Problem Solving

The hot weather doesn't help to make good workouts. In summer I always run with a friend (Sir Gianni) who spends his vacations in this city where he has a nice house; sometimes we run until the beach (11 km) and sometimes we follow a route around the city (10 -12 km). We start at 07.00 a.m. but already on that time there are not less than 30° C., for this reason it is impossible to plan a quality work. However I think that it is important to stay in shape waiting for the better season: mileage instead of speed. From left: the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and Sir Gianni:

The injury heals but swimming is not yet allowed (free-style fault) and I can only run every other day. In early august I will begin a period of phisiotherapy and thermal baths for a complete recover.

The time has (almost) came: the Black Knight is ready for a war-trip on a "battle-ship" to conquer many mediterranean ports. Very soon he will reveal this terrible secret!

In the meantime: happy running. and if you are tri-addicted also happy swimming and happy biking ........

The Tribute

The tribute. As I announced on my last post, when Mark Knopfler (former Dire Straits' front-man) knew of my injury decided to come to Rome for a tribute to the injured Black Knight who kindly accepted the little homage receiving this famous minstrel and his band at the Auditorium of Rome. The fearless leader ordered to play the following songs: Border Reiver, What it is, Sailing to Philadelphia, Prairie Wedding, Hill Farmer’s Blues, Romeo & Juliet, Sultans of Swing, A Night in Summer Long Ago, Marbletown, Speedway at Nazareth, Telegraph Road, Brother in Arms, So Far Away and Piper to the End. After 2 hours of wonderful music the Black Knight said "see you again" to Mark Knopfler who was happy because the invincible warrior liked the concert very very much.

Lombago. Perhaps the problem is solved thanks to 3 days of rest and strong anti-inflammatory pills. The thermal baths helped too. However the doctor said that the cause was the swimming: too many metres of free-style and too "fast". Now I have to follow a different program including more relaxing works. It means 15 days far from the pool and running every other day until august 1st.
Happy running and enjoy this wonderful summertime.

Pain

Summer in Civitavecchia means beach, swimming and running - yes working also and this is another boring story - but now the lombago doesn't allow to swim and run. Tomorrow I will come back to my doctor, he is a runner too, to understand what I can do. Last week I only ran 8,5 km and swam 15 minutes!!! Too much pain. In the meantime I am going to the ancient roman thermal baths and the hot sulphur water is a good medicine:

To forget this trouble my wife Daniela had a romantic dinner with me at the Sunbay Park Hotel where we could enjoy a beautiful sunset; the pic is not so good because it was taken by the mobile phone:

However july and august are not the best months to race here because all the events are organized in little hilly towns and the routes are full of downhill under a hot sun. After a war council, Sir Giorgio and I took the decision to begin the race season in september.

As Mark Knopfler knew of my injury decided to come to Rome for a concert. He was very kind and I accepted his homage. On tuesday the Black Knight will receive Mark at the Auditorium of Rome. The pics of the show will be available next sunday.

The fearless leader is injuried but he is sure that all of you are ready for a week of glory and victories.

Ciao Wendy

Ciao Wendy. Now Wendy is swimming in heaven. She left on June 19th shortly after completing (and winning her age group) the Flower Sea Swim in the Caymans Island. Ciao Wendy we will never forget you.

Another failure. Following the program I made 3 relaxing workouts (km. 10, km. 11,2 and km. 11) to be ready for the race of yesterday. Moreover I swam for 1800 metres in the pool but on friday I felt a deep pain after the run and the doctor said: "lombago, 7 days off"! So no race and no trainings for one week.

New entries. The Black Knight Army day after day is always stronger and powerful. Welcome to lady Julie (Amazon), lady Karen (Aussie Rep.) and Sir Scott Keeps Running (Weatherman). But there are other important news: now we have the Black Knight Air Force: in the pics you can see the brave Aviators' barracks (bat boxes). To celebrate the new entries we organized a glorious pizza banquet (see the pics). The Black Knight Army, Navy and Air need you! Find your role and join them.