Running life in Russia

A big break...

2010-09-05T07:31:00.001-07:00

Its been a while.

Havent written in here for about 3 months, wow, i dont know what to say. A lot of things have happened but there just wasnt enough time to sit down and write them all out. Well i got a few minutes now so i will do a quick recap and in the following posts will go into more detail.

June: I got married to my wonderful now wife, Julia. Its been a long 4 years of living apart, seeing each other only a few times a year if we were lucky but we made it through and now we can relax and enjoy the rest of our lives together.

I took a few weeks off from running, biked a bit, did some leg exercises and started running on our honeymoon in Greece, and what a great place to once again begin the flow of endorphins into my system.

Since coming back from Greece work took over and the free time that i had i tried to balance out between spending time with Julia and trying to do a bit of training. I really dont want to come back to the States fat and out of shape. My plans do include doing an Ironman in the next couple of year, sponsored ofcourse by http://www.tribug.com/.

Speaking of Ironman, my brother is a week away from his First IM. He will be doing IM Wisconsin. If you see him in the TriBug jersey, get his number, then email me or him (contact info can be found at http://www.tribug.com/, or my email is max@tribug.com) and you will get 10% off your purchase. Dont forget to cheer for him and let him know that Max says hi.

I think my 2 minutes are up so i will go,

Good luck to everyone competing in a triathlon this year and the next.

Will join you soon!

A little break...

2010-05-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

So I am not running the White Nights marathon this year anymore. I guess it might have been because of the enormous amount of running done by me in order to prepare for the White Nights marathon here in Saint Petersburg. After two months of that kind of running, my old knee injury came back and I had to take about 2.5 weeks off.

Now I am slowly building my mileage back up but its going to be a long process and I am shooting for the White Nights marathon in 2011 or some other marathon closer to the end of the summer. The good thing is that you don’t have to pay for registrations like we do in US. You can pay whenever or even the day before the marathon, so I saved 35 euro’s. Whoopie!!!

Another good thing is that with all this free time, I have been able to enjoy all the good things that life has to offer. Going to sleep later, and waking up later too, and …. well …. I think that’s about it. I really enjoyed going for long runs in this city. Got to see it closer than ever before, even when I lived here. The weather has been great and I was really itching to get out there and run.

While I couldn’t run, we had some holidays like Labor day which was May 1st and WW2 Victory day on May 9th.

May 1st we went to the Dacha, which is like a summer home for most Russian citizens. It’s a place where many grow different fruits and vegetable that they use throughout the year. Labor day was celebrated by putting up a birdhouse just above the outdoor toilet. So far there are no birds but hopefully soon they will save enough to move in.

The following is a simple form of compost. At a Dacha, nothing goes to waste. Everything that was gotten from the earth, goes back in it. As you can see here, there are 3 compartments. All the left over food, scraps, weeds, grass, and other such things are gathered throughout the year in the compartment on the left. Then in the spring they are moved to the middle compartment where they stay for another year. The process of moving the piles mixes in oxygen which helps the rotting process. Then a year later, the pile is moved to the final compartment on the right and a year later the earth is great for planting. The process takes about 3 years.

Had fun digging dirt, moving it around and just doing manly work for once. Once in a while its great to go back to your own roots and work the earth.

May 9th is Victory day and a very important day for all the WW2 veterans. It’s a very sad day since not a lot of them are left and when they come out in suits with all their medals, it brings tears to your eyes.

A group of us went to the Piskarevskoe Cemetery/Memorial. We laid flowers on the mass graves of people who died during the Blockade of Saint Petersburg during WW2. The Mass graves are separated by the year in which they died.

Flowers were sent from all the countries surrounding Russia and from the ones that were a part of WW2 in anyway. The following is a wreath sent from the US soldiers.

My grandfather was a paratrooper during WW2. Made over 100 jumps, survived and brought us all to USA. We are grateful and are very proud of him. He died in 2010 will always live on through us.

Have some more things to say but will leave them for next time.

Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather!

Cya next time,

Maks

Snow, rain, and beyond....

2010-03-24T04:30:00.000-07:00

Its beautiful outside! When the sun is shining on Saint Petersburg (S-PB), there is no better place to be. Not even Disney World can compare, and I’ve been to the Space Mountain a few times so I know! When sun shines on S-PB, especially after a long winter, it seems like the city is waking up. The aged colorful buildings that line the streets look like different cheeses in a Whole Foods (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) cheese department. They make it through another winter, shaking the icicles off its roofs and walls. Waking up and making sure the people walking next to them are awake as well. S-PB residents have been seriously hurt by falling icicles. Here is an article that explains why the icicles form in this beautiful city (http://alturl.com/stvc).

