45° 38' 55" Nord 13° 46' 48" Est

There is a Heaven on the Earth and its name is Trieste

It’s not that I have travelled a lot in my life (there’s still time, I hope), but I’m sure Trieste is one of the most beautiful cities that exist! It’s hugged by Slovenia, flirting with Croatia, cuddling with the Adriatic see.  Wikipedia says it’s one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. And, in fact, when visiting the city, you can feel the spirit of the empire of Austria-Hungary (said by someone really bad at history). It’s everything, but Italian. You can hear Italian language, people born here are called Italians and that’s all.

Trieste is a cradle of cultures, a lovely place where Latin, Slavic and German cultures meet. You can see it in the streets, smell it in the kitchen. It’s the place where Nothing SE POL, but everything is possible. There’s something magical in its sunsets, in the air, in Bora (that I still cannot stand), in that wonderful deep blue see, in the colorful and warm Carso. Its main square, Piazza Unità leaves everyone wordless.

I used to meet my great Serbian friend during the spring/summer, after work. We would take a gelato and go to Molo to have our girl talk and watch the sea and the sunset. The sky is different here, the Sun is warmer, the air is lighter. There are beautiful places for trekking, great roads for cycling, lovely ski centers. The only thing Trieste doesn’t have is the city center. It doesn’t really exist. The only annoying thing about Trieste is Bora. Everything else is like a dream.

Today was D-day for sailors. It’s Barcolana, the symbol of Trieste. You can read more about it on Wikipedia.

Training in Trieste

On Strava and Garmin Connect you can find my favorite running and cycling tracks. This summer I used to run to the sea, swim a bit and then go back home running. There are a lot of athletes in Trieste. What I like most about my morning runs is when I meet other runners and we say hi one to another. I like waking up before the sunrise and putting my heels on only after running 10K in the morning. I feel energized, vivid, awake, satisfied and proud of myself. I like running 5K hills before my morning coffee. Ah, that’s another thing about running in Trieste! You can find both flat terrain and great hills, asphalt or ground. Whatever you prefer. There’s nothing more you could ask for. As for swimming, as far as I know, there are just two swimming pools (closed during the summer), always full, so it’s almost impossible to do a planned workout.

Angels  in Trieste

Trieste is famous for its impolite and rude sales stuff. Fortunately, there are a few lovely stores with great personnel. One of them is a bike center Mathitech. You can find everything you need for your riding buddy and amazing guys that will help you take care of him. I like taking Pedro there. Recently, they opened a bike coffee shop, where you can take a break and buy yourself gels and protein bars. I think that was a great idea and I hope their business is running well. I am really grateful for all advices they gave me and all time they dedicated to me and Pedro. I will be happy to go back there and I will certainly advise everyone to visit them!

I met a guy who told me about one triathlete club in Trieste named Sport Pool Trieste. I found them on FaceBook, wrote to them, telling them I was looking for other triathletes in Trieste who I could train with and who I could ask for help regarding trainings and races. They were happy to give me a warm welcome to their club. I am not yet their member, but I’m on their mailing-list and I hope I will meet soon some of them. They seem like a really nice group. I am already friend with some of them on Strava and we always give Kudos to each other. It’s nice to have such a support.

I used to go running with a group of people from work before they left Trieste and moved to Milan and Paris. I got to know better a few people this summer when I was considering whether to try my hand at triathlon or not. I asked them for advice when choosing my bike and my equipment and all of them were eager to help me! My Ireland friend even went to the store with me, helped me choose everything I needed and went for a very first ride with me, teaching me how to unclip my shoes and not fall from Pedro. He had a lot of patience.

I cannot but to mention the guy from Sportler, a triathlete, that helped me choose my new goggles and swimming cap. He was so enthusiastic when I told him I was a triathlete beginner. Although the store was closing, he was full of patience and incredibly gentle.

I haven’t met yet impolite athletes in Trieste. They were all angels, ready to help. Please, make them your role model, be someone’s support, be someone’s role model, someone’s angel in your city! Don’t forget that the more you give the more you will get!

HAKUNA MATATA

About my blog

When my dear French friend asked me why I had decided to write a blog, I told him my aim was to keep myself motivated, to motivate others and share some thoughts from time to time. But, practically, it was all about triathlon. While chatting about blogging, he gave me some great advices and very useful feedback, but told me to re-think about my writing and about what motivates me to write. He was sure there was something behind.

