From all achievements I’ve made over the last 2 years or so, the one I am most proud of is, undoubtedly, completing a marathon. Because this race is so iconic, well-known and everybody thinks you have to be a superhuman to do it, it is truly the jewel in the crown. I am not saying that other races or, especially, triathlons didn’t give me satisfaction. They do, and a lot. But the marathon is, at this moment, my biggest challenge, both mentally and physically. My goal is to finish it in under four hours, and this time is, by far, beyond of my comfort time zone of 2 ½ hours of effort (if this concept even exists).
So how come someone like me is doing marathons?. Well, there’s no simple or direct answer. One and a half years ago, I would have bet all my money against me doing one. Even more, I would encourage everybody to do it as it would be easy money. Here are the details of the challenge: take a man with more than 106 kilos, almost allergic to any physical activity which implies sweating, and tell him to finish a marathon by next summer. If you want to make the bet more complete you can add a couple of triathlons, and any other race that crosses your mind. How much money would you bet?
Well, as this story is not about losing weight, I will skip that phase saying I complemented my diet with some occasional swimming as it is the only sport where you don’t feel sweaty. After losing the first 15 kilos, when I was under 90 and feeling as light as a feather, one morning I woke up and thought “everybody says running is so amazing, I should try it”. I went to the store and asked for everything I could need for running as I had nothing but added “nothing too expensive, as I’m not sure if I’m going to run more than three times”. My first run was 6th March 2013 and lasted for 21:15 minutes. I did 3.5 km in the snow with a temperature around minus 8 degrees. For some reason, I was really proud of myself and I felt great, nothing comparable with the swimming. As you may know, it is really complicated sweating in such weather, so I even enjoy it. I am particularly happy remembering one morning when, running in the middle of the park, I crossed paths with an older man, who smiled and waved to salute me. That impressed me a lot. With April came my birthday, as usual, and I said my wish: I want to run 10 km in a row and in less than one hour by Christmas. For that, I already asked some people and prepared a training plan. According to my coach, I should be able to do it in 12 weeks. Patience is not one of my skills, so I did it 8… not listening to him!
My first official 10 km race was in May and my time was few seconds below than 50 minutes. So I accomplished my annual objective before the summer… and I also had my first medal to prove it! Me? Having medals for an individual sport? What else? Well, I always say that my karma is a kind of bastard one, nothing that it gives is for free. In this case, it gave an amazing feeling of accomplishment and proudness that I cannot describe. The flip-side was that it causes addiction, a really strong one. So, what could give me more pleasure? Running faster or longer? I read somewhere that the types of fibers of muscle you have make you more suitable for either speed or resistance. Somehow, you are naturally designed for only one of these activities. I don’t know which my type is, indeed I don’t care, but as I was addicted to running, the natural choice was to run longer rather than faster which implies running less. Don’t look for any logic here, please! By that time the question was not so important. The answer was so obvious that everybody knew I was running to lose weight. Well, you know this is not true, at least, not the whole truth. So, when I said that now I will go for 15 km and my weight was under 80 kilos, everybody started to ask me – WHY?
I didn’t know I needed a reason for running. So I created one, kind of joke: I am preparing for a marathon! The reactions varied from “you’re crazy!”, “you’re going to give up” to “wow!”. Few of them said “Are you serious? What is your plan?”. And I was thinking “I will go for a half marathon to check my feelings”. So, I was forced to prepare for a half-marathon as I didn’t have a better answer to the question. During this period, there were several moments where I was really close to giving up and failing the challenge. The closest one, the moment when I almost abandoned the idea was here, in the beginning of the summer, after a 10 km race and without any other goal in sight. I was able to run for 14 or 15 kilometers but I was totally alone. All the people who supported me in the past, now just said “This is too much!”, “there is no need to compete”, etc…
Again, my karma hit back. Some friends mentioned a club where people meet for running. Warsaw International Triathlon Club was the name. I wasn’t sure about the swimming and the cycling but they insisted. “Come! We mostly run!” said. I met them one given Saturday and I discovered that the most individual sport is totally different when joining a group. And then, the limits disappeared. It is better not to tell other people that we meet on Saturday morning for running during two hours, just for fun and consider it a “normal workout”; they won’t understand.
Within the group, it was just a matter of time to be able to fight my worries. Motivation came in different shapes and sounds. There is only one rule: never give up. If not today, tomorrow, or day after, or next month… just keep trying! And new challenges came. I still have nightmares with my first experience in open waters. But I will let Olga to tell her story, as she deserved it and can explain better what this is about.
So, eight months after joining the club and one year after my birthday I was in the starting line of the first marathon of my life. Amazing! Isn’t it? I cannot tell how proud I am of myself and how grateful I feel to everyone who helped me in these months. This is something you cannot do it alone, at least, I couldn’t do it. I also learnt the importance of smiling while running as someone could make a picture, and also for reflecting the fun of the race.
But the question remains unanswered. Why I run? I cannot give you the answer you are looking for. In fact, you cannot use mine as it won’t work for you. There is no reason, no logic, just a feeling that pushes me to the next race, just one more, whatever it is. Join us in the next one and you will find why!
