The way of life, interview with Admind Summer Cup Winners 2025

Photos: Marcin Krokosz’s private gallery

How do you stay motivated on bad days? Did the Cup make a difference?

Alicja: I train for most of the year, so it’s already a natural part of my day. Iit’s something I actually look forward to. Of course, there are harder days when I’m tired or in a bad mood. What motivates me most on those days is knowing I’ll feel better after the session, or simply the sense of satisfaction from having done it anyway. Training for such a long time has taught me that not every session needs to be perfect. A bad day is part of the process. The next session might be better, and that’s enough.

Dominika: To be honest, it’s not always about motivation. Sometimes it’s just habit and discipline. You just go. But what if you really can’t face it? Skip once and come back with fresh energy, that’s fine, too. I also have to admit that I have a foolproof motivational system at home in the form of a dog. Ozie,  who is fairly sizeable, needs at least one proper walk every day. We go out regardless of the weather, my mood or my willingness. Ozie doesn’t know the concept of a rest day. If he doesn’t get her walk, he redecorates the flat in the evening.

Marcin: In mid-May, I found out from Natalia that I was near the top of the leaderboard and I think I was in second place. I thought, ‘Right, I need to push harder.’ That motivated me even more. Cycling is also my way of resetting. I leave work feeling tired and return feeling completely different. Honestly, I think I’d go crazy if I stopped exercising. 

Competition: did you watch what the others were doing? Did anyone become a real rival?

Alicja: Honestly? Not really. I’m not the type of person who tracks how many kilometres others have done. What interests me is whether I’m improving. I set my own goals and measure my progress against my previous performance. For me, it’s about improvement, not rankings.

Dominika: I joined towards the end of the first month. My colleague Kasia mentioned the Cup, and it turned out that I had already logged quite a lot of activity in my health app. We started motivating each other: who was going to the gym, who was planning a bike session and who was doing the sauna and swimming. It felt more like a partnership than a rivalry, I felt positive motivation, not pressure. We were fuelling each other.

Marcin: I was watching Dagmara. She was working hard, and it was great to compete against her. Unfortunately, she picked up an injury towards the end and had to stop. I was really sorry because she was a fantastic rival. The second person was Natalia. I won, but I’m not sure it was entirely fair. Without the injury, Dagmara might have had a different outcome. This year, I’m keeping an eye on Kuba, who’s going crazy right now. I did 65 km yesterday just to keep up! The battle is on!

What values do you associate with sport? What does it give you?

Alicja: For me, it’s all about adventure. I run trail races in the mountains, and I love that world. This year, I’m working my way through the Crown of Polish Mountains. I’ve already climbed half of the peaks. Every summit brings new places, new views and new stories. I love the freedom that the mountains offer. It’s not just training; it’s an experience.

Dominika: For me, it’s about finding the right balance between listening to your body, resting and recovering, and stepping out of your comfort zone to take on new challenges. It’s also about having support, knowing that you don’t have to do it alone.

Marcin: Balance. The bike gives me equilibrium between work and life. I leave work feeling exhausted, but I come back feeling refreshed and in a good mood. When I don’t ride, I can be irritable and unpleasant to be around. During a ride, ideas genuinely come to me. I’m cycling through the trees and suddenly the solution to a tricky project becomes obvious. Sometimes it’s easier to figure things out after work than during it.

Photos: Dominika Zych’s private gallery

How did you celebrate winning? What did you do with the prizes?

Marcin: The trophy is on display in a place of honour, next to my helmets. What about the prize money? It all went on the bike. I bought bone conduction headphones, for example the kind that let you ride and still hear everything around you. I was surprised at how good they sound. This new generation offers a completely different experience.

Alicja: I was overjoyed. It’s such special recognition to be rewarded for pursuing your passion. I put the prize money to good use. I bought new running shoes and energy gels. Those always come in useful.

Dominika: The trophy reflects light beautifully, although I have to admit that it once fell off the shelf and hit me on the head. Luckily, I survived! I also put the prize to good use by buying running shoes and starting my running journey. Alicja was my inspiration.

Who inspires you? Who are your sporting heroes?

Alicja: Two people from Poland: Martyna Mlynarczyk and Bartek Przedwojewski, who both run trail and ultra races. I respect them for representing Poland at the highest level while promoting mountain running, a sport that is growing in popularity in this country. I genuinely admire their dedication, values and openness to people.

