guys. They left after they've dragged me up(there is no nicer way to put this) and I was left pretty much alone on the top of the obstacle whilst rest of my team was still down there. I didn't see how I was meant to help them up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">That's me and Abby being electrocuted.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Our race was not over after the finish line. We had to say no to free beers on offer, run past the queue to nice real showers and rush to our car. There in the middle of the parking lot we stripped to our underwear and poured water from big bottles over </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">each other. Then we put some cleaner clothes on, stepped into the shiny and brand new rental car and started the real race towards Heathrow. After few hours Jim had made it to his flight and rest of us were sitting on Piccadilly Line finally on our way towards a shower.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">These are some of my most epic bruises. Now most of them have faded and so is the certainty I had about never doing this again. All last week I have been telling people how horrid the experience was and how I would never ever under any circumstances do it again. Now watching the photos my mind is already much more open for a sequel. I must be a masochist.</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-43545191038223460472016-05-20T11:46:00.000+01:002016-05-20T11:57:25.646+01:00Shit is getting real!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">TOMORROW it happens!!!! Tomorrow we might die...or survive...or be kick ass winners! Final steps in my training have been all about SWIMMING OUTDOORS!!! On the left a selfie after my first swim of the year in the reopened ladies' bathing pond in Hampstead. On the right a photo</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"> after a swim in a river in Essex!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The water temperature in the pond was already 17 degrees which is totally enjoyable. We did quite a few laps. River was chillier but lots of fun never the less. Below is a photo of the picturesque river.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Last Saturday we finally ran a practise run with the whole team. Jim had planned a beautiful route that mostly </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">followed canals. We managed 15 and a half kilometres. Afterwards we congratulated ourselves with quite a few pints...healthy business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">On my personal runs I have explored the newly opened Woodberry Wetlands. Most of the reservoir has been closed for the general public until now. I'm loving the wonderful addition to my runs. That's me totally loving the wetlands.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Yesterday I ran 9km with my climbing gear on my backpack and then did a good bouldering session. I felt suitably tough after all that. So tough indeed that I decided to take tough muscle </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">photos in the empty dressing room. Today I rest and try not to panic. Tonight we shoot off to Midlands. Should be fun...and TOUGH.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I'm going to finish with this photo from 2 summers ago. I was wearing a fake tattoo that said: I'M VERY TOUGH. Unfortunately I don't have that tattoo anymore but I'M VERY TOUGH </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">regardless.</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-66717503217483863822016-05-11T00:06:00.002+01:002016-05-11T00:06:36.614+01:00Pippi the Viking Warrior<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">No, the training did not get back on track. In fact it has gone totally tits up. Tough Mudder is in less than 2 weeks time and I am so not ready. My parents visited and I had holiday times with them. Then I moved home to single life and then got ill and then also partied and WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED to all of my training??? Last weekend I was meant to stay good and healthy. There was just this Viking wedding to attend. I had a ridiculous amount of fake plaits on my head and scary face paint. I was a real warrior. A friend said I should do the same look for the Tough Mudder. I didn't exactly act like a warrior though. I stayed out dancing until the morning. It was not healthy. I am still tired. </span></span><br />
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Most of my fake plaits came out after the wedding but I kept the original 2 that were plaited into my own hair. I look like Pippi Longstocking now. Maybe not as scary look as the Viking Warrior but no less good. Pippi is the ultimate heroine. She is the original tough girl. Totally independent, lives by herself in a big house with her horse and a monkey AND she just happens to be the world's strongest person! Not a bad idol for a woman who tries to be all very tough and strong.</div>
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So now this Pippi/Viking Warrior wannabe will have the ultimate sprint to Tough Mudder. She will overcome all her laziness and just simply be amazing. Today she did 40 minutes of bouldering which is good when it comes to bouldering. I am still not a super mega climber but definitely better than I used to be. It does give me an ego boost when I can climb a wall that someone else fails (how nice I am indeed). Today I did few of those. And then failed few others. But that's how it goes. You also learn by watching other climbers fail and succeed.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-50836448318913476302016-04-14T23:07:00.002+01:002016-04-14T23:07:45.680+01:00team exercise <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Last Sunday we finally trained together as the Tough Mudder team. Well nearly the whole team. To be honest we are not quite sure about who is in and who is not...yet. Me, Abbie and Jim ran to the pub. That was the training. Jim planned the route which meant not the shortest way. In fact it was the route with a great selection of delightful uphills. If your destination is in High Gate then there will be at least one uphill but luckily you can also add few more, such as Alexandra Palace. The view from there is nearly worth the suffering. After viewing the view we carried on the park land walk and then stopped by the swing. Then we did some very serious swing training. I'm sure it will become useful at the Tough Mudder. The swinger in picture is Jim. Then finally we ended up in the pub and got drunk.