Here is another inspiring woman! Meet Jenny and her dog Holly. To rise the money for a local charity Jenny walked amazing distance of 100 miles! I think she made her point and I find her determination inspiring. Right after I completed a full marathon I got known that Jenny walked 4 marathons in only 4 consecutive days. So let me congratulate to Jenny and please read her story below. Trekking the South Downs Way in four days  I’ve just finished a challenge to trek the South Downs Way across southern England in four days.  To say that I am as stiff as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz is no exaggeration!  The South Downs Way runs from the cathedral city of Winchester in Hampshire all the way to Eastbourne in East Sussex.  It’s 100 miles long over rolling countryside, escarpments and finally beautiful white chalk cliffs. Why would anyone walk four marathons in four days? To complete the South Downs Way in four days meant walking almost a marathon distance (26 miles) each day – but adding in ascents and descents which makes it feel a lot longer!  I did it because I was raising money for my local charity, The Iris Trust.   What did I see along the way on the first day? Well, the South Downs Way changes all the time!  Setting out from Winchester where there is a statue to King Alfred (who allegedly burnt the cakes), it’s a gentle, undulating rise through the rolling hills of Hampshire.  Passing up and around Beacon Hill, and on to Old Winchester Hill where there is an amazing old hill fort and many bronze age burial sites.  You can still see the ground structure quite clearly.  The third hill in this first section is Butser Hill where the views stretch right out across the Isle of Wight to the South and down to the pretty village of East Meon to the North.   A Mixure of Roman Ruins and Shin Splints! Day Two started out from the Queen Elizabeth Country Park – where many people come for a day’s walking and mountain biking.  There are lots of special jumps and trails made throughout this beautifully wooded landscape.  This was a day of quintessential English countryside; harvested fields, hawks, hills and gentle moors.  The views were amazing all the way.  As I passed Bignor Hill there were more ancient remains, this time Roman, and a fun stone step – Toby’s Stone – which commemorates one of the 19th Century’s leading huntsman of the area.  By this time my joints were starting to feel the effects of the flints and chalk stones underfoot.  Although I have great boots – Meindl – your feet and legs are rocking around all the time when you’re sliding on flints.  I had forgotten how hard that is on the shin splints – and I wasn’t even half way through! Rain, Rain, Go Away ON the third day I left lovely Holly behind (Holly is Jenny’s dog).  I knew I was in for a fair amount of rain on one of the most exposed stretches of the South Downs Way.  That’s the interesting thing; the further along you go East, the more exposed you are.  I started out of the quaint village of Amberley very early to avoid as much as I could, and made it past Chanctonbury Ring (known for witchcraft and all sorts of shenanigans) but I could see the black clouds catching me up.  Before I got to the Devil’s Dyke – a beautiful bowl with fabulous views to the coast – it came down in a thunderous shower.  Sadly I saw very little of the Devil’s Dyke because the rain was so hard my head was down battling along.  Have to confess that at this point I wasn’t sure at all that I would make it!!  But finally the sun came out, and the day finished with a bright blue – but cooler – sky.  Ditchling Beacon hove into view and I was very, very glad to see my taxi waiting for me! Holly is Very Tired The final leg from Ditchling to Eastbourne is probably the hardest.  Not just because you are tired, but because it is constantly up and down, and quite steeply in places such as the Seven Sisters. But you can’t complain on an October day when its warm enough for you to still be in shorts and a t-shirt and the sun is beating down.  This was really the first day I saw any people and by the time I reached the Seven Sisters around midday it was positively heaving with folks out to walk one of the most famous stretches of the Way.  But poor Holly had had enough by the time we reached the cliffs.  The combination of the strangeness of the height, the humidity in the dips beneath the cliffs all got too much for her and I had to carry her for a couple of miles to the Birling Gap where she stayed for the rest of the day while I finished. Around 5pm, tired, sore, really very very tired, I finally arrived at Beachy Head from where it is only a mile into Eastbourne.  Beachy Head is sadly very famous as a place where people come to commit suicide and there are rows of little crosses commemorating them.  But it is also one of the most beautiful views and spots in the South, and I was very glad to see that little lighthouse! I’m not sure I would do it again in the same way.  I now understand why there is  a raging debate between Thru-Hikers and Hikers in the US.  It’s true – the pressure of distance and time takes away a lot of the benefits you get from being surrounded by nature.  There were times I was simply too challenged and tired to stop to take a picture – just aware of one more step, running out of...

