Finally, temperatures above 10 degrees ☀️ Back on track.
(Though slightly behind the training schedule.)
Week 4 and 5 were oscillations between “I feel good enough to hit the gym” and a never-ending flu. I probably incubated entire generations of new viruses that will be ready for next season. But for now — all is good.
There was one unexpected benefit of running on a treadmill. When the body stays in place, the only thing that can move freely is the mind. So mine did — mostly traveling back through running memories.
The pacemaker’s words in the last kilometer of the Warsaw Marathon still echo in my head:
“You would not be here if you were not strong enough.”
He was wearing a hat with small bells. I can still hear them.
I remember an elderly man standing among the supporters in Amsterdam, holding a Polish flag. He looked like someone cut out from a completely different story — as if he was there to greet soldiers coming back home. Maybe he was a soldier himself.
There was also a dramatic chase to catch a train in Paris. That deserves a separate story. In short: I was in a kind of “running blues” after my last big race. I finished, but I couldn’t feel joy. I was always slightly jealous reading about the endorphin wave that hits people at the finish line. It never hit me.
Until then.
Running for that train, something hidden inside finally broke open. Apparently, sometimes the wave needs a few weeks to reach the shore.
And all those moments in the starting box — excitement mixed with fear, mixed with irrational thoughts about everything that could go wrong during the race.
Week 6 was different — holiday. My AI coach says that while skiing I made the equivalent of “5 long cross-training days.” All I know is that at the end of each day I was completely drained of energy, so I guess it worked well.
Run 4 PMC 
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