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Tre Comuni

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Location:

Rome,Italy

Member Since:

Dec 13, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Best marathon 3:14:40 (2011)

Best Half-Marathon 1:26:38 (2013)

Best 10k 40:22 (2009)

Best 5k 20:18 (2004)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Marathon under 3:10:00

Half marathon under 1:25:00

2013 Races


Long-Term Running Goals:

Carpe diem

Personal:

My name is Eugenio I was born near Rome, Italy, in 1972 and lived there for 29 years, then in 2001 I moved to Salt Lake City for work and for seven years and one month that was my home, since 2008 I am back to Italy. I started running in 2003 when I realized I could not ride my bike throughout the Utah winter.



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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
2308.16
Total Distance
9.50

9.5 miles at 5:28/km

Total Distance
7.50

7.5 miles at 6:03/km

Total Distance
6.40

Total Distance
7.00

Total Distance
8.10

Total Distance
7.20

Total Distance
8.20

Total Distance
7.10

Total Distance
0.00

No run today. Drove back home from vacation. I am looking forward to resuming my regular schedule. 

Total Distance
7.00

After one week running in the mountains with snow and sun, in a remote village in central Italy, I am back to the reality of life commuting and working in Rome and back home at night running in a well lit industrial area doing the same loop 10-15 times. At least my running buddy was there to share the misery. 7 miles at 5:53/km.

Total Distance
10.50

I did a very good evening workout, 10 miles at HM pace 4:18/km (1:08:48 total time), and then half mile cool down. I feel I earned the right to have dinner tonight :-).

Comments
From TBean on Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 16:18:22 from 63.241.173.64

Boun Appetito!

That 3:15 marathon goal is looking obtainable with workouts like that.

From Camillo on Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 03:43:24 from 193.205.233.25

Thank Tbean for your kind words but I have still work to do to get to 3:15.

After moving back to Italy my running was just basic maintenance and I didn't run any marathon or half marathon until 2010, just lots of 10s. My training was really skewed toward faster pace and it showed last spring when I did a half in 1:31 and the marathon after one month in 3:27. It really showed lack of mileage. For this reason I tried to run as many miles as possible in 2010 (and I did it), and now I try to include some marathon pace runs that "obviously" end up being a little bit too fast. I will try to keep a decent mileage with long runs and see what happens.

Total Distance
7.20

7.2 miles at 5:38/km, recovering run in the evening in the industrial area. Not much else to report.

Total Distance
8.00

Evening run 7.5 miles at 4:28/km then 0.5 miles cool down. Another good workout to test/train my perspective/ideal/dream marathon pace.

Comments
From Adam RW on Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 11:47:39 from 155.101.152.123

I really like the title of your blog. Nice running so far this year.

From Camillo on Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 06:00:23 from 193.205.233.25

I am happy with my running so far.

I took the title of my blog from an Harry Potter book, the rest of the sentence is "more than our abilities" (it didn't fit in the allowed space).

From Adam RW on Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 09:37:45 from 155.101.241.100

I had actually looked it up after I made the comment and found it funny that it came from Potter. It is a good quote. I think my aims are complete now for the next three weeks it is crunch and finalize time. How is the grant situation in Italy?

From Camillo on Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 11:08:01 from 193.205.233.25

Grant situation is very different and is very bad, just two "reliable" agencies funded through public support, one for genetic diseases and the other one for cancer research.

Last year I was lucky enough to get a grant on cancer research for young investigators. It is very small compared to a US grant but it is life so I can work on my own project.

I am one of the few people around with a funded project I am feeling very lucky indeed.

From Adam RW on Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 17:02:11 from 155.101.152.123

You take what you can get, and congratulations for getting what you can. It is a painful process that only a few of us would willingly subject ourselves to.

I'm really "enjoying" the grant writing now and though it is super painful I am finally finding the words to express why I do the science I do...

