The One With The Winter Swimming

8km run + winter swimming in an ice-cold river.

I guess it's about time I started doing foolish things. Better now - people will get used to and won't get surprised in the future, when I'm old(er).

Stay tuned.

The One With The Wine. Home-Made Young Wine.

Father: How much did you do - 3? 4...?
Daughter: 7.
Father: Oh...

Stay tuned.

The One With More Of The Capital City Than Just The National Stadium

Last Sunday there was the Warsaw marathon - took me 4:44 to finish. I have to admit I did not do my best; it could have gone better, but somehow I lacked motivation. Or maybe it was the early hour (a marathon starting at 9 am means that you have to get up around 6 am in order to be able to eat properly before the run). Or maybe insufficient amount of trainings. Well, probably all that.

Some observations:

• great route
• great weather (got tanned)
• perfect overall organisation
• finishing at the national stadium is a nice touch
• such an early start decreases the amount of supporters significantly - the streets were almost completely empty (at least in the first hour)
• having a national tv cameraman following you in a car for the last 10 kilometres can give you a boost you need

That's it for this year. Next year I'm planning to complete the Crown of the Polish Marathons, which means visiting Wrocław and Poznań.

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Apart from the marathon. I have mixed feelings about Warsaw. There are some nice places there, but one so distant from the other. The city seems too big and designed for cars, not for people.

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At the Manekin restaurant:

I'm sorry, I have always been bad at math - could you help me...? [with calculating the change]

Good thing those pancakes were really that tasty and I was that tired and hungry after the marathon... Otherwise I wouldn't have stand the long waiting line, the even longer meal preparation waiting time, the messed-up order and the waitress who wasn't able to hold a plate, let alone to subtract some numbers.

Stay tuned.

The One When You Speed Up

There are some things that can make you run faster.
Anger, for instance.
Or thunderstorm.

But I think anger wins this competition.

Stay tuned.

The One Not At The Campus And That Should Have Taken Place A Month Earlier

ca. 9 AM // btw, I HATE running in the morning

24 minutes and 35 seconds later // or 5 kilometres

I've got wonderful friends.

Stay tuned.

The One With The Dragons

Today I was

Karolina Stormborn, Mother of Dragons

- as my friend called me. (Unfortunately, she did not finish the race... And I did enjoyed running together, that was a nice variation.)

Though, I only have two dragons (but they are beautiful):

Dragon no. 1, colour: sapphire blue.


Dragon no. 2, colour: midnight blue.

4:42:36 - not great, but not bad either (espacially so soon after the previous marathon).

• Nice route (though I usually hate loops, but this time it was quite ok).
• T-shirt that actually matches my real size!!
• Beautiful artwork on medals (dragons!! D R A G O N S !!).
• Terrible pasta party (I realised that it was another advantage of the Dębno marathon).

I noticed two major changes in the participants, in contrary to previous years:

1. they do not kill each other at the beginning - I guess more people are now aware that there is net time at races;
2. they actually run for the most part: 4 years ago, or even 2, most people switched from running to walking after 20km or 30km, and today of course some of them walked sometimes but that was only a fraction of what it used to be - I guess the Poles have finally learnt how to run!

Stay tuned.

The One At World's End

Saturday

7.30 a.m. I had found a person going to the Dębno marathon and willing to take passengers. There were eight of us and turned out to be a varied company: Tadeusz, the driver, and his wife, both members of runner's clubs (plus his father as a backup driver); their friend, Monika, participant of half-marathons and marathons all over the world; Andrzej, one the fathers of the Cracovia Marathon (!); his friend, Stanisław, who used to work at Wisła with women's volleyball team; and a nice, quiet guy, whose name I never got...
So the journey was full of tales of marathons and sport events.

Slept at the gymnasium, where I shared the floor with a hundred other runners. And a few of my travel companions - despite them being real, well-known sport VIPs (constantly some officials kept recognising them and starting a discussion), they did not bother to get a hotel room or something like that, but instead they just shared our common area.

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Sunday

Trying to relax before start, I read some running related quotes displayed on a board at the marathon headquarters. Two favourites of mine being:

At the finish line of a marathon you can feel that you are worth the air you breathe.

And if you aren't bone-tired and don't feel like vomiting, then it means you could have run faster...

And to top it all:

Quotations are prosthesis for mind.

Start
Surprised greatly - nobody ran for their lives, nobody tried to get ahead of everyone else and trample me in the process. Amazing.
In company of two of my travel-mates.


