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Long day at work, tonight just 7 long recovery miles, I am going to sleep soon.

"Rest day" 5 miles in 46:00.

Long run interval style. I did 5X5k with 1k "recovery jog" 30-40" slower than my previous pace. The goal was to start the first set of 5k 20" slower than marathon pace then increasing 5" each interval and finishing the last set at marathon pace. The last 2k were just a cool down.

These were my splits:

1k 5:59/km

5k 4:50.3/km average

1k 5:23/km

5k 4:45.3/km average

1k 5:17/km

5k 4:39.8/km average

1k 5:24/km

5k 4:32.8/km average

1k 5:31/km

5k 4:30.2/km average

1k 5:25/km

1k 4:52/km

I did 20 miles in 2:34:29 4:50/km average. I am very happy and not too tired at the end.

5 miles at 8pm the heat was still unbearable.

This is the highest mileage of the week. Tomorrow a few fast miles to test my half-marathon pace and then the rest of the week will be a mini taper before sunday half-marathon. My taper consists in a few slow miles (3-4) every day, no real rest day. It is always nice to have an excuse to rest for a few days and enjoy the extra time available, until running cravings start again.

I did a general reharsal for next sunday race, shoes, shorts, shirt and race pace.

I did 1 km as a warmup and then 5k at race pace (4:07-4:10/km): 4:11, 4:10, 4:06, 4:06, 4:04. 3 more km as a cool down.

Overall I was tired and demotivated at the start, but as soon as I started the tempo run everything was going according to the plan. I whish I had at least a 10k training run at that pace during the last two weeks, it would have been a great confidence booster. 

A few days of low mileage (even with some speed yesterday) gave new life to my legs. Tonight 4 miles but I am getting really anxious to go longer and faster.

Another 4 miles a slow pace. The mental topic of tonight's run were the goals for the upcoming race.

Goal A 1:28. It is my PR done last february. It will be hard going faster than that on a tougher course.

Goal B under 1:29:18. It is my second best time for the half, I would really like to finish faster than that.

Goal C under 1:30:07. This is my fastest time on this course and it would be really nice to beat at least that time.

Everything else it means something went wrong and it will be just a training run.

Another 4 miler, it was relaxing.

Final run to check the weather, I started from the starting line of tomorrow's race went slowly over the first 2.5 km and then turned around. At 9am that part of the road was in the shade and it was completely flat and I was running >10:00/mile, in spite of that I was sweating big time.

Tomorrow it will be hot.

At a certain point I thought this race was one episode of the Tv series Disaster Date on MTV .

I was set up on a blind date with this "hot" and  "mean" half-marathon girl, the jokes were getting worse and worse but at least at the end I expected the reward of the 92 euros for lasting 92 minutes, but when the RD didn't say: "those are hidden cameras and these  people are paid actors" I realized that it was just a hot race and nothing else.

This is the closest race to my home (just 3km), I run on the course every weekend throughout the year and also every day from march until october, this is my home race.

I arrive at the start with just 20 minutes to spare, and the thermometer in the car in the shade indicated 26°C. At the starting line packed with other 1200 runners we were all already sweating. My plan was to start at 4:10/km and then half way reevaluate my  conditions. Unfortunately by km5 keeping 4:10 was no longer realistic without a major crash at the end, the sun was hot there was no shade and my pace started slowing down and this was the easiest part of the race, the flat one. Half way I was already 1:20 behind my goal, I decided to do everything possible to keep the pace under 4:30 and for the next two kms was still doable (it was slightly downhill) then the first hill arrived and all my dreams crashed at 4:40/km from that point on I was in survival mode/mood.

I finished in 1:32:30, my slowest HM time during the last 5 years. I am not too depressed about the outcome everybody had a 4-5 minute slower time, this training cycle since january is solid, this race it will be a great  motivator for the upcoming marathons hoping that this heat will finally stop.

These are  my splits (as usual per km): 4:17, 4:10, 4:06, 4:11, 4:10, 4:15, 4:14, 4:19, 4:12, 4:30, 4:24, 4:26, 4:47, 4:29, 4:36, 4:40, 4:38, 4:38, 4:39, 4:35, 4:05, final 20".

4.5 easy miles. I felt almost completely recovered but I didn't want to go longer or faster.

My feet, the bottom part, were still sore. I hope to resume my regular training schedule in a couple of days.

I really needed a good workout tonight after a long day at work. My legs were fine, I decided to do a tempo run at MP. I started trying to keep 4:30/km, I wasn't sure how far I would last at that speed, but after 5k I knew I could keep it for 10k and actually I ended up speeding up finishing a 10 k in 44:00. Then I did a slower km in 4:57, and without thinking I pushed again the pace finishing 13km in 57:30.

It was funny how this 13k were much faster than my last 13 km of my last race. Time to go to sleep.

Not enough time and will power to run longer than 5 miles. I kept a 5:00/km average  pace, a good pace in spite how I felt.

Today I was on a "shopping spree" as a result of it I am officially registered for the Pescara and Florence marathon.

Tonight I went running at 7pm, the sun disappeared behind the hills 10 minutes later by the time I finished at 8:20 it was dark. I was on a rural road around Vico lake with only few cars passing at that time but it was unsafe. 8.5 miles at 5:30km

Tomorrow night it will be the last evening I will run upthere, next week I will move to the winter running zone around the industrial area. It will be very depressing the idea of running the same 1km loop until next march 5 nights a week.

6.2 miles in 55:36, just a relaxing run after a long stressful day at work.

