More than 6 years ago Kristian made his first steps at ICT Strypes as a Feature Integrator before gradually turning into a Senior Python Developer and a Team Lead for one of the biggest projects at the company. Now he works hard to turn himself from a good executor into a good leader who inspires and grows his team. This would have been just another career success story for us and him if we didn’t know about his other passions and attempts to challenge himself in any aspect of life.
You say that sport is a great teacher in life and at work. How does it help you?
- Sport proves to you that sometimes motivation is not enough. There are moments in life when you don’t want to, but you have to keep going even if results are not coming fast. This happened to me as I decided to drastically change my way of life, gave up smoking, and started running more than 3 years ago. Imagine how disappointing it was when I could hardly run, but walk most of the time until I began noticing small, but consistent changes in my energy, results, and health day after day. In this sense, I would say that discipline, patience, and consistency are more important than motivation and inspiration.
We know that you have developed a passion for triathlon participation. How did it all begin?
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The first time I heard about a popular triathlon discipline challenging participants with 4 km swimming, 190 km cycling and 42 km running I immediately thought this was crazy and abnormal. And this is how I knew I should do it.
Last year I took part in the Olympic discipline (1,5 km swimming, 40 km cycling and 11 km running). But my ambition for this year is to go for the half Ironman discipline (1,9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21,1 km running). Of course, I do not plan to stop there – the next big step for me will be to to cover the entire distance. I want to emphasize that the challenge here is both physical and mental. Imagine how hard it is to keep pushing when you have to run the last part circling in multiple laps while maintaining spirit and preserving your energy.
What does it take to prepare for such a challenge?
- Training took me more than 5 months to be in shape for the race, but then I realized this was not enough. I remember making a series of mistakes when it came to proper distribution of my strength, energy boosters and water intake. The race itself was even more challenging than expected, but nothing would replace the satisfaction with crossing the finish line.
And the effort put on a daily basis?
- My plan consists of around 9 training sessions per week, a few more workouts, and 3-4 yoga meditations. I believe that you can’t always have time to do sport, but you can always make time for it, if you really want to. Here is why you could see me running at any time – in the morning, afternoon, or even late at night.
You mentioned spirit, discipline, and consistency. But there should be an inspiration behind all this?
- Of course, my family is probably the main reason I want to be healthy and ready to face any challenge. I want to teach my kids that you don’t have to be a professional to take up something and succeed in it. And most of the time, if you want to achieve something, you must work hard, keep making small steps, and you will eventually succeed.
We know that you have recently faced even more challenges, haven’t you? Is it true you did a 72-hours’ fasting and what’s next?
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Once I completed my previous challenge to run a full marathon, I came up with the idea for this 72 hours’ fasting. As a foodie, I knew this would be tough, but, like I mentioned, this could only make me try harder. Those who have done it know that it is often easier than it sounds and mostly challenges your mental state than your ability to “survive”.
Next in my list is the 24-hours running on a stadium which was my own idea, as well. Again, I see it as a bigger challenge for my spirit than for my physical shape and energy limits.
When it comes to personal life, is it all about family and competition with yourself?
- Not really, especially when we speak about photography. I love sceneries, video shooting and processing, and growing my Instagram profile for documenting my transformation and small achievements in sports and life
Personal Photo Archive
Any advice you would like to share with people who would like to follow your example?
- I learned for myself that I can do much more than I expected. Certainly, the same will be valid for you, once you show persistence and determination in any aspect of your life. Very often “impossible” is only in your head and people who realize this are more eager to take the first step and eventually succeed. The rest may often wait for the right or perfect moment which hardly ever comes.
Got motivated by this story? Kris is truly an inspiration to everyone around him and a prove that nothing is impossible? Read more of our stories here: