run

As the days are getting shorter, I find it easier to sit down in the evening and write. What is more, I have also recieved the bill for my domain recently, so I feel obligated to use the space I am paying for 🙂

I did not participate in any races this summer. However, I managed to go as spectacor. If you get asked to be part of someone´s support group, it is a honor to go. It is also plenty of fun, as you get to check out the course and feel the excitment. So I jumped right on the plane and flew out to the Lake District where my brother participated in Peak Skyline [1].

We arrived in Buxton few days in advance to check out the course and see some of Peak District as well. The drive from Liverpool to Buxton was very confusing and we have got lost several times, yet we have arrived. The next day, surprisingly, the sun was out. We have decided to explore the first half of the course. Jakub was doing his active recovery and I was working quite hard to keep up.. The next day, I went in the second half (starting from Manor Farm) with legs like I have already run the whole course the day before 🙂 Nevertheless, the weather was not british at all and the views from Roaches were worthed the squeeze. We have spent the whole two days talkign about strategy for the race and came up with supreme plan. The motto was, if you are not as fast as the others, then you definitely need good backups. On the note, Peak skyline was not in the UK Skyrun Series this year, so it was allowed to get refreshments or have a pacer – and we did a good.. Jakub has been running with the leading group but unfortunatelly cpramped on the last part, so he came out third. (I am still impressed and very proud of him anyway.) The last day, we have decided to stop by Shutlingsloe on our way to the aiport and take one more look at the Lake District and then we took off.

All in all, it has been about 80k of hiking, which was fun thanks to great company and delicious proviant we have packed (e.g. I was very happy to find that emergency apple on the end of the first day 🙂 ).

THE ROUTES

day 01 gpx-file here

day 02 gpx-file here

day 03 gpx-file here

day 04 gpx-file here

GALLERY

As I have been determined to take picture of everyone onthe race day, there are many more pictures which could be found here.

[1] offcial website here . very fast course of 47,5km and 2.000 m elevation gain.

Sporty Saturday Vol.01 – Running flat and straight forward

I have mentioned in my recent post that I have moved back to Germany, and I happend to live in a small villiage (population of ca. 4.000 people) in Brandenburg. After a half year spent in the beautiful mountains of Slovakia, I am back on plains again. At the beginning, I have been enthusiastic about it as training in altitude for several months contributed to the increase the number of my red blood cells and therefore I found it easier to run down here. When I started running in the mountains (up to 2.000m altitude) in November, I was not able to climb a hill without taking multiple breaks on my way up. So, I have tried, tried and tried. At some point in January, I have noticed the improvement and was quite sad to move back to the flattest area in the Europe. I dare to say, even in Netherlands you would find more hills than here :). However, it has a certain advantages. If you are running flat with the extra strength from hills, it is so much easier. My PRs are stellar comparing to those from back home and I can feel the wind in my hair when running :-). If you are an amateur like I am, you probably know the excitement of discovering speed on your runs. Unfortunatelly, it can get little boring from time to time. All pictures you take are in landscape mode and there is definitely no need for panorama shots anymore. On the other hand, it is always nice to be a new place – new great trails which need to be explored! So, I have been quite busy these past weeks and I have spent great deal of time on movescount.com planing my next move. I prefer to look at the map, plan ahead and then put my shoes on. It would be irresponsible to run out into woods without having a clue where you are and checking my phone for the curent location every few minutes is annoying. So, I just put the route into my watch and they show you the direction to the next point of interest etc. Very simple, I have grew very fond of this feature lately.

All in all, I have already run some kilometers and can already pick some favourites. I have to say, I used to love to run along the river before, when living in Cottbus. Now, I prefer the woods. I have tried to put in 10k along the river here but I have having hard time finishing them! It was like never ending story. On the other hand, when I run in the forest, the time flies! I have put together a small gallery of impressions, I have collected over past weeks. I have been going for a run mostly in the morning, before work. Yet, there are even some shots taken on the runs after work. Either way, the light was usually very soft :). I hope you will enjoy it!

GALLERY

February 27, 2016 0

Going to places I used to go before

Today I woke up into a cold, yet very sunny morning. I have been quite lazy the day before so I have decided to start the day in a big way. I went for a run. If you have read my previous posts, you would notice I usually go the same round – I have been trying to mix up pictures from different spots so you would not notice and I am not sure I did well 🙂 . Nevertheless, I was in a need of something new, so I have went ‘exploing’. Growing up in an apartment located in housing estate, we did not have a garden to play in. However, our playground was quite extensive – surrounding fields, meadows, and woods. One of our favourites was a meadow – we used to call it ‘yellow meadow’, I guess it was because we have discovered it in autumn and the long grass was already dry and yellow. I have not visited it for a long time, so I wanted to check up on that place and see for myself how it changed over the time.

Despite the latest sunny weather some roads are still muddy but this morning the most of them were still frozen. It was a nice change to run just on the surface. Everything was cold and sugarcoated with the ice. I have stopped to take few pictures, you can see for yourself in the gallery attached below. Eventually, this frosty beauty started to melt and disappeared. When I got to the yellow meadow, I have become little nostalgic and lied down for a moment. The half of it was already turned into a forest but the other half was still yellow. The long dry grass was soft and warm despite the sharp cold air. It was a strange experience. Returning to familiar places from different times. I have been struggling with this lately a lot. It is like characters in your dreams – they have faces of your friends, yet they suddenly speak different language, and show up on places where they do not belong. It is a mixed feeling, very confusing. I haven not decided yet whether it is a good or a bad one.

GALLERY

November 3, 2015 0

Signs of coming winter

I have been living close to mountains (2000 meters above sea level) for quite some time. In those years you notice patterns in weather which are anually repeated. In August it rains at 3pm every day and by the end of the month, the fist powder in mountains falls, September catches the second summer, October has a lot of foggy mornings, yet sunny afternoons, etc. So I have learnt how to dress up properly for each season – as there is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. And the magical moments happen all around the clock.

So this year was no exception, and by the end of August/beginning of September, we have been freezing and the first powder has fallen. However, this thin layer has melted away within few hours. Nevertheless, a great reminder to wax your ski and maybe get a new pair of gloves! So, going for a run this weekend, I have been soaking in those last sunny moments before depressing November arrives. I cannot say I am sad saying goodbye to summer as I am very passionate about skiing as well. I just hope this winter will offer plenty of snow and seeing the first snow patches on the top of the mountains gives me a good feeling about it. To get into a winter mood, I think about going for a hike up there next weekend and build a snowman! I will keep you posted.

GALLERY