Tag: Poland

Radków 2017 Day 1

During our first season of running we decided to try lots of different kinds of running. We signed for marathon in Poznań, I tried triathlon. Ania also insisted on trying mountain trail running. So we signed up for 24 km of Garmin Ultra Race Radków in September. We planned to have a few days trip to Góry Stołowe, hike a bit and run. But a few weeks before the event Ania decided that Kamila is still too small and taking her there and back just for a few days is not worth it, so I took my brother and Wojtek and we made some men road trip.

First day after arriving we went to see Błedne Skały, a labyrinth of old rock formation with narrow passages and hidden routes. Later that day we also visited Szczeliniec Wielki, the highest peak in this mountain range and Kudowa Zdrój one of local health resort.

In Kudowa Zdrój we found Old Toys Museum that was very interesting for as adults and educational for Wojtek.

38. Halfmarathon Szczecin

I will have a lot to write about this race, so ready for a story?
Although we are preparing for our fist marathon, I have to admit, I was a bit neglectful of my training. I haven’t been feeling well lately and I sometimes skip my trainings. I had even considered dropping out of marathon at some point. Anyway… Since my running performance is rather bad, I decided I would take this halfmarathon calmly. I was aiming for 2h 15 min, so more like a long run training instead of a tempo training. But I changed my mind one week before the start. I’ll keep this to myself where I found motivation – or ask me some day face to face 🙂 But the motivation was big enough for me to try to go under 2h in this marathon – this was the goal I set for myself.

What adds flavour to this story is a fact that a day earlier Radek had ordered a pizza and I was unable to refrain myself (who wouldn’t?) 🙂 It ended badly for me, I got stomach upset and it began even before the starting line. Another setback… Like 20m after the start my headphones died and I was left without any music. I’m the kind of a runner who can’t imagine running without music but I had no choice. So… weak from food poisoning, with no beat in my head that would speed up my pace, I endevoured to beat my life record in half marathon. Radek had not believed I would make it and to be honest, neither had I. But I tried anyway.

The two photos above are from the finish line. Radek made it in 1:48:08 and I… wait for it… 1:58:17. I honestly don’t know how it is possible. The very race was not an ordeal for me surprisingly. Problems began after the finish line but that’s another story. We were both super proud from these results (although it’s not Radek’s personal best). And I guess, running is 50% muscles and 50% head.

Running: 3 Dzikobieg

What was I thinking when registering us for Dzikobieg? Easy answer: I thought it could be fun. And it was 🙂 What is Dzikobieg? Well, the name is not that easily translatable as it’s kind of a word play. Dzik is a 'wild boar’ and dziki is 'wild’. So I’d say the name is sometging like „The wild run of a wild boar” 🙂 I guess everyone knows Runmaggeddons. It’s something like that but better because many of the obstacles are natural (like in the photo above) and there’s a very nice atmosphere. You can push forward, race and do every obstacle as it should be done but you can also cheat and help each other etc. It’s up to you 🙂

In the above photos you can see only a couple of obstacles but there were plenty… Mud, river stream, trees – these were the natural ones. But there was a variety of artificial obstacles that I even don’t know names of. For example crawling under a tank, diving in a freezing water, wading in foam, lots of pulling up etc. It was great fun. Of course, it’s a dangerous race but we were careful and didn’t take it too seriously and we made it in one piece with smiles on our faces. See you next year!

Photo credit: Dulny Photo and Foto Art.

Hiking: Chojnik Castle (627 m)

Having four kids around is challenging in mountains but we don’t give in 🙂 Another destination: Chojnik Castle. Not that much of a hike because only ~330m of elevation and 6km in all but hey – some of them kids don’t even walk yet so be understanding 🙂
It was a very nice hike, totally suitable for children. The views were great at the top although the hill is not particularly high. I think we will repeat this trip one day.

Let the new adventure begin: Triathlon Szczecin

So I decided to participate in Triathlon because I like swimming and riding a bike and as you know from previous posts – this year we also started running. I choose a middle distance from the event that  took place in our city. It was 1/4 Ironman so 950m swimming, 45 km on bike and   10,55 km run.

Our city is perfect for triathlon because of wide river just in the city center and plain roads perfect for fast biking. This is also one of only a few triathlons that take place in a big city center. Before start I was a little worried abut the water temperature but it turned out just „refreshing”.

Because this was my first start in Triathlon and also longest (about 2,5h ) start I did not know what to expect and how to split my effort. So I decided to take it calmly and I was in good shape after swimming and biking. Unfortunately running track leads through four steep ascents and during midday it became quite hot so I got weaker with every kilometre.  But in the end I was satisfied with my result 02:33:54 (108/312 contestants on this distance).

Finish line:

For photo credit: I’m very sorry but I’m unable to track the authors of most of them. Some were bought from the event organizers, some were downloaded from FB, some were taken by Ania and one is by amazing Dulny Photo.

MTB maraton

After so much fun that I had in last year MTB marathon in my city I decided to do a few of them this year. First one took place in the same location – at Puszcza Wkrzańska.

This year we had better weather, no rain but the same amount of mud 😉 Unfortunately due to our running training schedules I was unable to train as much as last year what was easy to see at the end of track. Luckily this year I have many fans waiting for me and cheering me up.

Now I fill like doing some swimming and road biking because my next challenge is Triathlon. Stay tuned.

Szmaragdowe Lake – first summer days

Welcome the first day of summer this year in Poland. With temperatures over 20 dg. C, we simply had to go out. There’s no better place to spend such a day than the woods. Szmaragdowe lake is a well known place in the suburbs of Szczecin. I was expecting way more people than we encountered. Nature is not yet awaken but it’s happening. I believe in two or three weeks’ time it should be green.

 

III Bieg Krzyśka Kuczyńskiego

OK folks, time for new challenges! Running won’t substitute hiking but it is fun as well. My very first run, a mere ~5 km (it was 4.2 to be precise) but what a thrill! I was feeling like was I running a marathon not a small charity run. Anyway, this is worth mentioning – Krzysiek Kuczyński was our local high school student who died of leukemia some months before his final exams. A very sad story, especially when you take into consideration that he was to have a bone marrow transplant (he found a donor) but passed shortly before. Another thing worth mentioning – if you haven’t signed up as a donor yet – please do! It’s super easy, you can do it via post and it might save a life. I did it as soon as I turned 18.
Getting back to the run…. I had no idea what pace I should run and I treated it as fun – no more. I ended up running 5.18min/km which is good for me (there were two ascents on route that slowed me down). I finished 62 out of 155 contestants (it’s general competition – men and women together). I am happy with this result. I will sure do some more in the future.