Ladies and gentlemen! From now on I am officially a marathon runner! I made it. I completed the full distance of 42 km 195 meters. Running (sort of). And here is how I did it. Good Start As you well remember I completed a half – marathon last June. I continued the training throughout the summer and was pretty well prepared before the main run. On Sunday, October 12, I was at the starting line of the 15th Poznań Marathon. The excitement just before the start was all over the place. Over 7,000 runners were squeezed in one of the main streets of the city. Every participant had a number on his T-shirt and smile on his face. Some runners were already running well before the official beginning, warming up, laying down, drinking water, covering their body with a plastic bag (I was told it was a good way to warm up), listening to the music, discussing strategy with a stranger: it looked like a huge and very busy crowd. Finally, the race began. It took me almost 5 minutes to even cross a start line! Slowly, the street was less and less crowded and each of runners could find a space and rhythm. At 6th kilometer there was a very attractive thing to do: we all run across the football stadium! First 10 km were just fine. Until a well known to all runners guest came: Mr Crisis. Crisis It is still not clear to me what mistake I made. I suddenly realized how hard I was breathing, I couldn’t find my favorite pace and before 14th kilometer started I felt completely exhausted. The music on my mp3 didn’t do any good and I felt confused and angry. It was so bad I thought about quitting.  For next 10 kilometers! A real struggle. Eventually, I switched the music off and using my recent experience from camino I focused on the nearest kilometer. 6 minutes and 40 seconds, 1000 meters – this was a distance I was able to focus on. And it finally helped me to find my pace. Until another well known element of each long distance run occurred: pain. I’m Turning Into Pain… la, la, la. After crossing the important point of 21km, which is half of the marathon distance and before reaching another important milestone of 30 km my joints and muscles were hurting quite badly. I stopped once to get help from medic he was kind enough to spray my knees and kill the pain. For a while, at least. What a relief! Slowly, however, every inch of my body hurt. And it was even worse when I stopped! So the only way to deal with this pain was to continue the run!  By the time of half distance all runners were helping each other: positives messages were flying around. “You can do it! It’s not that far! The finish line is just around the corner.” And my favorite banner carried by the fans was saying: “And you could have chosen chess!“. Well, I could have but I didn’t. And so I was running. I had two amazing men with me: my husband and my dad. At some point their encouragement was the only thing I could stick to. We run this marathon together and this was a real team work. Nicely done, boys! Finish Line After over 5 hours I finally crossed a finish line. I was crying like a baby out of joy I finally made it! The mixture of exhaustion, proud, joy, excitement, surprise and satisfaction was fantastic! There is nothing in this world to be compared with the emotion of crossing a finish line of your first marathon run! The very same day I could hardly walk. The day after was similar. But after 48h I was feeling great again. So what am I going to do now is to run a marathon in 2015! You didn’t have any doubts, did you? Marathon. The Real One! A conclusion of my marathon story was epic: 10 days after I completed my first ever marathon I went to Greece. To a small village called Marathon, to be precise. It is situated about 40 km from Athens and it is a mythical place of a great battle between Greeks and Persians. I went to Marathon with an Association of  Licensed Tourist Guides kindly arranged by the Tbex team. This was a guided tour that took us first to the Marathon battle fields, then to the Marathon Museum and eventually to the beach and very tasty lunch. The weather was excellent and we had a lovely time. The Battle of Marathon was a historical event but it became later a theme for various myths and legends. Apart of its military importance and crucial role in defending Athens Marathon is especially known for a legend of Pheidippides. He is said to have run from Marathon to Athens in full military outfit to share the news about the Athenian victory. Just as all marathon runners I was aware of this exhausting run ended with death of the runner but it was new to me to know that he run in with full equipment which, at that time, was heavy and very uncomfortable. He run with his shield which was extremely heavy not to be seen from a distance and not to be considered a coward. In order to fulfill his duty he run in extreme heat with full armament. Although there are two legends mixed here and nothing is certain thinking about it is uplifting. Human bravery, dedication and determination is something that touches me deeply. And as a marathon runner I know more about than I used to. Jenny who was with me and who recently completed 4 marathons described the story in profound so if you are interested in hearing more about Battle for Marathon click here.  