5km
Lost my travel-mates. Found my own pacemakers - two guys running at ~6min./1km.


13km
Lost two minutes trying to resolve problems with my mp3player - turned out it was set to repeat one folder and I did not want to listen to the Twilight soundtrack over and over again - I wanted to listen to New Moon (Twilight Pt. 2) and Eclipse (Twilight Pt. 3) as well ;D


17km
The leader overtook us. For him it was 34km - so he was literally two times faster.


25km
Lost my pacemakers when they met some friends who delayed them.


36km
Made it by myself, keeping nice and steady pace. Until my stomach almost betrayed me and I had to slow down.


40km
Saw Tadeusz and Agnieszka heading for the finish line. For me it was still one more turn.


Finish
4:28:20 - my personal best.
And I had seriously feared that I would not finish within the time limit.

After quick shower (no queue - one ladies room seemed to be enough to handle all the female participants), I went to get my recovery meal. A girl - a teenager, one of the many volunteers - immediately came to me and asked if she could get the meal for me, told me to sit down and wait as she would bring me everything. That was so sweet I almost cried. Really, the people were wonderful.

All my travel-mates made it. We got back to Kraków at 3 a.m.

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What you can say about the Dębno marathon:

• At world`s end.
• The oldest marathon in Poland (how come?!)
• Expensive - the registration fee is extremely high in comparison.
• They provide no sport t-shirts (despite the extremely high entry fee).
• There are no pacemakers ("they could not afford it" - despite the extremely high entry fee).
• Small time limit - 5 hours, whereas it is usually 6 or 6,5.
• Route made of four overlapping circles, very confusing, especially at the beginning.
• Hot spot connection at the headquarters kept freezing.

However!
They also have the nicest, the kindest, the keenest, the most helpful, the most dedicated volunteers! I mean it. Had it not been for the crew, I would probably not count it as a memorable event. They made all the difference. They were everywhere they were needed, they knew everything they should, they helped you before you even had thought of asking. And they smiled sincerely.
Plus all the supporters on the way - also very involved, despite their small number (small town, small villages), very engaged.
So the people made up for everything else.

---

And why all that? The plan is to finally get the Crown of the Polish Marathons and so the Dębno Marathon is the first step (of five).

Stay tuned.

The One On The Independence Day

So far, the only positive way - i.e. unpretentious, not pompous, and devoid of national martyrology - I have found to celebrate Poland's Independence Day is running.

Run an 11-km Independence Day race - checked.

By the way: still hanging around 5min./1km pace. Satisfactory.

Stay tuned.

The One On The Industrial Heritage Route

I have upgraded from an amateur jogger to a running events organiser.
The first Cracow city running tour - along the Industrial Heritage Route - turned out quite well.

Stay tuned.

The One With More Than Just Another Medal

In Oświęcim, my home town, there is a runner's club Zadyszka. They have become quite active in popularising jogging, nordic walking and sports generally in the nearby region. They organise various events on regular basis, one of them being the 10-km race I participated in today.

Time: 49:15 - my absolute personal record; score: 3rd place (women, open).

My first competition where I have actually won something, has been given a cup (because everybody always gets a medal, and so I have a few of those already), some prize etc... Not that there was some huge number of female competitors, so it was not that difficult - but still.

Stay tuned.

The One Where You Go Up And Down, And Up, And Down, And Again, And Again, And Again...

• Hilarious: a trail run in the centre of a big city like Kraków; the route was great, though, and certainly deserved its name.
• Ridiculous: We do not have any - the answer I got when I asked for a shirt of size S while collecting my participant packet.
• Intriguing: a barefoot runner at the starting line.
• Foolish: all those bodacious road hogs, running down the hill, sliding in the mud, pushing their way through the crowd.
• Demotivating: a 2m-high man, whose pace was relatively slower than mine, but who outran me anyway, since he was 2m high.
• Surprising: the water point that nobody had told you about; seriously, there was no mention anywhere there was going to be any thing like that to expect.
• Superior: how you feel when you are still able to run up the hill, while the others gave up and started walking.
• Instructive: I finally learnt where the Piłsudski's Mound is (the correct answer: at the finish line of the Three Mounds' Run).

Time: 01:12:50.
Speed: 10.71 km/h
Pace: 05.36 min/km (aaa!)
Ranking: 666/1369 (open), 53/224 (K), 19/78 (K20).

Stay tuned.

