It would not be my year-in-review blog post, if I had not started by moaning about lack of time to write it… finding excuses not to keep this blog active seems much easier than sitting down for an hour and take down my thoughts. BUT hey, it’s Jan 5 so this year-in-review is well on time… except the fact that I haven’t written 2022/2023 yet, so I do have some catching up to do :)
Nevertheless, life is good. As everyone else around us in their early thirties, we’re finding ourselves challenged by the game that is not possible to win… working as an Exec in tech (=insiders know it’s not been so much fun in 2023), keeping my competitiveness in endurance sports and trying to be the best father and husband at the same time… not easy :) but hey, I will wake up tomorrow, get out of bed… and keep trying.
January
We kicked off the year as busy as ever… every day is a new beginning with a few-months-old Emily. Moving from Brno city center apartment back to our beloved Vysocina hills was a big step, but the right one. Not only we can go for hike or run any time we want, but having 4 baby sitters (=grandparents :)) in the same town seems like a total game changer and many of my friends turn green with envy when I mention it :) That’s one of the BIG elements that helped us keep our lifestyle (to some extent:)).
Anyway, besides a new training cycle with some solid group tempo runs and a lot of skiing, the biggest thing in Jan was my business trip to the US which resulted in 3-weeks in bed with antibiotics. I tried to squeeze all the travelling into 4 days, including flights from Europe over to Washington, to Florida, then overnighter to New York (of course wrapped by a morning run in Central park and all day meetings) and straight back to Europe… long story short, my body was not happy and I thought my spring season is over…
February
… but in Feb, things started to turn around. Craziness at work slowed down (just a little) and I found out that a recovery after 3-weeks with ATB before the season is doable.
A lot of skiing, still a lot of house furnishing and Feb was over!
March
We kicked off March with a few days at Dolni Morava as I wanted to do some skimo (not really a skimo, rather up & down tempo on the slopes) and Dolni Morava had to do since we did not want to drag 6-mo old Emily down to Alps just for a couple of days. Had a blast though, logging 7000m+ in 2,5 days!
One of the things that I looked forward to a lot moving back to Zdar, was more active involvement in Zdarak, an outdoor sports club that my friends and I founded around a series of cross-country races of the same name. We kicked off a third season in March and I surprised myself with a solid 2nd place a few seconds short of the win and course record. It was one of the races I enjoyed so much, battling with Mara and Jeronym all race long.
Considering a busy year at work with many trips and org changes, and a newborn at home, I decided that in 2023 I will do only one international trail race (Lavaredo in the Dolomites, more on that in June) and that meant I was enjoying and appreciating every single small XC race.
In March, Žďárák continued with the organization of the first ever road race in Žďárák, Žďárská 10 and we had a blast. Even the course record set by Milos at 32:57 (a rolling course, not completely flat) is solid and we decided to turn it into a traditional 10k spring season race.
I raced myself for a decent 4th place at 35:16. Considering I was the main organiser and I turned back home from a business trip in London a night before, I was quite satisfied and keen to push the time to 34:00 later in the season (I had only one extra shot in the end a week later in Jihlava resulting in 34:33, not great, not terrible).
April
In early April, I found myself in a great shape winning two local XC races in a row, and even setting a course record at Zdarak – Staviste, so I decided to sign up for the Championship of Czech Republic in half marathon. I never enjoyed running on flat, and people often don’t understand how come that fast 10k is harder for me than a 50k race in mountains or 10 hours race on mountain bike… anyway, I wanted to make good use of my April shape… however, just before the race I had yet another business trip to London which resulted with yet another “rymicka” (man flu). I gave it a go anyway, and started the race too hard… 16:48 at 5k split resulted in a sufferfest second half of the race ending at 1:17:22. Definitely not the smartest race, and I think I could definitely go PB (under 1:15) if I raced smarter… but hey, sometimes it’s simply go big or go home.
May
After the Championship experience, I felt like I needed a break from running and went much bigger into mountain biking and cycling. We started to do a lot of gravel with Anda and Emily too which was fun.
