Maremma

The Next Battle. On Sunday the Black Knight and Sir Giorgio (without his humble and insolent servant Massimo) will go to Grosseto, a nice city in Tuscany, to run a trail 7.8 km long (half on the sand and half on the dirt patch). This part of Tuscany, called Maremma, is famous for the green country and 3 breeds of animals: Maremma horses, dogs and cows. From next Sunday it will also be famous because the Black Knight Army was there!!!!

Injury update. The knee doesn’t hurt if I run slowly (around 6:00/km – 9:39 ml) and for a max of 12 km (7.45 ml). It’s hard for me not to plan any race but I want to run again with a bib, so I made the decision to participate with “low competitive” spirit, only to enjoy the atmosphere.

Training since Saturday. Running: 10.7 km, 10.7 km, 12.2 km and 10.2 km.  Swimming: 1850 mt. This week I went only once to the pool to calm the allergy at the chlorine and to get some advices from the dermatologist: now I try with a specific oil before the workout and a cream after.

The Future of the Italian Rugby Team. Here are the 2 next flankers of the Italrugby. My grandsons Filippo (in photo with my daughter Elisa - the aunt -) and Leonardo:

Have a good week end

Mud and Cobblestones

The Proof. Last Sunday part of the Black Knight Army ran the Vivicittà in Rome and found a crazy path with mud and cobblestones. Here are the “direct evidences”; the Black Knight is the n° 131 and Sir Giorgio the n° 130 (we are only in the first photo). See also how beautiful is the landscape in the background:

But mud and cobblestones were not the only problem. The start and the finishing line were 2 km far and, to come back to the car, we also turned on the wrong way so, finally, we ran more than 15 km: too many for my poor damaged knee that now hurts a little.

Training. Running: sunday 12.2 km (the race) and thursday very very slow 9.3 km not to overstress the knee. Swimming: monday and today 1700 meters, wednesday 2500 meters. Why this difference? I go to 2 different swimming pools near home: in one you can swim all the time you want and in the other one no more than 45 minutes (where usually I lose 5 minutes for the warm-up and the final stretching in the water). I must mainly use the second because I am allergic at the chlorine and after every workout in the first pool (where I could swim without time limits) I spend 2 days with a strong and boring itch.

The Future. On april 29^th a trail 7.8 km long in Grosseto (Tuscany) with Sir Giorgio and on June 23 the debut in open water (swimming): 1° Tricolour Trophy 2.5 km in Torvaianica (Rome).

Happy running, biking, swimming and hiking

Rome - Vivicittà 12.2 km

The Race. This morning Sir Giorgio and the Black Knight have run a race in Rome, the Vivicittà, 12.2 km along the banks of the Tevere river. As I cannot push because of my damaged knee, we planned to do only a (different) relaxing workout, a bit faster than the usual, but that dream didn’t come true. A lot of surprises were waiting for us: only 504 runners and an unbelievable path: cobblestones at the 6° km, deep mud from the 7° until the 10° km where we could run (and in part walk) only in single file. 11° and 12° km on the cobblestones! There we also met our friend TheYogi.

Stats. We finished shoulder to shoulder because Sir Giorgio was so kind to run all the race with me. My stats: finishing time 1:04:09 at the pace of 5:15/km (8:27/ml); 292 of 504 overall; 263 of 408 men and 28 of 48 age group. Here are my first pic I have found on the web and the landscape around the path (see St. Peter). The B.K. is the first on the left - almost invisible - with the n° 131.

Training. This week, before the race, I have done 4 workouts: running 10.2 km and 11.5 km (I cannot increase the mileage to prevent worst injures); swimming 2100 meters and 1800 meters.

Have a good week full of great workouts!!!!

March

March 2012. Running 64.7 km (40.2 ml) in 7 short and slow workouts to test my damaged knee. Swimming 19200 meters in 9 workouts. In march I had 9 days of forced stop: 4 because I was on vacation in Cardiff and 5 for the flu. Later I understood that it was not a flu but an allergy (rhinitis) due to the chlorine in the pool; now I use a clip to close my nose.

March 1991. Another wonderful memory. In that year I ran my fastest half marathon: 1:31:58 but the pack was already very competitive. In fact I was 993 of 2542 overall.

Training. Since my last post I have run 4 times pain free (10.3 km - 7.1 km - 10.8 km - 12.1 km) and I have swum 3 times (2100 meters, 2200 meters, 2500 meters). I begin to think positive but with no illusions.

Viterbo. On thursday I went to Viterbo with my wife Daniela for a little of shopping, a walk through the ancient part of the city and to have lunch in a typical nice restaurant. It was a very nice day.

Have a very good Easter full of chocolate!!!!!