I brought something for show and tell today:

As you can see in the previous photograph, it being March doesn’t really matter. The snow is about 4 feet high on average. This great view is from my current home. I am very lucky to be located about 6km from the center of the city where I have yet to venture. Will be that way soon, or as soon as the ice, that is on the sidewalks, melts. I have been running around my neighborhood for 3 weeks now and I am very tired of slipping, falling, and twisting my ankles. Today I went towards the center just to feel out the road, felt great. Love running in new places. As you can see in the photo, there is ice and snow on the driveways and sidewalks. My yaktrax have held up well and I am very thankful for it. Now that the temperature has risen, the ice and snow are turning into water, with icebergs floating in the middle. Its kind of funny seeing a grown man jumping from one so called iceberg, to the next with his hands out for balance. You do what you have to, looking funny rather than wet is my preference .

Here is another picture that was taken on the 21st of March. Just when I thought that winter was coming to an end. It’s a tease, I know. It did seem too good to be true, but come on, its supposed to be over already……(HTFU Maks!!!!)…..sorry, I will. Me and my fiancé are waiting for the bus, its 23:20 and the streets are empty of people and cars. Ohh and one more thing, I don’t think I said this before but I have been walking a ton. No car, ice, snow, and just public transportation make me happy but tired.

Note to self – get used to walking, there will be plenty more where that came from.

By the way, my wedding is set and I will marry my beautiful bride on the 19th of June.

My training for the White Nights marathon (www.wnmarathon.ru) and the wedding being around the same time is a great way to get my weight in check. Want to look good for the wedding and feel lighter when running around S-PB. Anyone have any tips? Feel free.

While running today, an elderly man stopped me and asked me how many laps I ran so far. We chatted quickly and at the end he wished me luck and I was on my way. What I noticed is that there are thousands of people around here, and hundreds see me running. A word from just one makes you feel like you are flying and actually doing something good, for yourself and even for others around. You should always say something nice (if you have something nice to say) since it will make that persons day. As this mans words did to me, I will try to encourage others by doing the same.

When you are out there running, biking or swimming, make sure to say some nice words to a person who passes you or you are about to pass.

Have a great day out there and stay safe, I leave you with a couple of photos, enjoy!

Maks

www.tribug.com

My first....

2010-03-09T04:42:00.000-08:00

Its been a week since I came to the beautiful city of St. Petersburg Russia. I was born here and i think that right away you can feel like you came home. You get that feeling again when you cross the passport control and get looked at like you are a criminal of the worst kind.

Anyways, enough about the good things, lets get on with it.

Walking the streets here is not that easy, they are not clean, there is snow, ice and slush everywhere, and don’t forget the huge potholes that are present even on the sidewalks. Guess it might be because cars sometimes take shorts cuts through those sidewalks. So needless to say that running was going to be a problem. A problem for me is that it will take more than usual to get me to actually go outside and start running and a problem for my fellow Russian citizens who don’t usually see people running in negative degree temperature outside. We will learn to love each other....

My first run was a simple one, it was exploratory. I got my Garmin 305 (www.garmin.com) working so I wasn’t going to get lost. I had to figure out the layout of the streets around me, which areas to avoid and where I can go freely. It wasn’t too bad, I like running in new places.

My second run took me to a forest about 2 km away from my apartment. It was beautiful, the sun was slowly setting but still fairly high in the sky. It started to snow, but instead of falling straight down, the snow seemed to just hang in midair as if all time around me was stopped. Wish i had my Canon Rebel to capture it all but in photos life stays still either way. Finished the run with a bit more confidence.

The next couple of runs were in the same forested area. I have my yaktrax (www.yaktrax.com) on now. Feels great on these icy roads. I saw a lot of skiers, and even had a chance to see some people jogging. Still people in Russia are not that accustomed to regular physical exercise. In my opinion, exercise here has been put aside for the people who go to the Olympics and if you are a regular Joe, than its just not for you.

I ran again today, the sun is shining and there is a feeling of spring in the air as well as on the sidewalk and in my shoes. As the sun begins to melt the ice and snow that’s all around, its beginning to feel like triathlon training.

I am training for the White Nights Marathon that is held here in June. Please keep me motivated, its a little hard to do that here.

Will try to post pictures as often as possible but the only camera I brought with me is not the one I want to take with me while running.

Thanks everyone,

Maks