Battle plan

4 weeks to go and Florence will surrender the Black Knight.
The plan is completed: I booked a hotel with sight on the Ponte Vecchio - the most famous bridge of Florence - and I bought a specific Nike t-shirt for the race (black of course). Moreover I will be so lucky to start from the "3.30/3.45 final expected time" gate: the number will be 3133 of 8000. The organization accepted my last final time even if got many years ago.
The training follows the program: last Sunday 25 km (15.52 ml) with Sir Giorgio, Monday a relaxing thermal bath to cure the little pains everywhere, Tuesday a recovery 12 km (7.45 ml) run with Sir Giorgio, Thursday 17.1 km (10.62 ml) and today 10 km (6.2 ml).
On Sunday 33 km (20.5 ml) are waiting for me and after the tapering!!!!!! What a wonderful word: ta-pe-ring!
The Black Knight hopes to add another trophy to his collection. In the picture there are some “memories” from 2 marathons and 4 half marathon.

Fall: the enemies are near the borders

At last fall is here and the rain, sometimes, is the mate of the workouts. The choose is always hard: the "dreadmill" or the "water"? The dreadmill seldom wins because the temperature is never cold, so a good k-way and a hat help to enjoy the rain even if the people look at me as a crazy man. Yesterday this was the decision: f... the dreadmill!

This week the runs were:

Sunday: 30 km (18.6 ml) see the imagine;

Tuesday: 11.3 km (7.01 ml);

Thursday: 11.2 km (7 ml) under the rain;

Friday: 14 km (8.69 ml).

On Sunday the long workout will be only (???) 25 km (15.52 ml) waiting for the 33 km (20.5 ml) on Sunday 29th!

In this period the Black Knight Army, italian legion, is a little lazy. With the end of the summer every Knight minds on his own businness and this is a big mistake because the enemies are always ready to attack the kingdom. Barbarian hordes are waiting for challenging the Army inside our homeland (Civitavecchia half-marathon on Nov. 11) and cruel warriors from all over the world will be in Florence on Nov. 26 to defeat the Black Knight who will be alone to fight the Marathon battle.

The honourable defeat

The defeat. Last sunday the Black Knight entered a 10 km. in S.Marinella a town near my home city. He didn't want to race because he is following the marathon program but the President of the running team (Anna Baby Runner) needed some runners more. The Black Knight is a brave warrior so he said yes even if the day before he made a workout 25 km. (15.5 miles) long: half with a friend and half alone.

Luckily the path was mainly flat, but the Knight was tired again and legs were sore, so he decided only to keep a sub 5'oo"/km (08'03"/ml) pace. The final time was 48'47" for a declared 10 km. (the Garmin said 10.26 km./6.37 ml): mission accomplished!

But the final result was ridiculous: 84° of 100 and 7° of 8 in his age group!!!!!

Here is the photo of the loot (for the age group):

Photos: About this topic, if you like, have a look on the top-right and, clicking on "photos", you will see the Black Knight's running story in the period 1986/2005. I could not put the most recent pictures because I have hit the upload monthly limit.

The scheduled program: I am following the program for the Florence Marathon with the help of Sir giorgio when he is not busy. Tomorrow 30 km (18.6 ml) are waiting for me. For this reason I will not enter a memorial 10 km in my city.

The concert: The boss Bruce Springsteen made a concert in Rome, in a sold out palasport, with a 17 persons band. It was unforgettable, 2 hours and 15 minutes of music, playing all the songs of his last cd "We shall overcome" with the Seeger Session. It was amazing to see all the people singing and dancing for more than 2 hours. The best concert I have ever seen.

The Tribute

Training camps: People wonder why the local runners are usually faster than the others coming from the near cities. The answer is easy: the routes in Civitavecchia are very difficult with many uphills and downhills, so any workout is hard. If we want to run on flat roads, we have to go a bit outside the city limits where we have the chance to follow a speed session because of the dog's attacks (ask to Sir Giorgio for more informations). In the pictures you can see two different routes: 1) from my house to the beach (km. 11 - 6.8 ml) and a lap around Sir giorgio's house (km. 14 - 8.75 ml):
The road to the Florence Marathon: After the bronchitis the training is going well. Last saturday I ran 17.3 km. (10,74 ml), on sunday a relaxing 10 km, on tuesday a 10 km. tempo run and yesterday the 14 km (8.75 ml) of the garmin-scheme (scroll up). Tomorrow the long distance run is waiting for me: 25 km (15.5 ml) .

The lost races: The decision to go on to the marathon is hard because I cannot enter 2 nice 10 km races in my city on oct. 8 and 15th.

The blog: In the past I was not regular in writing my blog and to post the comments to the running friends. I am very busy because my life and my job are hectic, so I took the decision to update my blog every week-end.

The concert: On oct. 10th the boss Bruce Springsteen will be in Roma for a concert to celebrate the many victories of the Black Knight Army. The Black Knight and his son will be there to receive the tribute.