1. Who is Neira Odobašić?

Neira Odobašić is a software developer by profession and a triathlete and alpinist by choice, i.e. a senior trainee alpinist. I haven't taken the alpinist exam yet, it has to be taken if you want to become an alpinist.

2. You are a BiH triathlon record holder and you are an IT specialist. What does this combination look like in practice and what exactly do you do when talking about IT? 

I deal with software development in IT and I am currently a freelancer. I plan to register a company to expand the area of interest and to make it all more interesting. I like the intellectual challenge of my job, but I don't like sitting, not moving. So for me, training is a kind of relaxation from work. Over time, it became an addiction and a great love for both nature and movement. In fact, the two coincide.

3. What do physical and mental preparations for thriatlon look like and how does it feel to have such endeavors behind you?

When we talk about triathlon there are various distances. From very short to very long. In our country, the longer ones are the most popular because they are perhaps the most demanding and somehow the most exposed in the media, and in fact, because the race itself lasts from 10 to 15 hours, training consists of a lot of time spent cycling, swimming and running. Every time a race is over, one wonders how he succeeded at all and whether one will ever do it again, and of course, he registers again and the same story goes on again. I know that a friend of mine once said: "Who is the one who will tell someone who finished Ironman that he can't do anything else in his life“, I think he even talked about the half marathon. Because the day before, each of us has doubts about whether he can finish, whether something will happen, whether swimming will go well, whether bike breakdowns will happen, whether the body will endure, whether the brain will endure. And when it's all over and when you pass, you're on the goal like "wow I did it".

4. Through endurance sports and extreme sports, a person gets to know himself/herself better as well as personal limits. Where are human limits in your opinion and have you reached your limits?

Every amateur in our country is far from his/her limits. It can be moved, for us it is infinite, professionals who deal with this, are somewhere in those minutes, whether a minute can be fixed or not, etc. he/she reaches those limits. The principle of the US Marines is when a man thinks he can't push more, then he's only at 40% of what he can do. This applies not only to sports but in general, life problems and when the body suffers from any externally imposed influences…

5. What are the benefits of a sports lifestyle, the development of sports spirit, and what lessons learned in sports can be applied in the private and business environment?

What I like most about everything is the social part. So to me, most of my friends, my boyfriend, and even my brother are somehow related to sports and triathlon even mountaineering, and those who are not are starting to be interested in it. For us, training is socializing, traveling to races as well. Sport becomes intertwined throughout your life, it is no longer a separate part of life but an integral part of life. I’ve noticed that people who get into triathlon and running get better at their job because triathlons make you more organized. We used to get up at 5 a.m. to be on the bike at 5.30 a.m., to finish everything and get to work. You come fresh because you are already rested, awake, you have finished training, you have taken a shower, you have eaten something and you are fully ready for work. I read an article about why CEOs run a marathon; precisely because it maintains their mental hygiene and helps with better organization, discipline…I think that the more tasks people have the more things they manage to do. 

6. How many triathlons do you have behind you?

I think I did two sprint triathlons. I did one Olympic distance and four half-distances, three Ironmans and one extreme Ironman. I started triathlon 5 years ago, and I have been running the trail and the ordinary road for ten years now, but I have reduced it now because running becomes monotonous when you do triathlon.

7. One of the advice you often give to others says 'Sometimes you shouldn't think but just go.' What does it look like when a man silences his/her mind?

He/she is driven by the decision to do so. I always take the example of winter in Sarajevo; it's December, it's foggy and I need to go swimming, for example at 7 a.m., because I won't manage it during the day. If I wake up and look outside and think if I need that swim, of course I don’t need it. I pack my things in the evening, I get up in the morning, I don't think at all, I make coffee and I go as if I have to. As soon as a person starts thinking, he or she will find a million reasons not to leave, it's cold, there's smog, do I need this?, the race is only in May, etc.

8. What do you think are the advantages of coworking and is tershouse your first such experience?

It is in BiH. As part of one of the previous companies I worked for when I was traveling to America for a while, we had a rented office in a coworking space called Wework. It was then that I experienced for the first time the feeling when many people from multiple companies are working in the same place, they also had some events together and so on. When I finished with the previous company and started with freelance, the name attracted me, I came here and stayed because everything fits me.

9. Life motto?

I'm going to pretend to be smart now. There is one quote from Selimović that I read in high school. I think the beginning of it is from his book "Fortress": "Everything is possible, everything is available at your fingertips, but one must not give up." The sequel goes on to say that „you break away from yourself indecisive when you overcome your discouragement, unimagined paths open before you and the world is no longer cramped and full of threats.“ Exactly the part when he says when you break away from yourself indecisive, it's really like that. When you don't think, when you just go, it doesn't look so scary at all.

 If you are interested in triathlon or challenges of a similar kind, the tershouse community consists of, among other things, people who play various sports, as well as chess players (who are, admittedly, somewhat less extreme athletes :))

Join the tershouse community and find your sports buddy!