Planning this trip, I looked for an interesting and unique place to stay, the best city to fly into, the best rates on rental cars etc... this being my 6th world meet, seems like I always get it right when it comes to such details.
I rented a standard Kia Sportage small SUV. It was a 6 speed. Didn't take long to get used to the stick. I picked it up in Gdansk and drove 90min to Torun. Amazingly, this was the 14th country that I've operated a vehicle in.
Most everyone seemed to come into Warsaw, which made no sense to me since it was twice as far away from the meet compared with Gdansk. The closest airport Bydgoszcz was too small and too expensive to fly into. As soon as I arrived in Gdansk, I went to an ATM and got $150 in Polish Zloty (currency). 1 Polish Zloty = about 23 cents in USD. It was more than enough to pay for my food through the whole week, including trips to the grocery and a fancy dinner on the last night. Food is cheap in Poland! Gas, however is not, at about $5/ gal.
On the drive to Torun, I noticed lots of wind turbines and stopped for a photo. I was pretty tired and grubby by this point, having been on 3 planes for 12 hrs. I noticed on the highway, there was virtually no police presence. I was going about 90 mph and people were passing me very quickly.
My hotel, Palac Romantycyzny - translates to 'Romantic Palace,' was not expensive by American standards. About $110/ night for a room with a full kitchen. It was about 10 miles out in the flat farmland NE of Torun. Seemed kind of out of place in an area with modest homes and farmland, seeing this grand estate surrounded by an iron fence. The 19th century palace was visited by Frederick Chopin and a statue of him sits in the garden. My room was first floor. You can see my window on the extreme right side of the building on the end.
The weather was generally pretty bleak through most of my time there. Generally in the 40ºs and raining. It snowed a little on Monday morning and on Sunday morning the day I left.
One thing you don't see in the US are these dangerous tree lined roads, not the best when coming toward a wide oncoming truck or bus.
You can see the flat farmland where near Truzno, where the hotel was.
My room was pretty simple with big windows, high ceilings, antique furniture and a kitchen. It felt completely safe and quiet, I slept some nights with the window cracked open.
I was totally at the mercy of my GPS and Waze program to find my way around. I first drove from the airport to the track to pick up my credentials, and connect with some friends, then back to the hotel to sleep. I really didn't sleep well the entire time I was there, no more than 3 hrs consecutive, waking up a lot. I didn't come in 2 days before my race, just the day before.
I also stopped in the local village church and cemetery. The cemetery was really dense, old, and gaudily decorated. So much catholic iconography.
After 3 rounds of the 400m, and missing the podium, I was pretty tired and depressed. All these 'if I had only'... 'woulda shoulda' type feelings. I stayed in bed most of the day and only in the late afternoon did I get out to see a little of the historic town. One indelible part of the history of this area was the WWII Nazi occupation and the concentration camps. I wish I had taken the time to visit one, Chelmno was just 40 min north. Some of my teammates, Alan and his family visited Auschwitz where his grandparents were killed. That must have been incredibly moving. I drove into Torun from my hotel past a Nazi Stalag (prison camp), with it's characteristic concrete bowed fencing, same type you see at most all the concentration camps.
The town was quite beautiful and I stuck my head into the Torun Cathedral during mass. This is a seriously old world catholic nation.
I ate out 3 times and ate in my room as well. Usually eating the food that I brought (nut bars and stuff) but also eating fish and baguettes, with orange juice. Mornings, I had instant coffee with milk and raw sugar.
The three times I ate out, I went with Stephen, M65 sprinter. First night it was a seafood restaurant where I had the local trout. It was just $13. Second night, I had the local dish, venison stew. It was good. Afterward, we went out for a decaf cappuccino in a really nice relaxed coffee house.
The last night, I had to spend some money so we went to a nice but small and intimate restaurant with a piano player. We played name that tune, it was quite fun.
