Crimea, training camp.

When people ask me where is my home, usually I can't answer right away on this question. I was born on east side of Ukraine in a small town calls Pervomaysk. Already when I was a kid I started travel with my grandmother and back then I new I am not going to stay for a rest of life in my small town. A first step was when I moved to Donetsk (regional center on east side of Ukraine, one of biggest cities) to start studding in University. I'd lived in Donetsk for 8 years, that when I started to do triathlon and I began to travel to Europe for competitions and mostly we did by car (to safe money). But to get to Europe by car at first I had to cross all Ukraine from east to west, which is almost 2 000 km. So, here was my second step: I moved to Lvov (of course there were some other reasons to move). I still live in Lvov for about another 8 years and, no, I don't go anywhere else right now, but I started to travel to US and spend from 4 to 8 months in America. But all the time I moved somewhere it wasn't that easy,

 because everywhere I had friends and it always hard to leave them. Since I do triathlon most of my friends are triathlete and they travel as well and we meet all the time at the training camps or during triathlon races. So back to my answer. Home is the place where you feel comfortable, welcome and where somebody waits for you. I guess my home is where my friends are. And this time of the year most of my Ukrainian friend were in Crimea. 

After I came to Lvov, I spent 10 days in the city and after went to Crimea to see my friends and of course to train (that the only place in Ukraine where we can train in winter time). Almost two months I spend in Yalta, but it felt like home, my friends were there. The wether wasn't very nice this year I would say we had 50% of raining day, but even then to train with young and fast short course triathletes were a lot of fun and hard work. 

After Clermont training I already had about 2000 km of biking in my legs but even though bike rides in Crimea were not easy once. It's never been easy to train in this aria. I am not sure what makes it hard hills or climate, probably both. I still decided to do a few bike races just for some hard workouts. I did two group bike races, I did pretty good, but it's really hard to win a cycling race when you don't have a team. Was very nice to see how Ukrainian level of cycling is growing in Ukraine although a few races were canceled because of krises situation in Ukraine. 

At the end of the training camp we had two competitions: one was a team stafet and the other one was Olympic distance race, but both of them didn't look like real triathlon at all (it's a winter time). All three distances: swim, bike and run were splited and we swam in a swimming pool. I got second place at both races, even second place we got with my team. Of course it's better than a 4th place, but I think I already did 5 or 6 races in row finishing second :) I hope to brake this magic number very soon and I hope not back tot the number 4 ;) Two Ukrainian races are done and everybody were leaving back to a home town to meet each other again very soon for a next event and I have a  few trips ahead of me..............

Coming back home from long 5 months in United States.

It always surprises me how much different are our countries. It not that easy to get use to so many people out here on streets, walking (not exercising) for them businesses, to crowd in city transport, to people with an expression of troubles on faces and, of course, to the weather: cold, damp and cloudy. I am talking about Ukraine.

 But not everything is so dark, I am happy to see my friends, who, I guess, missed me. And I am glad to meet my coach Anatoliy again. It is nice to walk along the streets and see beauty of old Lvov covered with white, fluffy snow. People aren’t smiling to everybody (if they did, they would have sore face muscles till the end of day J), but as soon as you start talking to someone you’ll see how opened and kind are Ukrainians. And I am enjoing to speak my own language. 

 But as usually I caught cold after one week spending home. It seams so hard to pass acclimatization without being sick, especially when you switch from +70 degrees F to +30 degrees. But I am not going to stay too long on one place, I am going to train in Crimea, south of Ukraine for next 2 or something months. It's not like in Florida, but still warmer than everywhere else in Ukraine.

Training in Clermont at the beginning of preparation for 2009 season.

That was a good block of

 training for last couple months down in Clermont: swimming with Alec Rukasue

v (I never swam more and

 harder than I did with him); biking with Nina Kraft at least

 two days a week (learning from her how to be more professional)

; bike rides every Sunday with Epic group (fun+ great training). I met so many nice people and good friends. I started feel very comfortable in Clermont, like it’s my home town.

 At the end of first training block I ran a marathon in Tallahassee. It was mostly a training run, but I still planed to do well enough to make some money :).  I won that race last year with time 3.03 and this year I wanted to brake 3 hours and I did, 2h. 55min. I think it’s not too bad for a beginning of February and without special workouts. I felt like my fitness was good enough, but my muscles wasn't strong enough (lack of interval running). And I've got a bad muscles sore, which actually took a while to get rid of.