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I've also done regular runs by myself and gone climbing pretty often so I think my training is back on track.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-46084201520894582532016-04-04T22:42:00.001+01:002016-04-04T22:44:04.149+01:00Everything went POOP!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the last blog post OVER one month ago I got ill. That wasn't yet when everything went POOP but it took good couple of weeks away from my training time. Then I travelled to Morocco with my sister. That obviously wasn't when things went POOP. It was amazing but it took another week away from my training time. Then everything went POOP. My life shattered. My relationship came to an end. That final POOP did take more training time away. So now when I'm adjusting to life after the POOP, I am trying to train again as well. Because why the hell not. The following superstitious thought did enter my head briefly though: Last time I started seriously training and writing this blog, my life went POOP too. Is this blog cursed perhaps? Or is it my subconscious who reacts to difficult relationship times with silly training regimes? Or is it just life that sometimes goes POOP? Nothing to do with training. I decided to go with the latter. Last time my relationship was already badly going POOP when I started the blog. And to be fair the training did help. It was good to concentrate on something so big and serious and most of all physical. This time around was very different. Sad yes and yes maybe training will help again but it wasn't the reason and neither it was the first time around. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And that's me looking like an old-fashioned swimming champion inside a hidden paradise in Marrakesh. Photo is suitably sepia...I mean poop coloured too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I started running and training again despite all the POOP around. Turns out that my GPS watch isn't really good with the function called GPS. Last few times it has totally failed to find the connection. So now it is just an old fashioned stop watch. Brilliant. Luckily my brain has a good inbuilt GPS and I can pretty accurately map my runs afterwards. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-24472825783604063562016-02-25T23:15:00.005+00:002016-02-25T23:15:58.703+00:00conquering new lands, meeting the guru and then SHIT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Here we go: fucking photos of my food. Look there is my healthy porridge breakfast and there are my nutritious and oh so photogenic spinach, cheese and avocado lunch sandwiches! Look my life and training is under control and it looks good too...</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">Or it's not all that great </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">after all. I am ill. My throat has endless amounts of lumpy snot stuck inside. Well at least I am giving my body all this beautiful nutritious food to help fight the germs. I am also giving it biscuits and wine (not in the picture). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Last weekend I was rolling. Everything was going amazingly and my superpowers were definitely growing. On Saturday I planned my run beforehand on the map and then conquered Victoria Park. I can not believe how close it actually is! I've been an ignorant fool thinking it's somehow far away. Running alongside cycling are activities that indeed shrink your world. It started raining on my way home but I felt like a winner and decided to love the rain as well. Later on that evening I went to Niina's house and tried to help her swap the inner tubes and tyres on her bike. We were not totally successful but the evening was more of a hero evening than your usual Saturday night in a pub. Sunday was a busy day too. We went to see the exciting Cosmonauts exhibition in the Science Museum and straight from there I travelled to a very special karate class. Shihan (translates into something like a super duper extreme martial arts guru boss person) Stacey Karetsian had travelled from the other side of the world to teach us some of his karate magic. I imagined it being bit like meeting Jackie Chan or Master Shifu from Kungfu Panda. It wasn't exactly like that. I think the problem was the location. We were not on the top of a mountain in China but in a sports hall of a school in North London. I wasn't meeting my guru alone but there were LOTS other people too. It was all very good in any case and when I finally got home just before ten I was knackered but energised at the same time. I felt so good about myself but it was all about to change within an hour! After I managed to finish eating my late dinner, on the very moment of stopping to chew, my throat started to hurt. The pain came FROM NOWHERE. The illness came all of the sudden from NOWHERE!!!! What the actual fuck? What is the point of being all healthy and sporty over the weekend when partying hard leaves you feel better? ANGER</span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-31684126744552658592016-02-16T23:06:00.001+00:002016-02-16T23:06:17.703+00:00run like there would be an explosion behind you!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I realise that few weeks has passed and I haven't updated anything about my excruciating training routine in here. This may be because the training has not been that </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">excruciating or because I haven't come up with any enlightening realisations about my training. The smartest moment I had was when I decided to start jumping on and over everything whilst running. I can run. I can run long distances. Running is pretty much like meditation. No, running IS meditation. After roughly 20 minutes I start getting into a blissful zone. It's just me, myself and I and the ever changing surroundings. I don't need to think about what my body is doing too much. It just keeps on rolling. This is why I love running. When not running I am a nervous wreck kind of person. I feel strongly, I stress out about everything, I'm passionate, excitable, easily annoyed…I'm everything exhausting. I do not know how to relax properly unless running(or swimming to be fair). Now this may seem like madness to someone who does not run but I swear it makes perfect sense to me. So long distance running is my meditation and my shrink. BUT Tough Mudder is not just about running a distance. It's about everything else on the way. It's basically bit like running in an action film with your heart bounding from fear and excitement and exhaustion. It will be opposite to my meditative runs. I need to be alerted. I need to incorporate extra action and challenges to my run. I can't forget my body and just let it roll. My body needs to be ready to do zillion different things. That's why I started disrupting my runs by jumping on and over things. I also try to do all the "rides" on kids playgrounds, hang from anywhere possible etc. Basically I try to do parkour. To make my training even more Tough Mudder like I should probably roll on all the mud. I haven't done that yet. I might not ever do that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Oh and above, that's me ready for my Valentines Day solo run. It was very romantic with me, myself and I.</span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-13376866402166527952016-02-01T22:31:00.001+00:002016-02-01T22:31:41.544+00:00storm? I go swimming then!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Storm Henry has been rampaging through Britain. To be fair London probably only had the baby Henry but it has been very windy indeed. Cycling has been either stupidly easy or nearly an impossible task depending on the direction of this wind in relation to the direction of your journey. Sudden side way gusts do make any journey through traffic a rather dangerous activity. So on a day like this I decided to cycle a bit more on my way home. I cycled to London Fields lido to swim OUTDOORS! Since I don't really understand how to train for the Tough Mudder, I thought better to do a great variety of sports. Also I love swimming. I especially love swimming outdoors. Last year I got to know an amazing group of kick ass women who do outdoors swimming. I was lucky enough to go for a swimming trip to Thames with them last summer and meet them lots of times at my favourite spot in London: the Ladies' Bathing Pond. These super ladies swim in a pond all year round. Last time I went with them was in October when the water temperature was +12.5 C. Us Finnish people do swim all year round as well and even in much colder conditions than here in the UK but we go to sauna before and after. That makes a massive difference and makes these Brits pretty much super human. But back to todays swim. The lido is heated up. It's actually really lovely to swim in the middle of the winter. It's especially cool to swim in a stormy weather. There were even waves in the pool! I did 20 laps which is 1 km! I am not that good swimmer technique wise and really would love to learn better. Might go to some swimming classes at some point.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMoAmP9GLCYfObXEW79KXoEpRfJv-Mq2LHViQJtl0z-v8R7xCnyEz3aLwpFN2fhrJapupq7o1yXZ_MR4Ceb_fRwtYgCqXK6MOexc_X_619YL-mW1vU0IGFymDayu7khTsH3fk2mV0EhaU/s1600/swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMoAmP9GLCYfObXEW79KXoEpRfJv-Mq2LHViQJtl0z-v8R7xCnyEz3aLwpFN2fhrJapupq7o1yXZ_MR4Ceb_fRwtYgCqXK6MOexc_X_619YL-mW1vU0IGFymDayu7khTsH3fk2mV0EhaU/s640/swim.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-67801475596756462232016-01-28T21:38:00.002+00:002016-01-28T21:38:42.964+00:00metamorphosis <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQz0Dfs-AtKjN196KC-8uujZDxA0m8CUcyiBJohMQSTL5NZOrnC8EXBPGX4L8jXvgUHbfgdwcml2-j_yPk6uNS82IN6MjOE53TuoB80AtE7O86a4fkpyKDCJUTWjPO3GRfnUPlB9bd4E/s1600/feet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQz0Dfs-AtKjN196KC-8uujZDxA0m8CUcyiBJohMQSTL5NZOrnC8EXBPGX4L8jXvgUHbfgdwcml2-j_yPk6uNS82IN6MjOE53TuoB80AtE7O86a4fkpyKDCJUTWjPO3GRfnUPlB9bd4E/s640/feet.jpg" width="384" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">This is the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">metamorphosis of my feet during a regular day of intense training. Footwear is the key for everything. So I start my day with monster feet then progress to running feet and finish my day with spiderman feet. Basically the size of my feet shrinks. The spiderman shoes are one size bigger than those terrible foot binding things from China. The photo is a CLOSE UP one. It's wonderful how putting on a pair of shoes can enable you to transform into a whole new character. I love shoes that have a purpose, shoes that give me superpowers. Those are the very shoes that ran the London marathon. I could have not done it with just any shitty pair of shoes. The tiny spiderman ones allow me to climb walls in a way that no normal shoes would. And the monster ones…well they make me a monster!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Today I ran 13km. I took my phone with me in case I wanted to check the map because I wanted to conquer unknown areas. I still feel new to Hackney because we live right in the border of the council next to the areas I know very well. I really need to wander deeper into Hackney more often. Running is ideal for discovering new lands! But my phone has camera as well. So I had to stop for selfies every now and then. Here's me in the marshes wondering how to cross over the water area. The clue is in the name: MARSHES. It was wet. A week ago it was fine in there due to frosty conditions but now it was all simply water! My feet got totally soaked.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7LskuFDbDT9pDlrRn4b89TCiT-Xwr6ljbmXLStYLpperUa-72VeYhbBMg4hRQ5ym88SAPZyFtDJPEH0G7fy8fTa2Mw4d2o4e37p8AX7ouW41AdYMQ4fm1bIs65IXH3SRl8nO4iTWwa0/s1600/Inin+Luuri_20160128_14_22_11_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7LskuFDbDT9pDlrRn4b89TCiT-Xwr6ljbmXLStYLpperUa-72VeYhbBMg4hRQ5ym88SAPZyFtDJPEH0G7fy8fTa2Mw4d2o4e37p8AX7ouW41AdYMQ4fm1bIs65IXH3SRl8nO4iTWwa0/s640/Inin+Luuri_20160128_14_22_11_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">And this is me well…I don't know, taking a pretty selfie.