The shift to mountain biking for a couple of weeks was needed anyway, because I was due to race “200HARD”, an extreme mountain biking race logging 200k with 6000m+ vertical gain through Krkonose mountains, Jizerky and Cesky Raj. I actually put together a dedicated blog post about this race (in Czech).
Long story short, I had a blast… but still it was painful :) Raced hard with my younger brother first 100k around the third place, then completely tired out and had a total sufferfest until 140k and then finally recovered to finish with some dignity at 6-8th position.
One thing, I enjoy about extreme mountain bike events, is the fact that recovery is significantly faster than from ultratrails.
The next day after the 200HARD, I was already plowing the gravel with my girls and a week later I was already running 35k+ trails with Lyznik in his Orlicke mountains territory:)
June
As indicated in the introduction, 2023 was not the easiest year from a work point of view. The tech industry has faced a lot of turbulence and for the first time in the 10 years I’ve been in the industry, not only tech startups/scaleups but also big IT hegemons faced slowdowns, layoffs etc. At Kontent.ai, the whole year after the spin-off was a bittersweet. On one hand, we had a lot of excitement going on with establishing new offices in the US, London etc. and building Kontent.ai as a separate brand.
On the other hand, we’ve seen so many internal changes, that in June I found myself really needing a longer vacation. I couldn’t wait to switch off completely. The plan was to spend 3 weeks in one of our favorite places on earth Livigno with Anda & Emily on the border of Italy and Switzerland.
Since Emily was only 9 months old in June, the plan was to drive to Cortina in the Dolomites (much closer to Livigno and also the Cortina is placed significantly lower in terms of altitude and acclimatisation of the toddler).
Well… Man proposes, God disposes. Just before the departure, we had to deal with Emily’s high fever, which turned out to be inflammation and she got prescribed antibiotics. Even though we already had the ski box, bikes and everything packed in the car and we were looking forward to the early Wednesday morning departure to the Dolomites, we couldn’t drag our little daughter on such a trip with a high fever.
On top of that, I was supposed to run Lavaredo Ultratrail 50k on Friday… Althought I had already come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t run the Lavaredo race, my wonderful wife suggested that I try to find a friend to go with me to Cortina for a spin, race Lavaredo, and then I’d return back home to pick them up and we’ll go together to Livigno a few days later.
Driving to Cortina the day before the race, running 50k race in the mountains, driving back to Czech Republic, picking up family and driving back to Livigno… sounds like a plan I always enjoy :)
Thanks to my friend Lyznik, who quickly stepped in and kept me company on this short Dolomites trip… and surprisingly enough, considering the circumstances I had the best day out there in the mountains, logged a personal best at Lavaredo 50k (5:16) and finished 34th out of ~1500 competitors! What a blast!
Next day, we went for a short run around the Tre Cime Di Lavaredo and a few hours late, I was already packing bikes & stuff at home for a few weeks stay in Livigno with girls :)
July
The first half of July was marked by gelato, pizza, pasta, espresso, running, cycling and hiking in the mountains… Livigno has never disappointed us, and we had a blast once again…
What’s moreover, Emily loved it too as the whole valley is simply great for a combination of family and mountain vacation. I got to get some serious training up in the mountains, and then we always enjoyed a family run/hike, cycling or inline skating together in the valley.
Again, thanks to my wife, I even got to log some long days on bike. Livigno – Passo Stelvio – Livigno (120k/3600m+) would be one of those rides to remember. What’s different with a family after such a big day is the recovery. I ate some pasta, a quick espresso, gelato and I was back in the saddle for another 25k ride with Thule & girls :)
Torri di Fraele and Forcola Pass from Switzerland are also rides worth recommending. When it comes to hiking with a toddler, there are unlimited options in Livigno. One to highlight is the hike around Lago Bianco in Switzerland starting from Bernina Pass.
I did not log so many big runs over there this year, but still got some nice summits, Piz la Stretta (3103) is a beauty!
August
August was “back to long hours at work” month. I spent most of the month working from home though w/o any business trips, and got to do some work around the house and enjoy the summer with girls.