I have the answer now. I write because I LIKE to write and I’m sorry if you were expecting more complex answer, but it is really that simple. I do sports because I enjoy doing sports. I do my job because I like doing it. And I am happy. I have never been happier in my life! I’m pretty sure it’s because of my attitude towards life and my choice not to do what I don’t like. I will continue living my life this way as long as I can.

Now I can tell you that this blog is all about me and about my life. It’s not about triathlon, it’s about how I see it, about the way I live it. I am not a professional triathlete, nor a coach, so I cannot give you technical advices. I am a 27 years old girl with a full-time job (well, with two part-time jobs, to be more precise), a few friends and a family scattered around the world. A girl who is living her dream and is aimed to continue living and dreaming big. Really big.

This blog is about me and my path to the finish line of a Half Ironman race. In Pula, or somewhere else, it doesn’t matter, but I will cross that line! You can chose to stop reading my eDiary, to support me like volunteers that give water to athletes every 5km, or you can train and race with me. I will try to entertain you and myself by writing this blog. I won't advertise it as I started. I will try to write one post per week, so I fix appointments with you on Sunday evenings. I was also thinking about hosting someone else’s post, so, if you want to share something here, with me and with the others, please do. I will be happy to post your story!

About coaches

When it comes about sports, I have three role models: my lovely Dad-Miroslav, my great friend and the coach of TKP-Mateja Markovic and my coach Dejan Patrcevic. My dad was playing handball when he was young and he was coach of some handball teams. He has been my greatest support in (almost) everything I was doing and it won’t be wrong if I tell you that he has been my life coach. I met Mata (Mateja Markovic) when I was 16. I was making sandwiches and pancakes in a fast-food bar in the swimming pool in Pozarevac where he was training with his team. When I was 17 I started training with them occasionally. I didn’t like cycling and didn’t have a bicycle, so I avoided going on a ride with them, but a few times Mata made me come, he gave me one of his bicycles. Mata and my Dad are both very generous men. They are young and playful, they enjoy sports and helping others. I admire them. I don’t know Dejan very well yet, but I admire him for his results in triathlon and, when I met him for the first time a few days ago, I saw some similarities with my Dad and Mata.

All three of them think the same about sports: you have to enjoy while training! You have to love it! It mustn’t be a pressure, it should be a game! And you should enjoy playing it. If you don’t, it doesn’t suits you and you should better be doing something else.

About my program

Ok, life is made of ups and downs. So was my sport life. I started hard, really hard after a great pause. Everything was wonderful the first three weeks, since the day I wrote about 21-day-rule. A few days after I wrote the post, I started feeling exhausted and started skipping my trainings. As I wrote the last time, when discussing about gnocchi failure, on Sunday LSD training with my Ireland friend, I felt really bad. It was then that I realized something was going wrong. Besides, I gained 3kg and I started waking up tired. I had a look at my calendar and I realized I had three periods in 50 days (Ops!).

I made a four days pause and talked about it with Dejan when I saw him. He made my training plan for the next period lighter. Last Sunday I went running and hurt my knee, so I skipped running this week. I realized how to do my swimming trainings, so they became a whole lot more interesting now! I found joy in trainings again!

About gnocchi

I linked my gnocchi failure with my bad period at sports. Since I’m not the one who gives up easily, I stopped, analyzed my trainings and the current situation and started again. I went to the supermarket, bought gnocchi and made them. I can tell you that I see my progress! I am better at swimming, I am better at cycling! And my home-made gnocchi were far more better than the one I bought! My gnocchi were natural, made from three ingredients and love. You could taste potato and love. They will become soft with time and with right potatoes and so will my results at sports. I will just continue trying. As my Mom says, the first hundred times are tough, from the 101^st everything becomes easy.

 

About love and happiness

Enjoy what you are doing and don’t be afraid to be yourself! It doesn’t matter how silly it is and how stupid it sounds to someone else. If it means anything to you, as long you are doing something that makes you happy and doesn’t influence negatively to someone else’s happiness, you have my support J  Visit my blog whenever you need a motivation, or positive energy. I will be happy to share it with you every week! If you want something more “instant”, don’t hesitate to write me a comment, contact me on FaceBook or email me to sonjasavic@live.com.

Life is my love, sport is my drug. Now officially.