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_bRDeys8GkPoYkVvSLW9er_1nmvvnMWZ51hQfwTxnL6ZsvB4YoC2K98YDvMBjQNgXFv_P_eVDE0eaOA8Jg8sWBjsuNq1SflIeC8dUmwag-_Djcsco40NhkWzbtUlmU_uS15XHBRVOQSc/s1600/Inin+Luuri_20160128_14_22_30_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_bRDeys8GkPoYkVvSLW9er_1nmvvnMWZ51hQfwTxnL6ZsvB4YoC2K98YDvMBjQNgXFv_P_eVDE0eaOA8Jg8sWBjsuNq1SflIeC8dUmwag-_Djcsco40NhkWzbtUlmU_uS15XHBRVOQSc/s640/Inin+Luuri_20160128_14_22_30_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-2177703404251578232016-01-21T15:20:00.000+00:002016-01-21T15:20:57.152+00:00Not so High Tech after all<br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 24px;">When training for the marathon I bought a GPS running watch. I felt like I had taken my sports to a brand new shiny level. I had become a high tech runner! After the marathon the watch got abandoned. I felt liberated running without meticulously tracking my every move. I preferred the old fashioned freedom of just running. Today I dug out my high tech device again, charged it and relearned how to use it. Then I ran under the watchful eye of the satellites and felt very pro. So now I know PRECISELY how far and how fast I go. The results are beautifully showcased in this colour coordinated picture. (yes the watch matches the flowers I got from Rob yesterday…but then again yellow is my favourite colour and I can easily match lots of yellow things together)</span></div>
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BUT apparently I am not so high tech after all. A friend asked me to become his friend on this running app or website called <a href="https://www.strava.com/" target="_blank">Strava</a>. You need to have a GPS device compatible with the app to take part. Basically you should be able to upload your runs directly from this device to the app and then you can track your training and compare results with friends and all sorts of things. My not so high tech anymore GPS watch uploads info to other devices using the old fashioned route called eyes then brain then maybe pen and paper. Well, I am a hippie sort of runner anyways so this didn't bother me too much, however the ability to map your runs made me jealous. Since I can't get the map out of my GPS watch I had to use old fashioned mapping skills. I found a website called <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/" target="_blank">mapmyrun</a> where I can recreate my runs on the map. This obviously involves a bit of guess work around the park areas where there are no marked roads or paths. But I love maps and am pretty good with orienteering so here it is, todays 10 km created with my very own GPS brain!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxXR2roSO8ZOfBKaOLYjX7-9BDMsWcapJXekZAnnPMtRcbHsFsotvpEkwrtZ87waZJUvxuBBKtGbzjLBw8J1SAqBwgCQtJgTIbXzBLqs1PMcvhwaYbRhKBt3Fa96eb91gMkfGUG-XbdU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-21+at+14.05.01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxXR2roSO8ZOfBKaOLYjX7-9BDMsWcapJXekZAnnPMtRcbHsFsotvpEkwrtZ87waZJUvxuBBKtGbzjLBw8J1SAqBwgCQtJgTIbXzBLqs1PMcvhwaYbRhKBt3Fa96eb91gMkfGUG-XbdU/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-01-21+at+14.05.01.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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So today I ran 10km. It was cold for this country which is good, very good indeed. Cold enough for all the damn mud to be sort of frosty. From tomorrow on the weather goes warmer again and this country returns to it's normal state of mega mud. Then again I should be happy with the muddy conditions. I am training for the Tough MUDDER after all!</div>
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-57898407885117224862016-01-20T00:14:00.000+00:002016-01-20T00:24:04.177+00:00Superhero Ninja Warrior RAMBO edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDgw91qTZG2tXT_w0rCP3crWtBhdAOYNUhOHclW7EvYFR52RHX_aEsWOU07oBp7JGA2Bdmum3g43vty6HPF9nW4MxJYTNhndOe8z9K5DfcC2xn9l69deIgvag9yTzxVpzD5sgALH8oxQ/s1600/ninj2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDgw91qTZG2tXT_w0rCP3crWtBhdAOYNUhOHclW7EvYFR52RHX_aEsWOU07oBp7JGA2Bdmum3g43vty6HPF9nW4MxJYTNhndOe8z9K5DfcC2xn9l69deIgvag9yTzxVpzD5sgALH8oxQ/s640/ninj2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"> It's time to say goodbye to the old superhero challenge and say hello to a brand new and even crazier one!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWJMizU9DQAxGijX39AAdaYKHbnrySKgxdGnpPtQHet0NuOxhxIlkmat2Yxe0M3nrYPLix4By51WTXG_dThTXeP0PcZuOtsMPMrToYgTV8VhwHjTwIWw0yRXrwrACgaUUclUNeaTParUA/s1600/ninjarambo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWJMizU9DQAxGijX39AAdaYKHbnrySKgxdGnpPtQHet0NuOxhxIlkmat2Yxe0M3nrYPLix4By51WTXG_dThTXeP0PcZuOtsMPMrToYgTV8VhwHjTwIWw0yRXrwrACgaUUclUNeaTParUA/s640/ninjarambo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"> Well to be fair the last challenge, the London Marathon 2013, happened pretty much already THREE years ago. It was the biggest and stupidest challenge of my life so far and since then I obviously </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">haven't stopped being a superhero but uhm …there just haven't been such mega projects. I did climb up some mountains but I wasn't too worried about the mountains. I am a superhero ninja warrior after all. Also I sort of believed that I am done with stupid athletic challenges such as marathons. One marathon in a lifetime surely is more than good enough? Turns out the answer is NO. My subconscious clearly wants me to run more marathons. It has taken me a good few years to come back to this business but I am here again. So I want to run the damn marathon again. This time I want to run in my original home town Helsinki. It feels right. Helsinki marathon is in August and annoyingly I already have commitments for this August. No worries, I will train well and run next year, I sensibly thought. The very next moment I found myself signing up for something totally different and totally much more bonkers: <a href="https://toughmudder.