We also went for a couple of days to Jeseniky mountains. Before we had a child, we would never have thought that we would pack the same amount of stuff for 3 days as we would for 3 weeks. I think I definitely became one of the top Thule clients in Czech Republic in 2023 :D and I definitely became an expert setting up bikes and ski box to a car asap.
September
Emily celebrated her first birthday at the beginning of September and we continued celebration in late summer vacay in Croatia. I used to be prejudiced against vacationing in Croatia, but if you pack paddle-board, bikes and kids… it actually turns to be really nice place.
We’re still not beach people, but the location around Pula pleasantly surprised us. We have some good recommendation for family (and bikes) friendly hotel if anyone is interested.
October
The autumn season of local cross-country races started in September and yet again, I had really good time, winning cross-country duathlon in Losenice and setting up a new course record at Zdarak-Krivak in another brotherly duel.
Emily also started to fully walk, which brought another dimension and challenges to our life :)
November
The last business trip in 2023 was a week spent in Barcelona, where I haven’t been since a family trip back in ~2004. I was actually quite impressed how Barcelona has developed and modernised in those 19 years. Considering it was a business trip, I had a good time…. squeezing some decent morning runs and some good food in the schedule.
Mid-November, I organized the second year of the orienteering race “Zdarska spojka”, which is also a part of the “Žďárák” series. Spojka marked another big duel between Mara Paral and I. We finished most of the races with a difference of a few seconds and finished the Zdarak season 1.7 points apart from each other = definitely a season to remember!
I must say that organising Zdarak races and bringing the outdoors/running community more together around our hometown is fulfilling. Zdarak now consists of 10 races throughout the year and in 2023, we also established an outdoor sports club SK Zdarak. Here is to many more!
In late November, we welcomed a first snow of the season in Beskydy mountains. Lucky Emily got to visit all major Czech mountain ranges during her first months :) Bad weather was compensated with a good company of friends and family, and more sauna time!
December
No special plans for December meant that we looked forward to spending Christmas at home even more than ever. Anda & I have always been Christmassy people, but spending Christmas time with a kid gives this time a whole new perspective.
Regardless of all ups & downs and new challenges at work, in personal life, in sports… the first full year with Emily was by far the best of our lives and despite all the sleepless nights, countless diaper changes and crying, we are so grateful to have her and to be able to experience our active lifestyle with another family member.
Summary
+ Decision to move back to a “countryside”
Moving back to Zdar nad Sazavou has been a significant and heartfelt change, bringing a sense of nature and home that resonates deeply. If we didn’t have kids, we probably wouldn’t have ended up in Zdar. However, with kids and family, Zdar is the perfect choice for us, combining beautiful nature, great conditions for outdoorsy lifestyle (skiing and mountain biking top-notch, running so-so), and standard perks of mid-size town (thank you Rohlik!). Coupled with the invaluable support of our parents in babysitting and various other aspects, Zdar stands out for us. Thank you!
+ Consistency & performance in sports
I take immense pride in the way how I’ve been maintaining my athletic performance, balancing it “seamlessly” with the demands of work and the joys of welcoming a newborn (some yearly stats below).
+ Relationships & family
This year has been a beautiful journey in nurturing relationships and strengthening family bonds. The love and support of those closest to me continue to be my anchor through life’s various challenges.
+ Many other milestones
Finance has always been one of my hobbies for many years (even wrote a bachelor thesis about financial literacy back in the days), although I don’t blog about it. 2023 was our first year with a more substantial passive income and the progress over past years have been both encouraging and motivating so it deserves a shoutout. Still a long way to go FIRE though :)
– A tough year at work..
The professional front presented its share of challenges. It was a humbling experience. I used to be quite arrogant when I didn’t understand how someone could “burn out”, but I was probably quite close multiple times in 2023.
– No time for education and personal growth…
One area where I fell short was in personal education. Time constraints prevented me from dedicating as much time as I would have liked to self-improvement and learning. Time is just an excuse though, it’s all about priorities and family and sports clearly won the game this year :)
Also, In the past I immersed myself in a plethora of books, but the pace slowed in 2023 and logged only 7 books (definitely a lowest number in the past 15 years).
Let’s end up on a positive note and check out those stats!
Keep Moving 
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