Who I Am and Why Nature 🌿

I am a calm person 😌. Patient, adaptable, sometimes probably even too much so. I often put others before myself. By profession, I am a teacher of Slovene language, history, and geography 📚 at a Slovene school in Italy. My work is full of people, words, and relationships. That is precisely why nature 🌿 holds a special place in my life. My day begins or ends most beautifully in the typical Karst garden in front of my house, where stone, soil, and wind 🍃 quickly ground a person.

I started running relatively late ⏳—only after the Covid period, a few months before my fiftieth birthday 🎂. If someone had asked me earlier whether I would ever run, I would probably have smiled 🙂. I actually used to hate running. Partly because of allergies and mild asthma 😮‍💨 that had accompanied me for a long time. The trigger was a simple desire for something new ✨. Something that would be mine alone.

The Path to Running and Perseverance 🏃‍♂️

By chance, I began talking about running with a friend and personal trainer, Jernej, from the House of Recreation 🤝. The first run was just part of one training session. Then there were more and more of them. The beginnings were demanding, at times difficult 😅, but also full of laughter and good spirits. With every run, the enthusiasm grew 🔥. Distance became a challenge, time as well—but always on an amateur level.

To date, I have completed several runs between 10 and 22 kilometers 🏃‍♂️. I prefer running in nature 🌲—forests, gravel paths, Karst trails. That is where I feel at home. Urban runs attract me less. Running quickly became part of me. Since I started, I have never seriously considered quitting.

Running helps me through difficult periods that are familiar to everyone 🌫️. When my head is full, when worries accumulate, I go for a run. Step by step, my thoughts begin to loosen 🧠. Nowadays, I most often run along the edge of the urban settlement in Vrtojba or across the Karst, where there is never a shortage of paths. And if I run out of strength, I simply switch to walking 🚶‍♂️. Without guilt.

Running as a Path to Myself 💭

I enjoy running in company 👥, but solitude has its own charm. That’s when thoughts travel 💭. I reflect on everyday life, on the meaning of what I do, on school, on students, on ideas. Many ideas are born precisely while running ✍️. Sometimes I write them down when I return home.

I also take part in organized runs 🎽, but for me, it is not a competition with others—perhaps only with myself. More than the result, I value the sense of community 🤍 and that unforgettable feeling after a run, when you know you did not give up. That you persevered. That is what running has taught me: perseverance 💪. Even when it is not easy.

Many people tell me to slow down ⛔, that there is no need to overdo it. But as long as there is joy in it 😊, I know I am on the right path.

To those who think running is not for them, I would like to say something simple: I was once among you. Find someone who will guide you, support you, teach you how to breathe 🌬️. For me, breathing was the biggest obstacle. When I learned that, I somehow overcame my asthma—not because it disappeared, but because I learned to live with it and manage it in key moments.

When running feels hard, I always tell myself: just a little more, just to there, it’s not far now 🏁. That sentence does not apply only to running.

On this path, I am not searching for the finish line, but for myself 🧭.