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Tough Mudder</a>! Once my head wants a challenge it needs it faster than next year August! So this May I will be a Rambo fucking version of myself. I know I can do long distance running and Tough Mudder is "only" 16 kilometres BUT holy fuck all the other challenges on the way seem like a mission impossible! How do you train for electric shocks, rotating obstacles, slippery slopes, mud pools….? I am very very scared and do not have a clue how to get myself ready for this, but am also rather excited. This time the mission is not a solo mission either but I am part of a super team. It's all Jim's fault….</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-28044851323175110012013-05-03T22:22:00.000+01:002013-05-03T22:22:00.945+01:00when the Superhero Ninja Warrior met Barry Blue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwzxEABBhsP7kK6eudiiz_ZZDvt6EoadRmeqLAJnI-TwDAxK4jar39JuWQ49pzJyFkqr0KxE86IZ2ScVVu_1OnKkRzkI3lA3eIpjMrnWdUXGPokpDOhNjZXNI0m121TebpuB3_gC88k4/s1600/me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwzxEABBhsP7kK6eudiiz_ZZDvt6EoadRmeqLAJnI-TwDAxK4jar39JuWQ49pzJyFkqr0KxE86IZ2ScVVu_1OnKkRzkI3lA3eIpjMrnWdUXGPokpDOhNjZXNI0m121TebpuB3_gC88k4/s640/me.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's me running and totally not noticing my friends in the crowd. As you can see, the Tower Bridge is on the background which means I was absolutely exhausted by this point. I only had few miles to go...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the finishing line I hiked to a friends and family meeting area but could not find anyone. The whole city was so crowded and busy because of the marathon that my sister and my man got stuck in the traffic. I finally met them in Trafalgar Square. Kiira had made me this amazing pink bunny as a 'well done' present!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhbPLIcE0o3eq0xfLfOc79ANDq5UOyHUaqLh4-f4MvR7dwlpCXfiGwYhuLaSH30VylLZ6Wi_v812noXy9WXgS0iX-B0Gth6i2ZDjTNftFoWdsmm2YLPbMhhiULCW9mpFTlJ0UnmDqeJg/s1600/inijakiira.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhbPLIcE0o3eq0xfLfOc79ANDq5UOyHUaqLh4-f4MvR7dwlpCXfiGwYhuLaSH30VylLZ6Wi_v812noXy9WXgS0iX-B0Gth6i2ZDjTNftFoWdsmm2YLPbMhhiULCW9mpFTlJ0UnmDqeJg/s640/inijakiira.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made our way to Green Park where I was given recovery drinks... We named the pink bunny Barry Blue. He looked so sleazy and relaxed when chilling out that all I could hear in my head was Barry White singing. Blue seemed funny because he is actually pink.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Extra note: Week and a half after the big day I put on my trainers and ran again. The weather was summery and running felt nice. I might need to invest in smaller summer running clothes though. Black leggings felt way too hot. But the point is: running is here to stay.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-70863689835045843732013-04-25T13:19:00.002+01:002013-05-13T23:09:26.083+01:00damn those 48 seconds!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The marathon is over. I did it and I did it pretty damn amazingly. My sister Kiira flew to London the night before to support me. She made me panda ears and helped me with my panda manicure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stupidly early on Sunday morning we travelled to Greenwich to the start of the race. Trains were full of marathon runners and we both got pretty nervous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once in Greenwich the reality really started kicking in. We walked trough fenced roads that I later on ran on! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panda team met before the start to take some photos. I had to change into my race outfit. It all started feeling more and more real...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My best supporter and the ultimate panda fan Kiira with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is me pretending to do some stretches. In reality I was so nervous that I couldn't really concentrate on them!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I had to leave Kiira outside my start area. It was a tough situation. I felt like crying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the start of the race Kiira managed to break the camera. My boyfriend Rob has some pictures from after the race and even one of me running. I will post them, once I get the photos!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First half of the race was simply fun. I high fived every child who was cheering us on. The atmosphere was amazing and I steadily overtook lots of people. Around the Tower Bridge I missed Kiira and Satu who were there following the race but they saw me. By the time I got to the Canary Wharf the race started feeling bit more difficult. The sun felt stupidly hot and my energy levels were not the same anymore. Last hour or so was a struggle but seeing the London landmarks and knowing that the finish was in the horizon, kept me going. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I finally saw the finishing line I ran as fast as I could. Once on the other side those very same legs that juts ran so fast, didn't know how to walk anymore. I didn't know my official time until I met my friends who had followed me online. I ran the fucking marathon in 4hours and god damn 47 seconds! If only I would have known it was so close...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, I'm super proud of myself. These statistics just make me so happy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the race I've done everything against the rules on how to recover. I've drank champagne and cocktails, ate cake and pastries, done shopping in high heels and still haven't done any stretching. But I have felt so good that fuck all this health shit at least for few days. It's finally a party time!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-59187867906947076032013-04-18T16:14:00.001+01:002013-04-18T16:14:20.716+01:00there's no going back anymore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Above are my last pathetic fundraising attempts: self promotion leaflets. First I did the pretty coloured versions on computer (on left) but since I forgot them home yesterday I quickly drew a new design at work and photocopied it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I travelled to Excel Centre to register to the Marathon. This is me drawing myself on the train.