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I have never thought I will write this: I completed a half marathon! And I feel great abut it. It’s not that it was always my dream or something. At some point my regular running has naturally turned into a challenge. I spent 3 months on training with large gaps in between, I must admit. But today here I am: I have officially joined a club of runners. What is the story here? Well, it all starts and ends with travels here! And obviously light jogging I started 5 years ago was caused by a plan of autumn trip to Lapland. I enjoyed both very much: preparations and travel. And so I decided to continue the training. At first it was only for pleasure and for getting fit. Later it became a powerful regulator of my daily routine. Motivation? Many people say that they find it difficult to run regularly but there is an awesome trick for that: you need to repeat an action for 21 days in a row to turn it into a habit. 21 days is bloody long but if you endure then after that everything is much easy! You can’t run long distances everyday so you need to start either with slightly short distances or wait a bit longer until your body will get used to it. Why long distance running? For many reasons. First, I am lousy in sprints ;-) I shared my 15 reasons why I do jogging here and I must say it is pretty much the same after over a year. Why compete? You can obviously limit your running to a daily routine, do it alone and enjoy long term results in solitude. In fact, I was doing it for a long time. And although I had no motivational problems my running was somehow frozen. At some point I was running my favorite distance of 6 km and haven’t been doing anything else. Endurance and fitness is being built through progress in distance and speed not by doing the same thing over and over again. The day you’ll run a half or full marathon with hundreds of other athletes you will understand why this is so cool. What is the difficulty? Just recently I met a marvelous person who is skilled and experienced runner (ciao Maurizio!). He told me that there are 3 basic elements that decide whether you will complete the marathon or not: your physical condition, nutrition and mental status. Of these three mental status seems to play a crucial part. It all happens in your head! And long distance running is simply for tough guys! Maurizio completed over 10 marathons, 3 ultra marathons (100 km long) and just recently a 202 km run so I guess he knows what he’s talking about. 3 best things about half marathon… The best thing about it was a local community gathered along the route. It was touching when habitants of small villages were greeting the runners, creating a drizzle with their garden hoses, clapping their hands and shouting loudly: “You can do it!!!” Awesome! Other runners were the second best thing about this marathon. There was no aggressive competition at all. Rather a smooth cooperation to cross the finish line. I enjoyed short dialogues with other runners and smiles exchanged along the way. I felt great about my training and I finally fully appreciated my regular effort. It was the last fantastic thing about this run! I completed it not excessively tired nor exhausted and it made me really proud of myself. …and 3 less fantastic things The weather was absolutely terrible! From one day to another it has completely changed and I had no time to get used to the heat. For the Italians +30C might not the warmest temperature but since I live in the north it was to me! And believe me: the further I run the warmer it became. Second thing I hated was the time of start. It was 10:00 instead of 9:00 or even 8:30! With +30C degrees the earlier the better but unfortunately this was not the case. And because of the heat the last 5 km were tough. And lastly the track of this half marathon was a bit hilly. Too many ups and downs drained my strengths. All in all, however, this was a totally awesome experience and I can’t wait the full marathon this autumn! The one in Poznan sounds really tempting! I’m sure that half of my problems are already cut away: there is no chances for a warm weather in October in Poland. It should be nice and cold and this sounds already really good. Besides the time of start is as early as 9:00 a.m. which is just perfect! I would like to thank everybody who believed and supported me throughout the whole preparation time, at the marathon day and who were happy enough about my success to like my pics on FB. You are fabulous guys! Thanks for being with me! Poznan 15th marathon Straight away a half marathon completed I enrolled myself to participate in full marathon in Poznan. It’s a 15th edition this year with fantastic track throughout the city. Marathon in Poznan has a relatively short history but this is an important event that people are used to. It is currently a mass events, gathering almost 10 000 runners from all over the world. October the 12th, 2014 I’m going to be at the start line of this run. Where else I should run a marathon if not in my Home City? This is not the only sport event that is being organized in Poznan every year! In fact, there are many more. Few weeks ago a Enea Poznań Triathlon took place. This September a new event called Poznań Business Run takes place. We’re looking forward to it! Especially that this sport event involves collecting money for charity. Lastly, Wings For Live another initiative that gathers athletes to help less fortunate folks.  Disclosure: this post was kindly supported by City of Poznan, however, all opinions are my...

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Writing about home city is challenging. It’s very difficult to find the right perspective. On the one hand, there are too many stories to tell, too many memories to share and just too many places to write about. On the other hand, local stories and excessive detailed description will not interest travelers nor tourists. So here is the thing: I will show you my city just as I do with my foreign friends who visit me here. Places I normally go, things I usually do, events I always participate. This is a very personal itinerary of Poznan. And as local as it gets. Food Starting with basics: I’ll show you my favorite places for having a coffee, a delicious dessert or sites where I simply like to chill out with my friends. So next post will take you on tour around the Poznan cafes. Some of them are charming and very busy with locals while others are quiet and peaceful. This is true for Poznan: everyone finds something for himself or herself. A huge variety of cafes awaits you. Not only cafes are busy places here: people all over the world spend time shopping fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers. You must be familiar with pictures of exotic food markets and I’m going to show you how people do their daily shopping on city markets. It’ll be very colorful and crowded, just like elsewhere! Art&History Poznan is an excellent example of a place where history and art are fascinating! No worries: no boring museum with old paintings. Far from it! I’ll take you for a long walk around one of Poznan districts that is called Jeżyce. I’m going to show you a fabulous art deco style of the houses that survived last war. Spectacular details, glass windows, door, balconies and stucco. Few sites here reminds me my trip to Barcelona and I hope you’ll share my delight with these beauties. Further, I’m taking you to one of the most modern places in the city where ancient history becomes alive. Sounds weird: modern technologies and the ancient history? Fair enough. You’ll se for yourself. Events Poznan is a city of festivals. No doubts about it! Throughout the year there is no weekend without a music or cultural event. Seriously! You can chose from street theaters’ festival, ethnic music festival, jazz festival, films and music festivals and so many others! I will focus on two events I participate: Dancing Poznan and 15th Poznan Marathon. I think these two events are very particular and you will find out why if you read these posts. If you wish know Poznan better, see whether this city is an interesting holiday destination or just check what to do here follow posts published under “Home City”. Trust locals – they know best!    

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