The One - Thousand

My physical activity journal indicates I have run 1000km so far this year.
It was over 1800km in 2011, so I guess I will not break the last-year result; but that was from February till November and this year I really started in June.

Something new from TFN (instrumental post-rock, post-metal, ambient...):

Love it!

Stay tuned.

The One With The Wrong Turn And Right Music

I went jogging pretty late. I had hoped that it would not be too hot (as it was for the last couple of months, sic!) to do more than my usual 5km. So I decided to run a bit further and make a 6,5km circle.
I missed the right turn, though... and ended up with the 10,5km route.
Which I am very happy about - I love running after dark, but lately I just haven't had enough time to practise jogging at all (cycling a lot instead), let alone after nightfall.

While jogging, I usually listen to movie soundtracks.
But Friday evenings make an exception to this rule. There is a music chart on the Programme 3 of the Polish Radio - and it is my soundtrack every time I go jogging late on Fridays.
Number one this week(and the previous week, and the one before... I honestly was not aware Dead Can Dance was so popular in Poland):
Stay tuned.

The One With Too Much Twilight

Another movie night themed films-you-need-to-watch-by-yourself-to-be-uptodate-with-current-trends. In other words: the blockbusters everyone (especially teenagers) loves; or at least they love to talk about them. You are not really sure why, though, since it is rather obvious the films may be pretty and technically perfect, but it still does not change the fact that they are based on crappy youth novels.
So camp attitude is your only choice if you want to endure this kind of show and have some fun while watching. Of course, it also requires a bunch of friends who - and that is important! (so that you won't have to hold your tongue) - share your approach.

The Twilight Saga: Twilight

Vampires. Pretty Pictures. Too melodramatic.
Great soundtrack: Paramore - Decode and I Caught Myself, Muse - Supermassive Black Hole, Mutemath - Spotlight, ...
Great score by Carter Burwell:

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Vampires and wolves. Colourful. More melodramatic.
Great soundtrack: Lykke Li - Possibility, The Killers - A White Demon Love Song, Anya Marina - Satellite Heart, Sea Wolf - The Violet Hour, ...
Great score by Alexandre Desplat:

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Vampires, wolves and more vampires. More melodramatic but also more action.
Great soundtrack: Florence + the Machine - Heavy in Your Arms, Sia - My Love, Beck & Bat For Lashes - Let's Get Lost, Vampire Weekend - Jonathan Low, Cee Lo Green - What Part of Forever, ...
Great score by Howard Shore:

My friends claim it gets better with every part.
The counter-theory says you just get used to and lower your expectations.

Anyhow, what I actually love about each part of the saga is the music. And that means both the score and soundtrack, as you can see. I listen to scores when I need some background music; I listen to soundtracks while jogging (most soundtracks are generally great for that) or when in need of some musical diversion.

Stay tuned.

The One 5h Long

0km

Stressed, uncertain, nervous.
I hate running in the mornings. 5km before noon is a much greater struggle than a 15km run in the evening. Fortunately, in case of an event like this, adrenaline kicks in and takes over.
Temperature around 7°C. Nippy, but pleasant, if you stayed in the sun and walk.

2km

First man down.
Not literally down, just walking. Maybe that was his plan all along: to have a little break every 2 kilometres...? Or maybe not.

5km

Time: 1/2h.
Perfect. Exactly what I was aiming for.

6km

Second man down.
That one looked as if he had really given up.

7km

I have lungs.
But that was fine, it was just a moment you had to pass. However, it usually comes to me earlier, somewhere around ~5km.

8km

Hot!
Or at least it felt that way due the sun shining beautifully on a clear blue sky. I would rather there had been some rain...

9km

Clouds!
Only for an instant, unfortunately, and then they sailed away.

10km

Time: 1h.
Still perfect. Not too fast, not too slow.

11km

I'd eat something.
I missed the fruit stand. I saw the sign there was going to be a water point. I grabbed a cup, drank it and carried on, not paying attention any more. It turned out the fruits were right after, but I noticed too late.

12km

I have a knee.
It did not hurt. I was just painfully aware of it.

14km

I have friends.
Aggie and Marta, either of them equipped with a camera, cheering up all the participants.

15km

Time: 1 1/2h.
Trying not to speed up and keep that pace. Now that I think of it, it might have been a mistake.

17km

I have already done this. I was aware of what it was going to be like. So why the hell I have decided to do it again?!
I knew why. I needed some motivation to keep running. I needed a new challenge.