Dominika: As a representative of the younger generation, my heroes are TikTok content creators who share their fitness knowledge. I particularly value the women who demonstrate that the gym is a place for everyone, not just experienced athletes. Many of my friends are afraid to step into a gym because they think ‘everyone will be looking at me’. Creators like that make sport feel more accessible and far less intimidating.

Marcin: Sławomir Łukasik, enduro world champion. He’s a guy that almost nobody has heard of, yet you could easily compare him to Iga Świątek in his discipline. For years, he drove his van around Europe with no major sponsors and with his girlfriend as his only support crew. He went from being a self-funded rider to becoming world champion. I’ve had the chance to talk to him a few times. He’s incredibly humble and looks completely ordinary in a crowd. That’s what impresses me most.

Do you have any funny stories from the Cup period?

Dominika: I live on the outskirts of Gliwice, close to a forest. One day, while walking with Ozie, I came across a wild boar. It wasn’t a small one either. Silesian wild boars are a completely different category to the ones I knew growing up in the Świętokrzyskie region. I took a route twice as long just to avoid it. My ‘chill walk’ ended up being a distance record! Ozie was delighted.

One more thing: I once decided that we were going to the Beskidy Mountains on Saturday for a ‘relaxed little walk’, just a couple of hours, totally chill. The route was planned by ChatGPT. We ended up there all day, and the ‘gentle ascent’ turned out to be a steep climb through dense undergrowth with a gradient of over 20 per cent. Be careful what you delegate to artificial intelligence!

Marcin: I don’t have a dramatic story from the trail, but I have very fond memories of Natalia’s little digs. Every Thursday, she had a motivating comment ready for me. It was a nice touch to the whole competition

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start, but keeps putting it off until Monday?

Alicja: The most important thing is to choose a sport that you actually enjoy, rather than one that you feel you have to force yourself to do. When you’re excited and having fun, it’s much easier to build a habit. Start small – 10 or 15 minutes, for example. Gradually extend it. Change your location every now and then go to a different park or try a different route. New surroundings make the time fly by, turning training into an adventure rather than an obligation.

Dominika: You don’t have to commit to one discipline for life right away. Try squash, then go for a run and then maybe try swimming. See what you enjoy. If something doesn’t work out, keep trying. Remember your progress, especially at the beginning, it’s very visible, and that’s the best motivator. Find someone to train with, too. When you’ve made plans with someone, it’s much harder to back out.

Marcin: Find someone who already does it and knows the ropes. It’s easy to get put off: something goes wrong or you’re too tired, and you quit. But if someone can calmly explain how to do it, what to adjust and what equipment is worth having, that’s a completely different story. I have two friends from high school who have been cycling with me for three years now. It started with one shared ride and a beer; two weeks ago, we returned from a four-day trip through the Czech Republic.

What are your sporting plans for the near future?

Alicja: It’s been an intense year. In February, I ran a half marathon in Barcelona. Now, I’m training to improve my speed over 5 and 10 km. In July, I’m taking part in the mountain half marathon at the Lower Silesian Mountain Running Festival in Ladek-Zdroj. It’s a fantastic event with routes ranging from 10 to 240 km – highly recommended! At the same time, I’m working towards completing the Crown of Polish Mountains – I’ve already completed half of it. My goal is to run up every single peak.

Dominika: In the short term, I want to run 10 km for the first time this month – the Rossmann Run on Saturday will be my test. I’m quietly hoping to increase my distance over the summer. At the gym, my specific goal is to do an unassisted pull-up. On average, women can’t do any pull-ups – I want to change that by doing at least one.

Marcin: I want to visit the area around Mount Ślęża that Alicja describes so beautifully. My big goal for the year is to ride around the Tatras on a gravel bike in two days. I’ve already chosen the route. I just need the right weather window. September is probably the best month.

Alicja, Dominika, Marcin – congratulations on the Cup and thank you for the conversation. See you on the trail.

Talking to the three of you reminded me why the Summer Cup has become one of my favourite Admind traditions. What started as an internal challenge has grown into something that genuinely reflects who we are,  a team that knows how to have fun together, while also taking care of each other. Health, work-life balance, mental wellbeing: these aren’t perks we list on a careers page. They’re habits we build together, one kilometre at a time.

Adventure is one of Admind’s core values and I see it in every story you shared today. A mountain summit. A wild boar detour. A four-day gravel ride through the Czech Republic. A first 10K. None of it is about being an athlete. All of it is about choosing not to stand still.

And we’re not stopping here. This September, Admind is running in Poland Business Run – the world’s largest relay race,  where we’ll be supporting people with disabilities and those who have had amputations. Because values only mean something when they go beyond the office walls.