Total Distance
7.00

Slow recovery run 7 miles at 6:15/km. I am recovering from yesterday and "tapering" for tomorrow long run.

Total Distance
20.00

Morning long run around Vico lake. 20 miles at 5:34/km.

It wasn't very fast but I really wanted to "rest" a little bit after some fast runs this week and I still wanted to be on my for 3 hours.

Have a good relaxing week end.

Total Distance
9.00

I really enjoyed the spring weather (70F at the end inside my car). 9 miles at 5:36/km around Vico lake. Everybody decided to do the same thing walking, running, biking, sunbathing or just enjoying the really good weather; according to the weather forecast there will be snow on the ground in Rome again by the end of this week.

 

Total Distance
7.00

After work I spent one hour at the tire shop and finally got home tired and without any desire to go running. 

After running for two days in the morning, with beautiful views and warm temperatures, going back to my usual route at night in the dark with high humidity and cold wind it was not fun.

In spite of all negative thoughts I managed to do my usual 7 miles at relaxing pace (5:47/km).

Comments
From Colby Park on Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 06:12:59 from 139.139.35.70

Eugenio,

Hey thanks for the message. Hope your running is going well. Yeah, the worst part is that I can't figure out what is wrong with my lower leg. Something is enflamed and swollen just above the ankle and off of the shin bone...who knows. Good luck with your training and maybe next year. I am in Vicenza, so if you are ever up North or know of some good races, let me know if my schedule permitts I will come.

-Colby

From Camillo on Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 06:52:00 from 79.49.23.187

I will let you know.

Last november I was planning to do Florence marathon but three days before the race I fell sick with cold and fever and sore throat so I DNSed.

I will try again this year, probably, if everything goes well with my training and life.

Total Distance
4.50

Not enough time to run tonight, 4.5 miles at 5:36/km.

 

Total Distance
16.20

Big evening run, 16.2 miles at MP (4:29/km). I have never done so many miles at MP in the past, I am very excited and the marathon is just 2 months away.

As a side effect I have nausea and not feeling hungry at all, right now I don't care I feel very happy.

Total Distance
7.00

Slow evening run. The good news after last night run are: I am not very sore, I am feeling good overall  and it is a good excuse to run slowly tonight. Just 7 miles at 5:51/km not much else to report.

Total Distance
5.00

Evening run 5 miles at 5:32/km. I enjoyed the cool breeze that brought rain and then at the end snow flurries.

Comments
From Burt on Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 15:22:54 from 206.19.214.144

Nice miles this week. Or, as they say in Italy, "Nizza miles questa settimana."

From Camillo on Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 06:18:10 from 62.211.196.187

Hey Burt, you must speak italian very well to create such great jokes :-)!!!!

I usually make those kind of jokes around here too, but they are considered by my friends and co-workers too intellectual.

I guess those kind of jokes work very well only among people speaking both languages, for example among italians who lived in US is not uncommon to italianize english verbs that we don't have in our language. Examples: droppare (to drop), liccare (to leak), mecciare (to match), fittare (to fit). Sometimes I forget the contest and I use them around here too and people is looking at me as I am having a brain stroke. Have a good week end.

From Burt on Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 11:33:00 from 72.223.84.236

I just googled the translation. I don't speak Italian at all. Only Spanish and a little Catalan.

From Camillo on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 05:26:41 from 193.205.233.25

Ha ha.

When I finished writing my comments I thought for a second that maybe you were just using a translator(not making a joke), but then I decided it would be bad saying that, so I decided to keep my comment.

Nizza in italian is just the name of Nice, nothing else, nice can be translated in different ways (like good, cute, kind), it depends on the context.

Total Distance
6.20

Second run of the season with snow on the ground,  in some areas around the lake was about a foot. Today I could not care less of my pace or miles (no Garmin) I just enjoyed being outside while nobody was around, the view of the lake and the trees around were magnificent, the only negative aspect this snow (compared to Utah snow) has an high content of water so after 300 meters my feet and ankles were wet and for the rest of the run.