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This year edition of Dancing Poznań is over. The last workshop took place last Saturday and I’m still thinking about it. How was it? – everybody asks. And I don’t know what to tell them. Seriously. There are so many words that describe how it was, starting with challenging, interesting, funny, hard, awesome … but none of these words describes it ALL. So, it looks like you need to read the whole story to know how Dancing Poznań was for me. False start It started rather unpleasantly to me: I woke up at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday to be there on time and just when I arrived to the city center, when our classes took place, I got informed it all starts the next day. Right. So all I did that day instead of dancing was to return home. The information provided by organizers was somehow unclear to me which was the reason of my mistake. There are things to improve here. The first pancake is always spoiled. No worries. I had still a positive mindset before next day. Warm welcome Sunday morning, 7:00 a.m. again and this time I was in the right place at the right time (despite the beginning of roadworks, or 3 different ones along my route, and huge traffic jams to be precise). On site I met my friend who encouraged me to participate in this whole thing, a bunch of enthusiastic ladies of all ages, and a tutor: Bill. Now, I think that if you have ever thought about dancing choose your tutor wisely. Bill was totally awesome. You could tell from the first minute he enjoys both: dancing AND teaching, which I think is crucial. From this point of view I was really lucky! And the most important characteristics of a tutor to all beginners is his patience. No shouting, no making fun of you, no making scenes. It was really a huge comfort to work with Bill, who has a long teaching experience and probably dealt with less accomplished students throughout his career. Difficult start First lesson reminded me why I hated dance so much: the task of rising my RIGHT hand and LEFT leg at the same time and then switch quickly was absolutely impossible. I got so frustrated! I thought that if I started learning to dance after a long brake the coordination will come naturally. Apparently not. Lesson learnt? PROBLEM never goes away just because of WAITING and DOING NOTHING. Right. So there I was: with my frustration and a total disbelieve that this time I would finally deal with this issue. All Bill said to me, watching my desperate attempts of making it right, was: “Trust me. By the end of this course you WILL dance“. I thought: “No way“, and said nothing. Progress By the end of the third lesson I got familiar with the music of warm up and first three steps of our group choreography we suppose to dance at the end of the course. Not much as for the middle of the course, is it? I must say the third day was really tough. Only because I was desperate to stay until the very end to write this summary for you kept me going. Oh, and Bill’s attitude too. So with dancing, like with everything else, the progress is SLOW. And you need to be patient. There is no other way. When fourth day came I was so into this course that I was humming the lead soundtrack all day long and had steps in front of my eyes when I was falling asleep. Thank God I was so busy watching my own feet it was already forth day when I started to look around. Then I saw few ladies who were much better than I was, simply because it was 4th, 7th or even 11th time for them. The worst you can do is start comparing yourself with other. DON’T. It’s useless and it drains you out of self confidence. “Focus – I was telling myself – right leg, step, left hand, rock step, turn a-round, and raise your hands”. Over and over again. The forth day brought a break through: when I concentrated hard enough I was able to follow about half of the whole group choreography. So far, so good. Music Last two days I started to actually hear the music. I swear! Before that I was so focused on my own feet and counting I was not hearing anything else. And that day Bill said: “Now you need to relax and enjoy yourself while dancing“. Easier said then done. But there I was and there was no way back. I was lucky again because the music Bill chosen was fantastic: a real swing jazz performed by the best band, with very strong beat and easy to hear sequences matched with steps. And eventually, the very last day and very last tryout I danced from the very beginning to the very end WITHOUT one mistake! Lesson learnt? BILL WAS RIGHT. No, seriously, I’ve learnt a lot and I’m not thinking about steps. It was all about learning myself. Lesson learnt I was really surprised how good my body reacts to this sort of exercises. I am a long distance runner with highly developed resistance to effort rather than a ballerina but intense stretching was excellent supplement to my daily training. True: I was more tired than when exercises were limited to the usual running but it was bearable. Second thing that really surprised me were other participants of this course. All girls were smashing! They never protested when I was doing some photos or videos, they were always enthusiastic and very determined. A company of such positive people made me feel good! Joy I haven’t participated in the final show. I know, I know, I should have. But even though I repeated all steps’ sequence with my group I felt I was not ready to participate a public show. I’m not there yet. But I will, eventually. And I am...

