11.65 kilometers. I stop my watch. The feeling is different. After more than 150 races of all sorts in which I’ve started in more than nine years, for the first time I call off one voluntarily. It is strange. I try to announce my DNF, but can’t find where I should do it. I am…
Tag: running
Running a personal best by accident: half-marathon in 1:28:40
Don’t consider this as an example, because it is not. I am preparing for a half-marathon personal best, so need to deliver some proper training. The thing is, that in one day, particularly 5th of March 2025, reality drifted to another path, without having anything planned. The plan was a longer tempo, of 11 –…
2X2 Race – running on clouds
If there is one race I’ve participated at, in my almost one decade running “career”, I can always speak about in huge terms, that is, without any doubt, 2X2 Race. I’ve written a couple of times about my experiences from there, but I never truly expressed my real feelings experienced in 2024, when I’ve achieved…
Running early in the morning, the best thing: haha, what a joke!
Have you ever heard conventional wisdom from so-called healthy life style specialists – who usually don’t look anywhere near a healthy life style – saying that running early in the morning is somehow a blessing? That is the best idea, the best practice, ultimate habit? Well, yeah, I’ve heard also them a lot, and I…
2X2 Race – the most brutal “running” experience you can have!
“2X2 Race is not for everybody”, a guy who finished it 2nd in 2022, Ionut Husariu, to be more specific, said. I couldn’t agree more back then, when I have started the race, but failed in a shameful manner to make at least the first cut off time: 4 hours on Moldoveanu Peak, the highest…
MIUT 2024 – the seven minute window for a big dream
Running thru Madeira developed as a big dream in my imagination, so in late October 2023, it came to a projected fruition. Once my subscription to MIUT 2024 was accepted. The queen race is the 115 kilometer one, that basically cuts the island in half, from Porto Moniz to Machico. Tempting, but too brutal for…
Talking to myself during the marathon. Episode 1
During a marathon, I talk a lot with my own self, mostly because of the challenges I face while running the 42.195 kilometers distance. You cannot keep your mind clear and disconnected, no mater how hard you try. Music, calculating the plan, always analyzing the streets, the hydration points, always help. But they are not…
Man started writing training plans after running first half-marathon
You never know who sits next to you in the tram! It might be the next coach – of whatever – that can change your life! A guy from a suburb of a capital city in Europe just nailed it: he managed to run a half-marathon in a staggering time of 2 hours and 12…
Marathon calendar 2024 in Europe – asphalt mostly flat only! :)
The marathon calendar 2024 is just under way! I love to participate to a marathon, and discover the city / town in the same time. Did a few, and I am planning to do even more in the future. For now, in Europe. This is why, I came up to the idea to add up…
Running: tempo run vs. threshold run
When it comes for a run, I never understood how can you evaluate the percentages at which you will track that one, in order to be comfortable, or to push hard. However, as you read, exercise, and especially know your body better, the percentages can make sense, “incarnated” as the way in which you feel…