I really enjoyed the run. Have a good week end.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day.

Total Distance
7.00

Evening run around my neighbourough 7 miles at 5:33/km. 

Total Distance
10.00

Another good workout at marathon pace is in the book. 10 miles by myself at 4:22/km.

Now mini taper before sunday race.

Total Distance
6.20

When I was on the train on the way home I realized it was the perfect evening for not going to run, all excuses perfectly lined up in front of me: tired from yesterday's run, tired from a full day at work, I have to go grocery shopping,  to iron my shirts, to finish a presentation for tomorrow, my running partner was not going to join me and it was raining.

I got home from the grocery store, I put my running clothes on and I went out and I decided to stay out for one full hour even for just a long walk. I ended up with a perfect 10km at 6:00/km. I am done with ironing and now I have to work on my presentation.

This was a very good mental training.


Total Distance
7.30

Nice relaxing run 7.3 miles at 5:55/km. Time for dinner now.

Total Distance
3.50

I managed to run 3.5 miles after the department meeting was done and before dinner.

At least I will be rested for the upcoming race.

Total Distance
2.50

2.5 miles at slow pace.

 



Race: Tre Comuni (13.66 Miles) 01:34:54, Place overall: 266, Place in age division: 43
Total Distance
13.66

This race is called Tre Comuni (three towns) race because the race starts in Nepi goes to Civita Castellana and comes back to Nepi through Castel Sant’Elia. It is a 22 km race (not the 22.3 km they advertise, they cut it a couple of years ago but they still advertise the same distance) very popular in the Rome area in spite of its altitude profile and for sure not a race where you can establish your PR (the highest point is 800 feet and the lowest point is 200feet above see level).

 

Many consider this race the beginning of their running season and just do it as a training run.

The morning started with a 10 minutes drive to Nepi, it was raining, just light rain and temperatures around 41F not too bad overall. I stayed inside my car until 20 minutes before the start and then I went out to find a good spot at the start, because with 2000 people and a first km uphill on a narrow road passing under a roman aqueduct (see picture below) it is very difficult to keep your speed.

 

My goal was to try to keep 4:10/km until mile 8 at the lowest point and then manage to finish under 1:35.

After the first km rain stopped and the conditions were just perfect, kms were passing fast, these are my splits for the first 13km (8 miles) that in spite of the continuous up and down where pretty consistent and exactly where I wanted them to be:

4:08/km, 4:12, 4:11, 4:09, 4:01, 4:07, 4:06, 4:08, 4:08, 4:11, 3:58, 4:07, 3:57.

Then fun began when we started going up the steep canyon walls and my splits show the different kind of “entertainment”:

5:19/km, 4:56, 4:37, 4:31, 4:31, 4:38, 4:31, 4:22, 4:19.

I really wanted to go back to low 4:2x after the first two steep kms, but it was hard and only during the last two kms with the town of Nepi in sight across another canyon I started pushing again a good pace. The last km was a killer, was uphill and on cobblestone on a narrow street but within a “tunnel” of cheering people (that was the only crowd support throughout the race, except for the farmers along the way angry because the road was close to traffic), that’s why my final split was “good”.

I managed to achieve my goal to stay under 1:35, but considering the last two “decent” final kms, I think I left a few seconds to the course, I mentally gave up a little bit after the first big hill and I could not push any “faster” pace even though my breathing was fine and I did not have any leg problems. I have to keep working on my mental training.

Final statistics: final time 1:34:54 good for 266th place out of 1978 finishers, 43rd in my age group, male winner won with 1:08:54, first woman with 1:20:14. My team placed 17th with 27 finishers.

 

Comments
From TBean on Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 16:01:13 from 63.241.173.64

Nice job! Those hills are mentally tough when you are halfway or further into a race.

