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.

The Tall Ship Races

The Tall Ship Races is an international venue for sailers that take place every year in a different port in Europe. Szczecin has hosted this great event a couple of times already and every time it's a big deal in our city. We visited our riverside this year too, it was a treat for Wojtek.

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.

Hiking: Śnieżka (1603 m)

I don't think there's a single person in Poland who doesn't know this mountain. Śnieżka is the highest peak of Karkonosze but also one of the easiest to reach. It's well known for its difficult conditions (it's always windy on top and in winter it gets pretty harsh there) but nevertheless in summer I guess it's the most crowded place in the whole Karkonosze chain. 
Well, I knew we had to hike it. Wojtek has a pillow with Snieżka, so I wanted to show him how the real mountain looks like. I went for a hike with him and Mateusz - two boys aged 4 and 5. I have to say, I wasn't sure how it would go. We did encounter a couple of setbacks... However, in the end I have to say that it was a successful day and a pleasant one too. I got to breathe the mountain air. Of course, I did feel need for more afterwards but I guess in my current situation that was the most I could get. And the boys were very brave and happy and we all reached the top!