Regular readers of mine blog about running already, apparently, aware of what happened to me once in Polish city Walbrzych. The consequences of this interesting story have shifted a little to my next trip to Poland. But let's talk about everything in turn.
“Pila Half Marathon” is a significant running event, because this half marathon is one of those recognized internationally. The half marathon route is certified organizations such as PZLA, IAAF and AIMS. So I had no doubt that I would take part in this half marathon. In addition, the Pila Half Marathon has been hosting the Polish 21-kilometer running championship for many years, and in Ukraine it is analogous. “Kovel Half Marathon”. It was to be my fifth race to get what I wanted. "Crowns of Polish Half Marathons“. Therefore, the trip to the half marathon "Pila Half Marathon" was another step towards the goal.
Registration
You can register for the half marathon at official website running event. At registration it is necessary to specify the size of a t-shirt, to enter contact information (full name, e - mail and mobile number). After that, you must pay for the participant's starter pack.
The road to the starting town
I decided to get to the starting point of the half marathon via Warsaw. The flight was scheduled for the 6th - it was Friday. And while the calendar didn't lie, I had the feeling that it was a real "Friday the 13th." While packing my backpack in the morning, I realized that my insurance remained in Walbrzych, Poland. After carefully searching everything at home, I did not find insurance, and there was no time to draw up a new one. Because of this, I had to go to the airport without her, hoping that she would not be mentioned when crossing the border.
I took off from "Boryspil" Airport because the runway was being repaired at a more convenient location for "Kyiv" Airport. From "Boryspil", I flew to "Modlin" Airport, not far from Warsaw.
I can't say that "Modlin" Airport left a good impression on me. I consider "Chopin" Airport to be the most convenient for me. It was not difficult to get to Warsaw from "Modlin" - there was a train and a bus. But the way back was not so easy.
From 23:30 to 5:00 the "ModlinBus" bus does not run. The "Modlin" railway station is also closed from 00:00 to 5:00 - it is not possible to stay there until the morning, because all passengers are asked to leave the station. I have never had such problems with "Chopin" Airport because it is located directly in Warsaw.
But the most interesting thing was waiting for me at the customs in Poland. I was very worried about my insurance. It turned out that the excitement was not in vain - the border guard began to ask me a lot of questions about where I was going, the purpose of my visit to Poland, the duration of my stay. He also started checking all my documents - hotel reservations, return tickets, funds. I thought of only one thing - "Please do not ask me about insurance!". I kept getting nervous, and the border guard kept trying to figure out why I was so nervous.
But after a long conversation with the border guard, he still received his stamp in his short passport. Leaving the customs control desk, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then I went to the city of Pili, where another half marathon was waiting for me.
Check-in at the hotel started only at 14:00. Therefore, after arriving in the city of the half marathon, according to my tradition, I decided to take a short walk and get acquainted with the city itself. Pili is a very beautiful city with modern buildings. Looking for interesting objects, I turned to Google, which told me to go to the former railway depot. Getting off the train, I went there.
Conveniently, this industrial facility was located near the station. But I didn't find anything interesting there for myself - the depot was fenced, and it was located on the territory of the existing railway depot.
After that, I went to the hotel. He walked slowly, enjoying the beauty of the city on the way. In the room, I rested a bit after the road waiting for my friend Sergei. I met him at about 17:00 and we went together to pick up the starter packs. They were issued in one of the local schools in the assembly hall. Picking up the packages, you could visit the pasta party. It was held from 17:00 to 19:00 on the territory of the same school. After completing all the preparations for the half marathon, we decided to take a walk in the evening city.
Run
The start of the half marathon in Pila was scheduled for 11:00. Half marathon route "Pila Half Marathon” consisted of two completely asphalted circles (large and small circles) passing through the streets of Pila. Together with Sergei, we decided to start with a pacemaker at 1:40. I would like to have a pacemaker at 1:45, but the choice was only from 1:50 and 1:40. Therefore, they decided to accelerate and overcome such a boundary.
The "Pila Half Marathon" was a notable feature for me - this race was the first in which I ran based on my heart rate, not speed, as I did before. The start was quite successful, but as I approached the 10th kilometer, my heart rate rose more and more confidently to 180. Something had to be done to reduce my heart rate.
The fight against the pulse passed the second half of the way. At first, it jumped to 177, and then, on the contrary, dropped to 130-150. It was more like not running, but some intervals. But 180 and even more did not cease to frighten me. Everything did not go as we wanted, but we at least ran to the finish line.
Impression
The "Pila Half Marathon", as I had hoped, left good impressions and memories. The organization of the event was at a very high level, and on the track there was good support from the audience.
I discovered a new chapter in my running history, as it once was in a half marathon "Goverla Race“. In the process of running, I used new gadgets. Before that, I operated only with my speed, because it was very nice to see how from time to time the time of overcoming kilometers decreases. But this time it was the pulse that became the key indicator. When you see that it is extremely high, there is some anxiety.
Thanks to participating in the "Pila Half Marathon", I realized that I needed to begin to dive deeper into the finest aspects of running my heart rate.
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