Fast long run interval style. 4X5000 with 1km recovery run and then final 7.2km.

These  are my splites:

1km 5:55/km

5km 4:45/km + 3"

1km 5:07/km

5km 4:42/km

1km 5:08/km

5km 4:35/km -2"

1km 5:19/km

5km 4:30/km + 4"

1km 5:15/km

7.2km 4:27/km +1"

Overall 20 miles in 2:30:48 4:43/km. This is my fastest 20 miler I have ever done in my life. The most important thing I was pushing until the end and I was not slowing down, the last 7km were my fastest ones. I am tired right now and ready for an ice bath but not completely wiped out by this run. I hope to transform this solid training run in a solid race time in a month.

Slow recovery run in the heat. It was still hot, around 90F. Tomorrow temperatures should finally drop, I am looking forward to that.

Last night a huge thunderstorm finally lowered the temperatures, but the rain came down so fast and furious that created mud slides everywhere. The road where I go running was just a muddy stream with rocks and debris. I managed to do a 10k finishig at 8pm when was completely dark and the visibility close to zero. I felt I "stole" those miles to this strange weather. Good recovery run.

Tonight was the "atypical" perfect day for running, temperatures were around 50F, the road that yesterday  was a mud stream has been completely cleaned up and a strong wind helped keeping the sky clean and the air crisp.

I wanted to do a big tempo run keeping 4:30/km for 10 miles. My legs were ready and I hit 4:30 only for the first km then all the remaining 15 splits were much lower. The wind was a tail wind going out, coming back was a headwind, it is the first time I can say a headwind was a big help because trying to fight it all the way back I kept pushing harder and harder, it was like having someone to fight and at the same time it helped me to keep my brain focused and entertained. I finished 10 miles in 1:08:45 4:18/km average.

7 miles in1 hour. Temperatures are going  up again.

6.2 miles in 58 minutes. I am still running around the lake at dusk.

I wanted to rest tonight then I ended up with shorts and shirt and I went running for a few miles. It was a warm up for tomorrow long run.

Fast long run interval style. 6X5000 with 1km recovery k at slightly slower pace and then final 2km at whatever pace was left.

These  are my splites:

1km 6:08/km

5km 4:45/km - 1"

1km 5:04/km

5km 4:40/km  +3"

1km 5:04/km

5km 4:39/km +4"

1km 5:00/km

5km 4:37/km + 1"

1km 4:59/km

5km 4:39/km +4"

5km 4:40/km

2km 4:53/km

Overall 23 miles in 2:56:12 4:46/km. I went for the last three sets of repeats slower than last saturday to be able to extend my long run up to 23 miles. During the last 2k I was definitively done and "ready" to stop. I started at 7:25am, definitively at least 25 minutes too late and I felt at the end the effect of higher temperatures. I wanted to do 23 miles ideally around 2:55, if I could have pushed the last 2k I would be there. During the last km I started playing, in my anoxic/hypoglicemic state, with the idea of finishing with 26.2 miles with the goal of finishing under 3:24. Fortunately as soon as I hit 23 miles my legs stopped and decided it was good enough. I am very  happy than I am just tired and sore but not injured. I felt I was really done only once at home when I dived in the tub filled with ice and water and I finished screaming, due to the cold water. The most interesting part happened after 20 minutes when I was ready to take a warm shower, after 2 minutes of having warm water on my legs immediately all my muscle in my left leg started cramping and seizing like crazy, they were fine a few seconds before and seconds later they were locked. I managed to stretch the whole leg, turned off the warm water and I finished the shower with lukewarm/cold water and my muscles went back to their resting/relaxed state. Definitively warm water was an incredible trigger of muscle cramps.

I decided to do this race for the following reasons: to help my team to maintain its ranking (we are currently in first position with 5 races to do), to help to drag my sorry body out of the door this morning after yesterday run. It costed only 7 euros (that will be refunded by the team) so it was a no excuse situation.

This race is perfectly measured but it is really slow, 9k are uphill and the remaining 1k is downhill.

The weather at 9am was already around 20-25°C, I did 3k as a warm up and to test my legs, they were tired but not sore. My goal was to try to keep MP for the whole distance (4:30/km). We started on time at 10 and I was already sweating, the first km had one big downhill leaving the town of Vejano and then we entered a rural road doing a long loop of about 9km to go back to the start/finish line. The whole course, except for the initial downhill and a second downhill section 1k from the end, is uphill, with big and small bumps, short or long but you keep gaining altitude, without loosing it. I was halfway in 22:04, about a minute faster than anticipated then I progressively lost my advantage and finished the whole thing in 45:08, just  8" slower than planned. I was very happy, I did a quick system check, breathing was fine and my legs were tired but not dead, I immediately went for a 3k cool down to finish the day with 10 miles.

Combining the first 32k yesterday and the 10k  today I have "done" a marathon in 3:18 and change. I know doesn't mean much but it is always good for my dreams.

I came home early so I went for another run by the lake. 8 easy and relaxing miles, before a thunderstorm started rolling in.

Tonight I officially started the winter training season, it means that there is no enough light at 7pm to go running around the lake at night and I had to retreat to the ugly loop 1k long around an industrial area, well lit and without traffic, but overall very depressing.

It will be my running ground every evening for the next 6 months.

8 miles slow  and easy.

Too many things to do tonight after work, unplanned rest day, but I will take it.

I did my first fast workout at the industrial area, 10k in 43:50 then 3k cooldown.

Temperatures are still too high.

Rest day, I drove in the evening to Pescara.