ALGARVE TRAINING CAMP 5.1. - 24.1. 2008

ALGArVE...

I have not written posts for a long time. I have been training hard and fully dedicatedly. Algarve is perfect for traning camp: weather is good, terains are good (track and gym were 100m from our apartment, crosscountry track was 500m away and the beach was 500m away). The temperatures were between 15 and 20 all the time. We trained more or less all the time in shorts. I met some athletes from other countries and we did some trainings together. It was great. Last week I did most of the traings with Embaye from Germany - the long run to the mountain was just awesome. First 10k are more or less flat and then 10k with inclination (we run almost 800m of altitude difference in last 10k) are very hard. A lot happened during the camp and it is hard to put down all of it. Check the photos....

NEW YEAR, SAME GOALS...

2008

Happy New Year to everyone who is reading this and to anyone who do not...

My holidays where pretty calm and very poductive. I trained good and now I also have a training partner here, so it makes things a bit easier (or harder sometimes, because he is world class athlete). On 4th of January we are going to Algarve for three weeks, there we will meet three other athletes from Croatia and we will train together with them. I happy for that.

My goals this year are: to stay healthy, to develop my personality in the direction want, to graduate, to improve my PBs in the track, to win a medal in National Champonships in steeplechase. I want to be aware all the time the beauty of life and joy and happiness to be me and to be able to fulfill my dreams.

.... i am almost 27..

Ola!
Tomorrow I have a birthday - 27th. 73 years of life left.:) This is probably my last post this year, because I will be without computer till January. I am very lazy to go to school to the internet room...
I am going to spend Christmas in Bragança with Erasmus students - my friends: Stephanie, Kinga, Daniel, Alex and Cristina. We will make a nice dinner in my house and try to make a family ambient. We already made the Xmas tree - it is beautiful... I will put the photos fater New year.
This year was very good for me - did a lot of good things, wnet to a lot of places, seen so many faces... Meet some new friends. Perfect. There is still a lot to cme in my life - I know it will.
I would just like to wish everybody Merry Christmass and a Happy New Year. Wish you to stay healthy and happy and to be yourself!!!! Noting is more interesting than being you. Hope you will achive your goals you set and set new one - higher.
Ate proximo ano.

Bragança

WORKS, BLOODY WORKS...

This week I have a lot of works to do for the school. I have to finish everything till 20th of December, because in January I will not go to school - we are going to preparations to Algarve. I can not wait my friend from Slovenija to come on 27th of December. Most of the days I am training alone, there is no athletes here, who I could join. I am a bit dissapointed, but I stick to my training plan every day.
I think if you can not do it yourself, you can not do it at all.
We are having a Christmass party in my house with the Erasmus students who stay here. I am happy to host them, all my flatmates are going home, of course. We are going to have a dinner and after that we are probably going to church. How many people will be present, still do not know.
I am going back to my work for Contabilidade = accounting .
Ate amanhã.

European Cross Country Championship 2007 TORO

Zamora, Toro; ESPANHA
Yesterday we had a very nice trip to Spain with Arek - the photoman, Sebastian, Lech and Altino - the driver. We went to watch the EAA Cross Country Championship in Toro. We started our trip with a half hour delay, because the night before the trip was a bit long for most of us. They picked me up at 7:30 a.m. (portuguese time zone). The destionation is 130 km from Bragança, so it was not really a long trip, but it was very interesting one.
The weather was sunny, no clouds and the ambience in the car was a bit sleepy (Arek had to make it up for the last night). It took us some time to find the place of the event - we were lucky that Altino saw a very small sign with the direction of the competition.
We arrived to the "place of the crime" a bit later than we planned, so we missed the first two competitions of female and male juniors. I found my friends from Slovenija more or less immediately - I was so happy to meet someone from my country after two months. A big surprise happened when I wanted to speak with them in my language and I had to find the words to say... I did not speak in Slovenian language for 2 month to anyone live, so it took some time to switch my language.
We found our position for watching the race - and tried to enjoy our day as much as we could - anyone in his own way. Sebastian, Lech were giving atention to their Polish collegues, I was was cruising around the competition to see famous faces from the Track&Fields of the Europe, Arek was taking photos and Altino was observing his Portuguese athletes.
For me was very interesting to see their warm up, what kind type they do, the exercises... Everything I could see. In the audience I recognized Mayte Martinez of Spain and I could not resist to speak with her. I liked her English with a Spanish accent.:)
The most interesting races were of course the senior ones. In female Spanish native Marta DOMINGUES won in a very souvereign way - leaping apart from the opponents in the final 500m and coming home with her hands high in the air to celebrate her victory.
In the man race the sitiation was similar; Sergey LEBID from Ukraine outsprinted Mustafa from Sweden in the last 300m.
After the competition we took some photos together and I also took some photos with he female winner MArta, who was celebrating in some calm place behind some old house. We I spoke with her, she really impressed me - her handshake was very strong and her look was so determined one. She was really happy and I could feel her energy.
After we left Toro, we went to Zamora to hotel were Slovenian team stayed to spend some time with them. Nastja brought me my stuff, which my friends sent me from Slovenija and I gave her some stuff to take to Slovenija.
We also took a small tour through the city and we all found it very beautiful. The buildings were manly old and pretty good kept.
We wanted to go on some party they usually make after the competion but we found out that it colud be a problem to enter there, because we are not the participants of the competition. So we went home around 8 p.m. and we finished our trip in Bragança - Lech and Sebastian went home and Altino, Arek & me went to some small restaurant to have a dinner: françesinha for Altino, tourada for me and some steak for Arek.
I got home very tired, but veru satisfied with the day and trip we made.
Ate amanhã.

VILA REAL 2. 12. 07

VILA REAL

On Sunday we spent the day in Vila Real with Toze, his feeyonce Joana and his sister Isabela. It was a nice day full of happenings... In the shopping centre I met Trindado from Sao Tome e Principe and he explained me how to prepare manioca and how to cook the bananas. He was very nice man and explained me everything in details.
Check the photos...

Jantar at Marisa's parents house 1.12.07

Yesterday evening I was invited to dinner with Toze (my brother - we call each other that way, because we are like a family). to Marisa's parents at the village 20km out of Bragança. The dinner was perfect: we ate soup of vegetables, pork liver baked in the fireplace, quejio caseiro (cheese homemade) some specila saussage made of pork meat and bread and we drank some caseiro wine. There was David - Marisa's father, mother of Marisa, and two grandmother of Marisa - is 91 years old and she still works in the field and is still pretty healthy. After the dinner I watched how they prepare special kind of saussage - sweet one. Yes, that's right - sweet. They boil bread in the water, after they put pork meat, honey, nuts, canela and pork blood into it and mix alltogether. I took some photos, take a look. They invited me to spend Christmass eve with them... I will keep that in my mind... It was very nice evening for me to spend some time and take some insight of Portuguese people who live in a village. For the first time a saw a table were they put fire in the big plate below it and you can put your feet to warm them up. It is on the photo. Ate amanhã.