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!

Family trip to mountains - Karkonosze

There are two weeks in a year when our kindergarten is closed. It's a good opportunity to get out of the city and this year we decided to drive to Karkonosze mountain for a week of stay. I won't call it holidays - 3 adults (my sister, my mom and me) and 4 children aged 1-5 - yo do the maths - it doesn't add up :) It was a challenging stay of course but we tried our best to benefit from good weather, beautiful surroundings and family time. We even did a couple of excursions that I will describe in the following posts. Stay tuned :)

RAZ Mam Marzenie - 25h run

If after reading the title of this post you think I took part in a 25-hour run - you're wrong :) not this level... yet :) The run was called a 25h run because there was a 25 h span of time you could go and run on the track. It was a charity run, so the more kilometres you did, the better. I did 10,2 but to be precise I did 16 that day (it took me 3 km to get to the starting point and another 3 to get back to home).

Photo credit - amazing Dulny Photo

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.