Running with Paola

Sve počinje jednostavnim vezivanjem tenisica i dobrom voljom! U vrijeme pandemije kada imamo malo izbora za planiranje dokolice, kada ljudi ostaju bez posla , otkazuju se sve manifestacije i ostala događanja na kojima smo se tako rado susretali i družili, u nemogućnosti smo putovati  i istraživati nova uzbudljiva mjesta na karti svijeta, postavlja se pitanje kako na najbolji mogući način iskoristiti svoje slobodno vrijeme? Nekako se čini da su se ljudi okrenuli sportu i rekraciji  što je optimalana izbor budući da se kroz njih družimo i njegujemo duh i tijelo, svoje fizičko i mentalno zdravlje. Dobra je i prikladna ona stara da u svakom zlu ima nečeg dobrog, pa tako i u vrijeme pandemije možemo apsolutno korisno iskoristiti svoje slobodno vrijeme u prirodi i napuniti baterije za nove izazove. Sve počinje jednostavnim vezivanjem tenisica  i dobrom voljom. Za otkrivanje novih uzbudljivih mjesta ne moramo kupiti avio kartu, jer nam istarski poluotok nudi pregršt sadržaja...

Let's talk about Marathon Today, I woke up with an idea and the question what is the origin of term "Marathon". Well, I didn't make it to the marathon distance yet, half marathon is my longest distance so far. This doesn't mean that I'm not planing it in the future. I will sure break my legs to achieve that. But, there are a plenty working-hard-days ahead to concur the magical number 42,195 km.  The origin of the term  The marathon is a long- distance race with an official distance of 42,195 km, and is usually run as a road race.  The term derives form two Greek legends.  According, to one, the soldier was sent to as a messenger from the plains of Marathon to Athens in 490 BC to pass the news of the victory by the Greek army over Persians. He shouted: "Rejoice! We concur!" and died of exhaustion. The second version states that the Greek soldier Pheidippide, ran from Marathon to Athens after winning the Battle of Marathon, so they could defend the cap...

Carb Loading! This blog post is dedicated to nutrition of runners, especially marathon and half marathon participants. Since I'm an amateur runner and my longest run was half, I find it interesting to google around and discover some more info about this lovely activity. What athletes do know? All the athletes, whether they are amateur or professional runners, know about the term "carb loading". They know that the key to their great performance is fueling themselves with carbohydrates. After all carbs are a great source of energy, and you need it a lot for running marathon or a half. But many runners are far less clear on how many carbs they should eat. I'm not nutritionist nor a doctor so I wont be posting and giving advice's how much carbs one should eat. This topic was interesting to me as an amateur runner so I decided to explore it a bit. Carb Sience According to science most of the carbs are stored as a glycogen in our muscles and liver. Glycogen is the most ...

  Trail Saturday.... This blog post is dedicated to my trail and life mates Petra and Helena! Due to this pandemic there is no much to do in term of meeting people, hanging around, traveling...but is not that bad cause we always have our amusing nature to hang outdoor.  So, we are doing it like every weekend...going around and exploring so many stunning places in Istria county, that we haven't seen before!  Now that our space to move and travel is so shorten and tighten due to the covid crisis, we will stick to our homeland and enjoy its beauty. Istrian peninsula has so much to offer, whether you want to hike, cycle, run, swim and the list goes on....   Trail Istarske toplice- Oprtalj- Istarske toplice It's Saturday, January 9-th and is my turn to ride. We usually change ride shifts. Backpack is ready and coffee to go is in thermos bottle, considering that every bar and restaurant in Croatia is closed. People are now drinking coffee mostly near the sea from ther...

  Rift Valley Province in Kenya Kalenjin the "running tribe"! Kalenjin so called the "running tribe" are   residing mainly in what was formerly the  Rift Valley Province  in Kenya. They are so called running tribe...but way? Well, since mid 1960 Kenyan man have earned a major share in honors in international athletics races from 800 m to marathons, and most of this man where from Kalenjin tribe. From 1980. all of the honors like Olympic medals, World championship medals, and World Cross country honors have been earned by Kalenjin man. In 2008 Pamela Jelimo became the first Kenyan woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics and also became the first Kenyan to win the Goleden Legue Jackpot the same year! Since than, Kenyan woman have a major presence in international athletics and most of this woman are Kalenjin. What is their super power? There are many of theories, and one of them is that they have relatively thin legs and so they don't have to put much ...

Tarahumara people! Are they really from this planet? This blog post will be dedicated to Tarahumara people from Mexico state. Writer and a passionate runner  Christopher McDougall memorably describes them in the book-must-be-read "Born to run". He narrate about  them as a mythical tribe of superathletets  who live in the canyons of northwestern Mexico. These people run outstanding distances without even a proper shoes, more like flip flops.   Tarahumara people or ‘Running people’  who can run 300+ km in around 50 hours! Sounds impossible, but it is true. Astonishingly, the entire tribe consisting of men, women, old and young, every one of them is capable of running at least 100+ km in a single run, without shoes. Such extreme feat of endurance has never been seen among humans anywhere else in the world. What is their secret Their secret is the simple lifestyle. They live in  high  altitude mountains, that is very healthy for the body of ...

Trails in Istria! Hello world today I'm inspired to share with you some of my best trails in Istrian peninsula, Croatia. In this trail you can run, hike, cycle or just have a nice walk end enjoy the beauty of nature! So lets start! 1. Park forest Šijana, Pula This wonderful forest is just 2 km away from Pula downtown. By the begging of last century was called "Royal wood", where the austro hungarian royalty was recreating and relaxing from every day life. Still now days it's purpose is the same. Forest area is 152 ha. This trail roads are good for running cycling or long walking. Is suitable for all seasons especially during hot summer days where you can find nice shadows and run your run.                                     If you ever visit my hometown Pula, Croatia this is a place on Your bucket list. You can get some nice refreshment during your vacay, even the beach won't be necessary. Fo...

Running can change your life  So what can you do when the time gets hard, nothing seems right and your life fall apart. Well, there are plenty of possibilities to get auto destructive in so many ways or you can step onto the brighter part of life and start running. My name is Paola Pavletić and I'm Croatian. Graduated in marketing management (mag.oec) and I wanted to share with the world my story and my passion about running. I was never some big athlete, I liked long walks but running? Come on not for me!!! All of this sweating etc. like most people think. But I assure you everything start with just a click in your head and putting your sneakers on.  The summer of 2020 was pretty chaotic for me in personal life and most of the time I was spending alone in the long walks figuring what are my future plans will be and how I plan to guide my life. Long walks become my struggle to start running so I was making series of walking and series of running at the very beginning till i ma...