Medieval Training/History Tour!

Today I went back in time. I probably looked like a Roman spartan.. or Greek warrior... no, let me correct that.. I DID look like a wicked cool spartan/warrior/runner in Asics!! Hahhaha okay, not as fashionable as the bronze battle armor, but heck that would be a lot heavier to run in and I gotta taper. right? Right!

So my teammate Kris Swanson came into Krakow and we met up for a training day. After running a couple km to meet up we ran off to this park which Kris had found on one of the maps. It was a pretty easy route there so that was good! After entering a bit of green from the city we soon ran up a little hill(harder to find in the city) and came upon this epic old track! It was a gravel track surrounding a soccer field in the middle, but the sweetest part was the brick and concrete tiled old stadium that was built around it! It was absolutely epic! You felt like you were running in the middle ages! Some of the concrete slabs were crumbling, bricks were falling off and I'm sure you could hear swords clashing in the background! We did some nice easy laps then Kris did his speed work while I did some stairs.

How awesome?!

Awesome!

Later on I met up with Aussie team member Nick Wightman and Kris again and we did a walking tour of the Jewish area in old Krakow. It was really informative and I learned a ton, but some parts were pretty heavy. I still can't believe the atrocity of just how many innocent Jewish people were killed.. So so tragic. We enjoyed the tour though and were able to clock in another 3km of walking in our running shoes! No silly sandels for runners! hahahha! After a nice dinner where we had all ordered our sides of grilled veggies and then tossed them on our entrees we headed back to our respective homes. Me back another 3km to start packing up for the next day. I really enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Chopin and they put up with my weird requests for glasses of ice and first aid supplies and massive appetite for breakfast! Hahahahha

We saw something really cool when we were walking that was really uplifting. Along one of the bridges there were a ton of padlocks. The guide explained to us that each of these padlocks was put on by a couple in love and then they toss the key into the river to represent their never ending love. They often had their names and dates engraved into them too! It was so cool to see so many and so many different ages! Some must have been from over 50 years ago where other ones were sparkling new! <3

A new day brings a new adventure and it started off great with a nice facetime chat with my awesome man, Joel. :) And continued on well after that! I was even early for my bus to the airport! 

I'm now at the Pegaz Hotel in Krynica after a fun bus ride with Meggan Franks and her husband, Housten and the whole Aussie team! It seems likes a beautiful hotel and the sun is shining! I'm all settled into my room and am just about to head out for a short jog. I've already run some familiar faces from the American team included Joe Grey. I'm very excited and it's starting to be so real now that we are all starting to arrive!! This is such an incredible experience! I've been having a blast with my teammates, meeting some new members and enjoying a nice dinner. This is a real step up from last year. Very organized and very nice!! Couldn't ask for anything more! 

Talk to you soon!!

Shannykins