Romania 2019: Vladeasa Winter Trail, 24.02

Here it is! The race with the “Frozen Heaven” I was writing about last year.

The race where usually is so cold, that can make your ankles look like a frozen chicken (true story, my story, last year, when I forgot to brong long socks, etc. Read about it here: https://runtheworld.blog/2018/03/06/romania-2018-vladeasa-winter-trail-25-02/)

And because I have learned my lesson last year, this year I wanted to be a good girl and get extra socks and extra clothing. But guess what? Even though I checked the weather and saw -19 celsius, I found myself sweating the whole race. This year, somehow, was warm.

No more frozen heaven, no more frozen white mascara, no more hysterical thoughts that I can’t breath because of the cold, no more frostbites even if I would have tried… so what was left?

Snow. A lot of snow. And the difficultiy of running in the snow. (sorry, I meant walking in the snow…what I did was for sure NOT running)

So I can’t tell exactly what happened in my head. I know I hate cold, but somehow the lack of it made this race feel flat and boring. Something was missing and I couldn’t enjoy the race. I felt displeased and irritated by the fact that I can’t move fast in the snow. The climb felt like was taking forever.

Don’t get me wrong, the race itself is amazing, but you need to see it that way also. And have the right mindset. Unfortunately I couldn’t. I know it was nice and all, but honestly it made me realize that I don’t want to run in the winter ever again.

Of course, between me realizing and me actually not running ever again during winter, is a huge difference. I always say that when I am outside of my confort zone. But don’t we all? Maybe that’s the beauty of going beyond your limits: you learn that what you first think is awful, is actually a great experience.

Without this paniful experiences – winter horror runs, or summer too hot runs – Denisa wouldn’t exist. Because this is me. I run races, complain about them, then love them forever 🙂

P.S: cold or not, the PALINKA always makes us happy to meet it!

The finish line is always my happy place when it comes to winter runs. Btw, did you know the medals we receive at the end, are stones painted by the children here, in Rogojel village