Runner Oksana Akhmedova about favorite cosmetics and sports

FOR THE FACE "HEAD" we study the contents of beauty cases, dressing tables and cosmetic bags of girls of interest to us - and show all this to you.

About decorative cosmetics

I use decorative cosmetics very little. There are two reasons: saving time and unwillingness to wear more than necessary on the face. I believe that the main purpose of makeup is to correct the flaws, and I follow the simple rule: the smaller, the better. On weekends, for example, I can not paint at all.

Scheme honed over the years: foundation, light and dark brown shade and mascara. Lips often do not paint, as I am afraid to give an unnecessary volume; I use just oil or colorless shine. And I do not like lipstick: I am not comfortable to feel them on my lips.

About care

Often the collection of jars with caring cosmetics is replenished faster than I manage to use them. The favorites are Clinique and Сlarins: these are one of the most affordable brands, not inferior in quality to more expensive counterparts. One of the latest findings is Mizon Korean cosmetics. I tried excellent serum with snail secretion extract, from the same series the face cream and against the dark circles under the eyes were great.

For body use coconut oil. I first found out about him when I visited Bali. For local girls, this is the main means of care: they wash their hair, make masks, use them after tanning. It is considered food, so that it is also cooked. In Moscow, you can find coconut-based creams in stores, but I prefer the pure product. Oil covers the skin with a protective film, while not clogging the pores. As a result, the skin becomes unusually soft and does not dry out for a long time.

On training, endurance and nails

I try to run every day: two or three times a week with a coach, the rest of the time I “do” crosses in my park near the house. Iron rule - no makeup in training. Sweat, dust and sun - all this has a negative effect on the skin. In my gym bag, I always have Caudalie micellar water to wash makeup in the field. Until recently, she used thermal water, but it turned out that it could not be used on untreated skin. I also carry a tonic with me to refresh my skin after a workout.

In my entire running career, my most serious injury is the so-called runner's nails. I suffer from the spring Paris Marathon, when I ran in shoes of the wrong size. As a result, nails on the big toes were stung and over time they began to descend. This, of course, is not fatal, you can walk and even run after purchasing a pair of sneakers a size larger, but it is very ugly. For a time I had to say goodbye to open shoes, and then mask the growing nails under a layer of dark varnish.

I do not use special preparations for artificially increasing stamina - it is important for me to know what the body is capable of without doping. But for the general tone and reduce the risks associated with increased loads, I take anti-stress vitamins (the usual Complivit) and Doppelgerts Active preparations: Omega-3 and Coenzyme Q10. A month or two before the big competition I drink through bio-additives to compensate for the deficiency of magnesium and iron. On the advice of a coach for recovery, I can drink a course of “Inosine” and amino acids.

Sometimes I use painkillers. For example, "Ben-Gay" helps with muscle pain after heavy workouts. The ointment is applied to the affected areas without damage (wounds, scratches, etc.), and after a few minutes the pain goes away. Of the shortcomings, perhaps, only a sharp smell. "Ben-Gay" can be used directly at the start - during the race, the legs will not be so "hammered." Alternatively, you can choose Tiger Balm.

About food and water

A week before the marathon I sit down on the "marathon diet". The essence of the diet - carbohydrate unloading-loading. In the first three days, the body is completely deprived of carbohydrate foods, then carbohydrates are again included in the diet at a time when the body is already accustomed to their absence, and this leads to a sharp increase in strength and endurance. Every day diets are painted, you can only eat a certain set of products. For example, the first three days you need breakfast red caviar.

The night before the competition, I definitely eat pasta, in the morning three hours before the start - a bun, a banana, I can still eat a carbohydrate bar. After - only water. And already standing in the starting corridor, you can eat the gel. Gel is also a source of carbohydrates, that is, pure energy. The value of gels is that they are instantly absorbed and all substances immediately enter the muscles. Of those that I have had a chance to try, the most suitable for me is Isostar, which, thanks to various additives, become more edible.

But at a distance I try to just drink. Although experienced athletes are advised to supplement every 5 kilometers with bananas, which are distributed by volunteers, or the same gels. This should be done in order to avoid the so-called carbohydrate pit - a condition where all the glycogen (a form of carbohydrates) in the muscles is completely exhausted, and alternative sources of energy (for example, subcutaneous fat) are not used by the body. In training, I also do without additional power, otherwise there will be no development. But the situations are different, so at competitions, as a rule, I always have one gel with me.

Pro run and reasonable load

Running appeared in my life just over a year ago. The first was the "Night Run" NewRunners in preparation for the Moscow Marathon. The first 10 kilometers that I ran - as it seemed to me, record-breakingly quickly, in 51 minutes - gave rise to a feeling of infinity of my own capabilities, and the very next day I registered for the full marathon distance. Now, from a height of many, many kilometers, I understand how reckless such a decision was, given that the training was incomplete two months. But then I did it: I finished at the Luzhniki Grand Arena with less than four hours, crying with happiness on the other side of forty-two kilometers.

After it was still a lot of races, including abroad. Gradually running displaced other sports hobbies. Last spring in Paris, my second marathon took place, which I managed to run at record-fast 3 hours and 16 minutes for myself. In June, I tried my hand at the first trail race, which took place in Nikola-Lenivets, and even managed to take second place at a distance of 30 kilometers. In the near future - the Moscow Marathon on September 21, the Athenian Classic Marathon and several trail races.

Now, when running has ceased to be an ordinary sporting passion, he takes away my time, strength and nails. But I still like to run: there is a rhythm in running, beauty is my creativity, a way of self-expression, and every time I put on my sneakers and go to the start, I force myself to move my limits, becoming a little stronger and better with each new kilometer away