21km 100m

Time: ~2h 10min.
There was a commentator whose job was to inform the runners and the audience about their progress. When I was passing by him, he read my number out loud and coupled me with a man following me closely, calling him 'crouching tiger, hidden draggon'.

22km

Small crisis.
My feet, knees and hips hurt moderately. Surprisingly, my biggest problem were my hands - swollen and a bit numb. I had to put them up every now and then, which was uncomfortable, since it was quite difficult to run with your hands up.
That was the point where something went wrong and I lost much time. Not when I hit the infamous 30km wall, but some time before, in the third quarter.
Bored to death. I hated the route! Most of the time we ran along some wide alleys and then back the same way. Whose brilliant idea was that?!

29km

Clouds on the horizon.
Dark clouds, heavy clouds, storm clouds gathering in distance. And we were heading straight towards them.

33km

Vistula River.
Cold and windy. Still, that felt much better than the burning sun before.

37km

Injured.
Muscle strain. But I didn't really care, since at that point there was no part of my body that would not be aching already. So I actually ran those last few kilometres much faster than the previous segment.

41km

Hyper(hypo?)ventilation.
Had to force myself to calm down and start breathing normally.

42km 195m

Finish line.
I did it. Again.

IX Cracovia Marathon^* / XI Cracovia Marathon

• number of participants: over 3 thousand / over 4 thousand
• route: excellent / terrible
• weather: [too] sunny and warm / [too] sunny ad warm
• organisation: good / so-so

Stay tuned.

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^*In case you did not know it has been the my second time (see 2 years ago or how I ran my first marathon).

The One With The Fire Alarm

I went to collect my participant packet. The pick-up was at the stadium and so was the pasta party.
(It is a common custom to make such an event on a marathon eve, where all the participants get the kind of dinner they should eat the day before the run i.e. some kind of pasta&sauce meal. Hence the name.)
I had just eaten when a fire alarm was announced over the speakers. I have no idea whether there was an actual fire hazard or it was just a drill. People did not seem to be taking it seriously. I left.
Hope it was just a drill and there will be no problems tomorrow.

Anyhow, I got the packet , which included my shirt. Last time I was afraid to ask for the xs size, for I feared it would be too small. And that was my mistake. A huge mistake. Literally: the shirt was huge.
This time there wasn't even an option to order an extra small one, and 'small', again, turned out to be not so small...
Whatever. I am going to wear it for the run any way.

Stay tuned.

And wish me luck.

The One With 50 Minutes

Today I have learnt that I am able to run 10 km in 50 min. And that means... 12 km/h?! (I usually keep 10,5 - 11 km/h).

All because I decided to switch and soundtrack my run with Cliff Martinez's score from Drive (great movie, by the way). Usually, I select one music album for jogging, stick to it for a month or two, and then move on to another one. So I know if I run too slow or faster than usual, because I associate some landmarks on my route with the moments the songs change.
Of course, I am not able to control my pace this way, when I use new music - like today. Hence the surprise.



Stay tuned.

The One Between You, Me And The Lamppost

Last week I went jogging but at some point noticed that something felt wrong - I mean outside, in the world. I realised the lanterns were out and it was hard to spot the curbs or the holes in the sidewalk. So after the first circle around the park I changed the route and started running inside the park. Soon after the lanterns inside went out. I moved outside again but closer to the town centre, so that I wouldn't have to run along that dark street where I had started. After some time I noticed the lamps in the park were illuminated again, so I moved back to park...
Was that some kind of a sign or what?

Yesterday another street went dark, so I had an excuse not to go jogging.

Today, in order to avoid such inconveniences I made a resolution to go running when it was still daylight. But I dozed off at some point... Fortunately, a boy delivering fliers woke me up, otherwise it would have been too late again.
So another sign? At least this time a positive one...

Florence's No Light, No Light would go perfectly here, but was already not so long ago. Or maybe The Sign by Red Box? Well, I love the song but don't believe in signs, so I think not.

Stay tuned.

The One With The New Map

I didn't really feel like it but when I realised the last time I had gone jogging was over two weeks before, I put on my pink shoes and set off. After all, I've made a promise to myself to run at least three times a week - not once in three weeks. I feel excused, though, since there's been a lot going on lately and I really didn't have means and/or time to cultivate my healthy addiction.

So here is the map with some new routes:

View Kraków // jogging in a larger map

By the way, I have made a resolution to run the Cracovia Marathon again, next year, and furthermore maybe go for the Crown of Polish Marathons badge.

So stay tuned.