I first started running when I was 15 - in my little hometown back in Russia - making early-bird pre-school circles in my Nikes around an industrial-looking area featuring an orphanage house and construction site with my then best friend Elena. Despite the empowering and energising feeling half an hour running sessions rewarded us with,  the running routine stopped fairly soon after we started facing whistling/comments from pass-byers and barking dogs that the owners preferred to walk without a muzzle and off the leash, each time we ran. I resumed my running when I moved to London and eventually started living close to Battersea Park, enjoying the fact that I could easily blend with the running crowd and push the running time (and enjoying the health benefits) further every time (which meant listening to more music tracks I liked). Then rainy London days kicked in and I was back to the gym doing my squats to stand up to my Brazilian image that stuck to me like glue so I thought I'll just go with it.

What I did learn through my on-and-off running experience is that when my batteries run low, running (and other forms of exercise) gives that health and feel-good kick that keeps me going. So when I has recently been approached by RWD magazine and JD Sports to work with Nike and do Nike Women's 10K race in June (eek!) I did not hesitate to say a big fat YES! It's an exciting challenge for me and I will be sharing my experience about training, running and the actual race hopefully encouraging some of you to start running too!

Nike Women's 10K is the first race ever for me which is thrilling and scary at the same time. Luckily, I am in it with three amazing women - Polly of Running For August, Hannah of Purservere, and a media junkie Nardene. Check out a sneak preview of how we started our journey on JD page here.

 

Kicking off with some photo and video shooting (thumbs up to the talented photographer James Pearson-Howes, Felix Kemp (pictured above), videographer Greg Bond and the rest of our funky team) to tell our individual stories, we have embarked on an intense training routine under the guidance of Nike+ Runs Clubs and Nike Training Club classes which surprisingly (for me) includes not only running but also training taking me to my learning number one - overall physical fitness and building up your endurance and strength are the key to success.

At my first Nike Training Clubs Session that took place earlier this week in Old Spitalfields Market we trained with hundreds of other women working on our squats, holding planks and jumping around in the aid of making our muscles feel the buzz - motivated by amazing trainers Tana (Tee), Rory Knight and other fit and fabulous trainers.

As the countdown to the 21 June when ten thousand women go on a 10k route around London’s Victoria Park – and 19 other cities around the world – has begun, with a Nike race medal exclusively designed by jewellery designer Alex Munroe waiting for us in the finishing line, at the moment I can't help but share some snaps of Nike gear that got me into exercise back in the days in the first place! :)

Your support is important for me, so if you have any pieces of advice, comments and thoughts, please share them with me - I would love to hear from you!

www.nike.com/London