I had a herring appetizer, a large salad, and a fish main course. I had a beer, and cheese cake for dessert, which I could not finish til later that night in my room. It was my most expensive meal there and amounted to about $37. Overall, the food was excellent quality everywhere. The only thing I didn't care for was the hotel breakfast which wasn't super cheap by Polish standards at $14. Reason being is that the only meat they had was pork, which I don't eat. But, their excellent super automatic coffee machine made up for it.
The lifestyle here in Torun felt relaxed and civilized. Almost no police presence, and a lively evening scene in the town where lots of people were out.
Now that I let my guard down on my diet, I've gained about 3 or 4 lbs. And I hope to get rid of that in the coming week as I resume workouts on Sunday after a week off from running. I think the week of racing, 8 races, took more of a toll on me than I realized. At least I'm not feeling the groin strain that I had after the 200m final. After my last race, I seriously could not walk without a tad bit of pain. I think just about everyone was in that boat, judging by the way my colleagues were running by Saturday on the relays.
The trip back wasn't so great. I had to get up at 6:30 am to leave at 7:30. I got there on time, gassed the car, and as I entered the Gdansk airport, I looked at the screen and my flight said "CANCELLED"
So, I waited, got a hotel and 2 meal voucher and walked across the street to the the Hampton Hilton Inn. Fortunately within walking distance. This really sucked as I was hoping to use my Monday to recover from the trip before I went to work on Tuesday. But, I didn't get home til Monday night, had to work Tues.
It was cool that I met Sean in the Gdansk airport who was on my flight to Frankfort. He's an elite M40 from Atlanta. I thought we'd be on the same flight to Atlanta but his flight left sooner.
I flew out of Gdansk on Lufthanza to Frankfort. Lufthanza could not give me boarding passes for my next flights on Delta, so I had to wait in line in Frankfort. And... for what ever reason, even after going through security, I got flagged and totally shaken down by the German border police. They took me into a room and the first thing they asked me was to remove all my shoes from the suitcase. I said, "You're kidding?" I had 3 pairs of racing spikes and a pair of trainers buried in the bottom of my suitcase. So, I pulled them out, two pairs of Maxflys and a pair of Adidas Prime SP2s, along with my Adidas trainers. They looked at my protein powder and my massage stick and asked me about it. They said something about athletics in German, and that was it, "Have a nice day." This was the 3rd time I had to repack this suitcase.
When looking to board my flight to Atlanta, I had a moment of terror. I thought I had lost my phone, which, without a boarding pass yet issued, I had no proof of my flight to get through passport control. I even sought out lost and found until I realized I stashed it in my back pack. So thankful.
It was an arduously long flight to Atlanta. 9.5 hours. When I got there, the customs was ridiculoiusly crowded. It took 45 min to get through... zig zag lines. The customs officials warned me not to take photos after I took this one. LOL.
So, after the long customs line I got to wait 90 min to board my 29 min flight to Chattanooga. Made it home by dusk. Happy to see no damage despite the previous week's severe weather.
I got my act together, and got through an ensemble concert this week, and now, just 2 more weeks of school and summer vacation.
After all the activity, my failure to win a medal in the 400m, and some incredibly dismal weather in Sewanee this weekend, it's been a little depressing. I also got a cold, but I tested negative twice for covid. Going to CVS today to be tested just to make sure.
I do feel better than I did last night, One of my competitors, Stuart from the UK did get covid at the meet, so I just want to be sure.
After a week off, and not achieving my goals in Poland, it's going to be really hard to start training again. But, as I've always said, it's about the journey. I feel like I've represented myself as a top competitor, making the finals in 2 events in a selective field, where in indoor, only 6 make it. I guess it could have been worse. I only made the 200m final by 0.16 seconds over Darren. So, at least there's that. I guess I should be satisfied by being #6 in the world and #1 in the US in the M60 200 and 400, but it's not enough. I really wanted that medal. But, I'll keep on doing it, as long as my body holds up. If all I had was teaching and music, I just wouldn't feel complete. Same can be said about athletics. It's a balance, a wonderful and satisfying balance at that ... and I've traveled the world to do it, and made friends from everywhere, and we all know each other on a first name basis. Awesome time and a great life.
Happy to be back on the foggy mountain. It's wildflower season.
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