PwC run4fun Club

The story of a mid-winter run

After last autumn’s Bucharest marathon, I tried to keep training so as not to grow out of shape. When some knee injuries prevented me from running, I went to the gym. It didn’t really feel like I belonged there, but it was better than sitting on the couch, potato-style (not that I have a couch anyhow).

For the winter holiday, which I spent in Vienna, just like a zillion other Romanians as a matter of fact, I took my running gear with me. It was not the usual routine you imagine about holiday. I woke up very early in the morning, like 6 or 6.30, put on my running shoes and off I went to explore the city at running speed, just before sunrise. This brought me two wonderful experiences.

Mihnea: "And so we all did it!"

I did it! I did it! I did it! And it feels great...

Well, let’s try to replay events in chronological order:

6 October 

8.00 PM – Very nervous. Already thinking that I need a good night’s sleep and for God to hear my prayers. Take two natural sleeping pills. Hmm, they stink. I wonder why?

10.00 PM – Better take another sleeping pill and go to bed.

11.00 PM – Can’t sleep. Grumpy. Take another pill. I hope these things don’t have side effects.

11.30 PM – Counting sheep. This stuff never works. Stupid idea...111...112...11...

Follow Mihnea - Week 6

This is it! After the 6k Cassiopeea Cross (decent run under a too hot September sun) and a harder than you can imagine 21 k long run on Sunday, I’ve put an end to my training campaign. From now on, I’ll just eat, pray and hope for the best for the Marathon race (hmm...where is the “love” in that?).

I know for sure that I’ll run in a highly cautious manner, probably at a much slower pace than usual (though some programmes I checked suggested a 6.15 min/km pace and I’ll try to respect this). I am always like that at any competition. Instead of running at my best, I rather save my energy, just in case. I have never been much of a gambler,  so I’m not really comfortable with taking risks. But I am trying to challenge that status quo.

Follow Mihnea - Week 5

As some of you probably noticed, I was MIA last week (that is missing in action as any true fan of Chuck Norris will be glad to explain). The action in case was my long overdue vacation, which was of course, wonderful, but also spoiled my training routine. ‘Cause, when on vacation, you've got to act like on vacation, right? And that meant not really going for the regular runs and eating a bit more than necessary. So, besides the wonderful memories, I also got back home with a bit of extra kilos. Not that many that I can’t shed in a long run though.

Running with gusto – week 3

Last week, I had a most intriguing conversation with a running-mate in which she (yes Diana, you are the culprit) told me that I have a tendency to theorize on just about everything. That gave me food for thought as I always thought myself as rather hostile towards theory and more comfortable within the familiar turf of facts and figures.

Today, I will exploit that “theorizing addict” side and discuss a bit on the idea of progress, including physical progress. You can read it as a demonstration (a stream of consciousness sample if you want) of what goes on in an oxygen-deprived brain when crawling for 20 k, round and round like a lab rat.

Follow Mihnea - Week 2

For somebody that needs at least two or three evenings per week during which to laze around, last week was quite hectic. I had to squeeze in driving lessons (yes, beware, we might meet in traffic someday!), debates (for the future of the country is a burden on my shoulders!), the RHCP concert (how about that bass guitar player, too bad for the acoustics, huh?) and I had to keep up with my running routine.

And so, I did try. Tuesday I went to Herastrau for the usual tempo run around the lake. To my pleasant surprise, it turned out that we were quite a crowd of PwC runners out there. And running in a pack is always more motivating and rewarding. I also met a fellow marathon runner that was obviously way ahead of me in terms of training. He completed the tour in about 27 minutes and had an impressive tempo throughout the whole run. I asked him what “the secret” was. He said the most important thing is to discover the running pace with which you are comfortable and then you can go on like this for tens of kilometres. Looking forward to that epiphany myself.

Follow Mihnea - Week 1

Running with gusto

I’ve put in my New Year resolutions for 2012 that I should run the half marathon in the summer and the marathon in October. So far, so good. I did run the half marathon in June in a modest 2 hours, 11 minutes and 44 seconds. That is longer than it took this year’s winner of the London Olympics Marathon to reach the finish line in the full 42 k. But for me, it was fine that I finished. No injury. No pains after the race. That was the positive side.

On the negative side, I struggled with the last 6 kilometres of the race and had it not been for the inspiration of our colleague Cristina Mateiciuc (Pop), maybe I would have stopped, or arrived much later.

Follow Mihnea - marathon

Mihnea - Media Relations Officer, PwC Romania

Mihnea is a natural-born couch potato and a marathon-runner wanna-be. He got to running when he couldn’t climb the stairs up to his apartment without pausing for catching his breath and has been running ever since. Now he hopes he can go on running for exactly 42.195 km without pausing for that breath break.