I've got'em ALL!

This weekend the first round of Polish Championships - in sprint, middle and long distance - took place. They were organised in lovely surroundings of Olsztynek. My aim was to come back home with 3 medals and dreamt of becoming the Polish Champion for the very first time in my life. If it hadn't been for my injury and illness, it would have been much easier and I would have felt much more certain and patient. However, my achievements are now extremely satisfying and giving so much energy and self-confidence for the coming races! On the other hand, all that glitters is not gold...

SPRINT - too slow to succeed...

Just before the start I had felt that it could be the most difficult distance for me to stand on the podium. Being ill and taking antibiotics I wasn't sure of my ability to run at a highest speed for these 12 minutes... and I was not wrong! Moreover, I made a terrible and unbelievably stupid mistake at the 5th control (at control no. 4 I was leading the race). It was caused by taking too much into account two sprint courses in this heritage park during our technical camp in Stare Jabłonki. Fortunately, I managed to reach the silver medal and fulfil one third of my ambitious plan! Nevertheless, I must admit gold medal was within reach: if I had had an ideally perfect and flawless course, I would have won with Olej with a margin of... 2 seconds;-)

MIDDLE - where amazing happens!

On Saturday I was just perfect in doing everything inversely to the pre-race plans and intentions. Firstly, I began too fast and made an obvious mistake at the first control... Secondly, I completely lost contact with the map at the 4th control... Thirdly, I wasn't able to keep the direction correctly... Fourthly, I had enormous problems attacking the controls... Fifthly, I became furious looking for the second last control... but there was Kaszub starting 4 minutes ahead of me! I managed to catch him at the trickiest control no. 4 and he accompanied me till the end of this tiring struggle. Although I didn't believe in gaining the podium place during the race, he made me do so and motivated to run faster and faster. The funniest thing is that I was the Polish Champion even at the 12th control (some 800m before the finish)... Due to an awful mistake at the 13th control I got 'only' the bronze medal. The biggest surprise of the day was the second place of Grochu. Congratulations!

LONG - at last!!!

I had five reasons to win this race... as follows:
1. Win with so far unbeatable Olej.
2. Let Piotr stand near the podium and get his deserved gold medal.
3. Become the Polish Champion for the first time.
4. I wanted it...
5. ...and they wanted it.
I was incredibly motivated before the race. However, I had to face some unexpected problems. I had a horrible stomachache. Luckily, Pasza gave me two Nospa pills and they helped a lot;-) I decided to spend a lot of time on the warm-up map to get used to the scale of 1:15000. For this reason, I did not so many stretching exercises just before the start. Nonetheless, I wanted the race to begin as soon as possible and let it happen God's way! I started very concentrated and calm. I succeeded in winning 4 of the first 5 legs and kept the lead till the very end of the course. However, I lost direction at the 3rd control and couldn't be sure of the victory until crossing the finish line. Fortunately, I clearly won the race and managed to get the title of the Polish Champion at last! What's more, in my favourite and the most prestigious distance of all:-) I would also like to add I am extremely happy that Kaszub reached the silver since he really deserved it for the previous day's race. KASZI IS MY MASTER!

I am going to publish the maps with a deep analysis on Wednesday because now I am staying in Gdańsk at my uncle's house and having nice technical trainings with Anna & Ula :) Best regards for You!