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have the best running number ever: 3001! I got goosebumps when I saw it on the top of my registration station. I couldn't hide my overly emotional excitement from these lovely guys who handed me my marathon pack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the registration I ventured into the Marathon Expo. There were </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">endless displays of sports gear and god knows what energy </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">supplements but the first thing that got my attention was the beer tasting stand! Fuller's is the official sponsor of the London Marathon and obviously I had to test it. Look, it's a hobbit pint!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I got eaten by zombies... These zombies were advertising a race where the runners get chased by zombies! I mean, how cool is that! I do get scared way too easily though and am not sure if I would survive a zombie apocalypse. Again I managed to be so stupidly excited that I got given a green zombie wristband and then all the zombies wanted to take pictures with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn't really too keen on browsing trough any of the serious sport stuff so the only other stand I visited was the WWF one. The panda people were super lovely and chatted to me for a good while. I also got this panda goodie bag. Back home I tested the peppermint and liquorice tea. It's quite yummy but doesn't agree with savoury food...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow on Friday I will meet friends for some Italian food. It's a good opportunity to relax in a good company and stock up on those very important carbs. On Saturday my sister Kiira arrives to support me. So I don't think I will necessarily have a change to update my blog until after the big day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See you on the other side! </span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-48042992358923624232013-04-15T22:57:00.000+01:002013-04-15T22:57:01.898+01:005 days to panic...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After complaining about my too big running vest for few days I finally did the right thing and called the panda people. They were super nice about it and promised to send me a small one straight away. It arrived the very next day! I was stupid being afraid to complain about this matter. As my workmate Bill pointed out: if it would have been too small I would have not hesitated to contact them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running outfit sorted and my leg pretty much healed the next thing that happens is me feeling ill. Holy shit I managed to panic over this potential killer bug over the past few days. Literally everyone around me has been sneezing and coughing like there's no tomorrow. On Friday morning I felt really shit and then I panicked. The truth is that panicking doesn't help at all but how to switch off the panic, I'm not sure. So I skipped my last long run and tried to rest on Saturday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Sunday(yesterday) I felt much more alive already and attended my karate grading. My new belt comes in this beautiful bright shade of green. I'm tiny bit more ninja now which will hopefully boost my superpowers next week. Ninja Warriors with green belts run better than the ones with orange belts. It's a fact.</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-6465144007958862032013-04-07T22:27:00.000+01:002013-04-07T22:27:35.682+01:00the Final Countdown!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's only TWO weeks to the big day! Metamorphosis from just a simple superhero to a special panda one has started...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Thursday I ran 30Km! Yes, THIRTY fucking kilometres! The day was rather horrible as well: blizzards and freezing cold wind. My fingers nearly just fell off because they were so cold. Good news are that after 2 hours of running the energy gel really works and that my fucking knee survived from the whole thing. Actually the whole leg feels nearly healed now. Today I ran totally without the knee support. The spring has also finally arrived after that horrendous snow storm. It's been sunny and pleasant for the whole weekend!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Postman brought me lots of last minute propaganda and also a panda running vest. The vest is too big which annoys me. Call me vain but I don't want to look stupid on my big day. Besides all that extra fabric will surely slow me down. It's so not aerodynamic!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I will take it bit easier until THE DAY. I'm scared....</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-8249376188949427082013-03-28T16:01:00.000+00:002013-03-28T16:04:31.696+00:00This post contains BOOBS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I run with the knee support bandage thing now and try not to panic. I try not to panic even when my left foot toes blow up in size and go tingly or when my flatmate sneezes all around spreading horrendous germs. I try just to stay focused. I finally did the sensible thing and stopped drinking ANY alcohol. It's been a week and nearly 4 days now. Probably the longest I've survived in years. How sad is that.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I finally did a long run after a way too long break. It was all about testing equipment. First of all my rubbish left leg was to be tested. I removed the bandage after 1 and half hours and then ran further 30 minutes. In total I covered roughly 20 Km. It's not as far as I wanted to go but I am still very cautious with this leg. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also tested Lucozade energy drink and one of these scary gels. I hated the gel. It made me thirsty for water but all I had with me was Lucozade. Not sure if it was needed.