when the Superhero Ninja Warrior met Barry Blue

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...

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!

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.

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.

damn those 48 seconds!

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. 

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.

Once in Greenwich the reality really started kicking in. We walked trough fenced roads that I later on ran on! 

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...

My best supporter and the ultimate panda fan Kiira with me.

This is me pretending to do some stretches. In reality I was so nervous that I couldn't really concentrate on them!

 I had to leave Kiira outside my start area. It was a tough situation. I felt like crying.

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!

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. 

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...

Nevertheless, I'm super proud of myself. These statistics just make me so happy. 

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!

there's no going back anymore

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.


Today I travelled to Excel Centre to register to the Marathon. This is me drawing myself on the train.

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.

After the registration I ventured into the Marathon Expo. There were endless displays of sports gear and god knows what energy 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!

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.

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...

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. 

See you on the other side! 

5 days to panic...

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.

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.

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.

the Final Countdown!

There's only TWO weeks to the big day! Metamorphosis from just a simple superhero to a special panda one has started...
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!

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!

Now I will take it bit easier until THE DAY. I'm scared....

This post contains BOOBS!

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.

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. 

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.

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!

I'm PANICING

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!!!!

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!

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.