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I have a confession to make: I have never been a good dancer. In fact, dancing is not my favorite activity and I rarely do it. Normally people like dancing as a sort of pleasant activity that helps you to deal with stress. But not me! When I think about going out and dance….well, that’s actually the last thing I would consider a relaxing activity. It was always difficult to go on and dance in front of the others. And there is a reason for it. Bad experience When I was in primary school my parents enrolled me to a dance classes. Not sure why, there was very few boys and many girls. So, I had a bad luck to play a male role in a dance from the very first day. I learnt all steps of waltz, rock’n’roll, samba, cha-cha and rumba as if I was a man! I got it all wrong from the beginning! This very unfortunate event made me a horrible dancer: every time I was dancing it was almost impossible to leave a lead to a dancing partner. Later in my life, there were very few occasions to dance so I didn’t bother to deal with it. Few years ago I focused on long distance running as a main physical activity and thought I simply don’t need to dance. I simply stopped bothering. Not all people are designated to it, right? That’s what I thought. Until one day a year ago. One of my friends – ah, did you notice how many things actually happens because of friends? – told me about her participation in a workshop called Dancing Poznan. My friend is a very talented person and she loves dancing. So even though I knew she has participated the workshop for years I never considered myself fit enough to try. But last year she showed me few videos on youtube and watching other dancers made me think that perhaps I should try. Do you know the feeling when you watch somebody and you wish it was you? Sooo badly! This workshop takes place once a year, every August so I had plenty time to think before the enrollment in May. Expectations When time came I was pretty determined to join. I felt in a good shape after intense training for half and full marathon so I thought that even if I can’t dance I’ll be still able to follow the warm up. Now it’s one week before this year 21st edition is launched and I have few expectations I’ll share with you. I would like to stop neglecting dance once for all! I would love to gain more confidence in the way I move and dance. Dropping the obsession for a leading part in dance would be awesome! And if I enjoyed dance that would be even more than I imagined. Do you think it is too much to expect out of a professional 1 week intense dance course? I would love to hear about your experience with dancing! If you have any encouraging words you can share please do! I’ll need it! Dancing Poznan It’s official name is “21st international workshops of contemporary dance”. Participants attend dancing lessons everyday and at the end of the course they are able to perform a short group dance. As many as 40 different dance techniques are provided and I picked up swing jazz! Dancing Poznan is not the only festival that is organized in Poznan! So many of them! Starting with widely known Malta Festival that for over 20 years has created amazing space for street, alternative and off theatres to perform art in our city. It’s been organized for so long that people of Poznan can feel it in the air just before it begins. Every June the city turns into a huge stage and people willingly participate in all events related to it. Further, we have two exceptional movie festivals: Animator focused on short animation movies, and much younger but already widely known  Transatlantyk, a high profile event focused on contemporary cinematography and film music. I’ll probably participate in the later festivals too but I’m especially excited about Dancing Poznan. Will I succeed? Will I learn anything? Or maybe it will all end up with frustration? Instead of empower myself I’ll find dance too complicated to enjoy? Follow this blog to find out. If I can do it, you can do it! Come back for more next week! I’ll share my experience directly after the workshop has been completed! Disclosure: this post was kindly supported by City of Poznan, however, all opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.  

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