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now to the main attraction of this post: BOOBS. I can not believe I'm actually posting a picture of my boobs online but one has to do it ones, yeah? The reason for this terribly offensive and immodest picture is to demonstrate the multiple uses of a sports bra. I heard this trick from another girl in the marathon training day: store the energy gels in your bra! Storage problem solved plus the gel stays nice and warm which makes it easier to consume. At least sometimes life is much easier for a woman!</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-74022991259193538432013-03-22T22:12:00.002+00:002013-04-11T14:14:17.150+01:00I'm PANICING <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Above is me looking like a real ninja just before an evening run in the freezing cold weather. The sad truth is that I'm everything but a real ninja at the moment. I'm bloody broken. My left leg started aching badly behind the knee, so week ago on Thursday I saw Blossom, the super amazing osteopath. She explained to me that my muscles were very tight and were pulling my pelvis so that my left leg actually was shorter than the right one. Then she did all sorts of tricks and I nearly fainted. I wasn't allowed to run for 48 hours and even after was advised to take it easier. She also gave me strict instructions on how to stretch and warm up properly. Problem is that there are less than 5 weeks to go to the big day and right now I should be really pushing it with long runs. That's why I feel panicky. It doesn't help that the leg still feels rather odd and now I'm worried that the actual knee is giving up as well. Blossom tried to calm me down over the phone and told me to try knee support and do silly looking running in the swimming pool. I am just so frustrated because I feel like I don't have time to let my leg heal properly!!!!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matters were not helped few days ago when I felt that I was getting ill as well. So in a mild panic I rushed into Holland&Barret health shop and bought everything the shop assistant advised me to. I used to not to believe in natural healing and all bizarre supplements but faced with marathon panic all my principals simply vanished. I even bought every child's nightmare: cod liver oil! Mine is in capsules though but luckily in an old-fashioned scary looking jar. I placed it between my heroic looking figurines. There it symbolises strength and recovery! Omega-3 is good for joints so this fish shit should get me trough this running challenge!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the ill feeling I got Echinacea tablets. It's a pretty flower which, according to Wikipedia, can cut the chances of catching cold by more than half. That's enough reassurance for me. </span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-28765146040341142682013-03-07T22:04:00.002+00:002013-03-07T22:11:43.110+00:00food, glorious food!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm going to talk about nutrition! Yes, me who hates nutrition talk. Something has happened to me now after I started running those rather long runs. The usual amount of meals and the usual size of my portions don't seem to be enough for my body anymore. The poor thing is confused. I've experienced a series of mega munchies including eating the whole tub of Häagen Dazs ice cream in matter of minutes. I've also purchased cheap sweets that come with a serious warning about the side effects(see picture above). Luckily I am a grown up....</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tend to start yawning the moment anyone mentions healthy eating or the boring word nutrition but slowly slowly my mind has started changing. I should probably pay a teeny weeny amount of attention to what and how I eat around these super runs. Problem is that all the instructions are written in this boring nutrition language that again puts me to sleep. What I gathered so far is that carbs are good. Well, I like pasta.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my super food salad earlier today. It has such super ingredients as spinach, green beans, carrots, nuts and above all CHOCOLATE! I was given this chocolate chip salad dressing as a present by a very cool and nice person. It's genius. Always eat chocolate, especially with your greens!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If my tummy got confused by all this mega running so did my legs. My left leg has started behaving weirdly again. This time around it just has bizarre feeling next to the knee rather than the odd numbness. I finally took some serious action to sort the problem and booked an appointment with osteopath. She was recommended to me and sounded super good and caring already on the phone. I will meet her next week.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my left hand all pandafied. Right hand was an impossibility so it only has plain white nails. I have to stay in the spirit of saving pandas for my charity challenge!</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-3853382230028522702013-02-22T22:29:00.000+00:002013-02-22T22:29:04.532+00:00egg head, pandas and munchies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKwya_FsSfocdNqNeBZMcg9mIzaK0zOM6bh-oYInIwS1YA3-XPAePhGCoetE37mmnRfeyebKWJSFoZprIdKnXkrNoC2I1r7VLpDoQM8DTeyNxF2_tKaQxN1NZxXRIy0oK3IGviwS6I5Y/s1600/IMG_2477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKwya_FsSfocdNqNeBZMcg9mIzaK0zOM6bh-oYInIwS1YA3-XPAePhGCoetE37mmnRfeyebKWJSFoZprIdKnXkrNoC2I1r7VLpDoQM8DTeyNxF2_tKaQxN1NZxXRIy0oK3IGviwS6I5Y/s640/IMG_2477.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sticking to shock hair colours at the moment and didn't want to make swimming pools funny coloured so I went and bought myself an egg head! Also bought a short sleeved running top and slightly shorter running pants because the weather seemed to be getting warmer. It did not. It's freezing again.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I am fully back on track with running. Yesterday I finally did a LONG run as well after a long break from those. I decided to test drive these Marathon socks and either it was the magic of the socks or I am just a natural long distance runner but I ran 24Km with no problems what so ever! That is 3Km more than half a Marathon and only took me 2 hours and 15 minutes. I'm fucking proud of myself.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because of all this positive feeling I decided to run for a charity after all. I've been hesitant earlier because all the charities available seemed to be about us humans. I am sure that they are all good charities but I do feel that it is the nature that needs taken care of before us western people! But then there was WWF with their cute cuddly panda image and I knew what I had to do. The person I love most in this world is Kiira my sister and she has always been obsessed with pandas. Supporting silly clumsy bamboo eaters would be the one and only right thing to do. So I set up a fundraising page: <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/superheroninjawarrior">http://www.justgiving.com/superheroninjawarrior</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can not believe that I got donations pretty much straight away! It really gave me a super boost and I feel even more determined to train hard now!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One last thing. Running 24Km has given me mega munchies. Yesterday I ate massive portion of noodles in Wagamama in record breaking time and continued with a dessert straight after. Back home I munched away a good big dinner again and shared a whole box of After Eights. Tonight I cooked mash for 2 people and ate it all but still wasn't happy. I had to visit the corner shop and found my all time favourite biscuits: chocolate topped ship biscuits! The correct way to eat them is to munch the excess chocolate away from the edges first (see the demonstrative picture below). I ate the whole box.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh and currently my hair is purple.</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-72461599250676913652013-02-11T22:08:00.001+00:002013-02-13T09:03:20.262+00:00weird leg and massage toys<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the last post I'v spent a week not running and panicking about my weird numb leg. On Wednesday I went to Karate but struggled to stay in a fighting stance because of this weird leg problem. Luckily on Thursday my friend Jason,the sports massage guy, agreed to try to help me. He didn't know the cause of the problem either but gave a good massage. Him and my other friend Meikku gave me a bunch of tips on how to stretch better. I was also given few bizarre massage toys. The blue roll(see above) is the most painful mother fucking thing on earth! It says '66 fit' on it but I'm sure it should say '666'. I make such noises in my room, whilst rolling on it, that my housemates must think that I'm getting tortured. The explanation: 'It's just my new massage toy' doesn't seem to help either.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other painful torture device is this spiky ball. It should help with my tight arches so I keep on rolling with that one too.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday morning I went swimming before work even though we had discovered a David Bowie pub the night before. So proud of myself. I managed half an hour swimming backwards and forwards in the medium speed lane. The lanes still confuse and annoy me. I'm confident that I'm the only one in the medium lane who belongs there because there's always some other idiots who go slower or faster. Grown up lane swimming is quite boring in any case. I prefer lakes and the sea during the summer! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday on Sunday I went wall climbing and my leg seem to behave. Today morning I decided it was time to put the running shoes on again. When I woke up there was snow everywhere. It was lovely to run in the white landscape. I only did a careful half an hour jog. My leg still seems sort of normal so I will try to get back to the training plan tomorrow!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034336994126760360.post-40046432221968265132013-02-02T15:26:00.002+00:002013-02-02T15:29:41.485+00:00I got a new head but where do I get a new leg?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The snow is long gone. Week ago my long run proved that it is much trickier to run right after the snow than in the snow. Melting parks are nearly an impossibility. Keeping balance in slush and mud mixture is not fun and defiantly not clean business. My feet were soaked and I was covered in mud. My pretty yellow running watch have proved very useful though. Threshold training goes pretty easily now. What I also started doing is run in the MORNINGS rather than evenings after work. Why I hadn't thought about it before, I really don't know. It's genius. I start work relatively late and don't even have to wake up ridiculously early to do my runs. It's so much easier in the mornings and gives you a super boost for the whole day. The best bit is that my social life is saved now. I can actually do stuff after work!!!! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Late on Thursday I finally got a new head by my personal headmaster Hannu. Need to redraw the logo for this blog I suppose...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So those were the good news. Last week was crap. After that long run I attended a birthday party and drank too much which probably spoiled my week a bit. Then I have been the biggest mother fucking idiot wanker in the universe. This is my personal life, but well, being a big fuck idiot affects ones running mood as well. On Wednesday I was so emotionally drained and physically exhausted that I skipped the karate class. This obviously annoyed me as well. But now to the biggest problem of them all: I think I have a sports injury! This morning I woke up with a numb left leg. It stayed numb. I went running in any case. Running was ok but now the leg is numb, my ankle feels bruised and the bottom of the foot feels weird as well. I'v tried to google what's wrong with me but it just makes me mega paranoid. I'm not exactly hurting but worried that if I don't fix this weird problem it will get worse and my foot needs to be amputated or turns into jelly or.... PANIC!!!!!! What do I do?????</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0