From Adam RW on Sat, Feb 05, 2011 at 20:06:57 from 155.101.147.12

Good start to the racing season. I would have loved to have seen that course. I think as an American I often don't appreciate what I'm missing in national history.

Total Distance
8.50

8.5 slow recovery miles at 6:16/km. Legs and body are still tired from yesterday but no specific pain. In a couple of days I should be able to resume a decent pace during my training runs.

Total Distance
8.50

Another slow recovery run 8.5 miles at 6:00/km. I am just tired and eager to go to sleep.

Total Distance
5.00

Not enough time to run tonight, 5 miles no watch. Recovery is going fine.

Total Distance
10.00

My legs are almost back to normal, 10 miles at 5:24/km but I started pretty slow and finished at marathon pace. I am very happy that last race didn't disrupt too much my training.

Total Distance
5.00

5 miles at 5:30/km, not much else for tonight.

Total Distance
18.10

I am rarely able to do during a training what I planned in advance, today was not one of those day. I wanted to run 29 km at marathon pace and even though my running buddy bailed out (he sent me a message late last night) I accomplished that. The only "negative" thing was that it was an awesome day with perfect running conditions, I felt like I had an unfair advantage, other than that I felt great from the beginning to the end, kms were passing fast, I didn't loose my concentration and during the last km I really felt great, not slowing down. I am building up my confidence for the upcoming marathon.

29.2km in 2:10:34 4:30/km

Total Distance
7.00

7 miles at 5:51/km. It was a slow recovery run, but considering yesterday's run, I feel almost completely recovered.

Total Distance
8.60

I know my entries are boring a few big runs and a lot of recovery runs, this is the way it is right now. Another recovery run, 8.6 miles at 5:51/km.

My focus is pretty much on my long runs at marathon pace during the weekend and lots of slow miles during the week.

Total Distance
8.20

8.2 miles at 5:53/km. Evening run alone, not much else.

Total Distance
8.20

Another 8.2 miles at 5:44/km, life is officially back in my legs.

Total Distance
8.60

Tonight I felt really good but I didn't want to push the pace too much, I started very slow and progressively accelerated to marathon pace and a little below. 8.6 miles total at 4:52/km average.

Ready to rock and roll this weekend with another long run.

Comments
From TBean on Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 16:21:43 from 63.241.173.64

Nice job. You're getting some good mileage in this week.

From Camillo on Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 14:57:27 from 79.47.208.156

Thanks TBean, I have just 2-3 weeks left of hard training before the marathon and the half. "Marathon Fear" (or better marathon's wall fear) does miracles for my mileage.

Total Distance
5.00

Long stressful day at work I was very glad to go running to clean up my brain. 5 miles at 5:33/km. It was my rest day for the week before tomorrow long run. 

Total Distance
20.00

I wanted to run, after last week, a longer distance at marathon pace and for all the obvious reasons (last week long fast run, last week mileage and just two days ago another 6 good miles at marathon pace) did not happen. I started feeling so and so but well rested, not great, but it was OK until I reached the first incline of the road I started slowing down, bad sign not even a mile into the run. Last week I was always 10-20 seconds under goal time, today I struggled to stay 10-20 seconds above, when I got to mile 13.7 with a decent hill in front of me I gave up, since then things went from slower to bad, I did 13.7 in 1:39 and the remaing 6.5 miles in 54:00 in spite of the fact I was trying to stay below 8min/mile. I walked a mile at the end to get to the car just to relax my muscles and keep my legs moving, but I was really tired.

Negative things : I am not able to sustain yet two big runs at MP on two consecutive weekends on high mileage.

Positive things: it was another spectacular spring day with perfect running conditions, I did at least another half marathon and change at MP and I managed to complete on dead legs 6.5 miles (alone).

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day today. Trying to recover from yesterday's run. One hour core exercises.

Total Distance
0.00

I got home and I was sick with fever and headache.

Total Distance
2.00

I am feeling much better than yesterday, I went out for a short run and I struggled for two miles. 

Total Distance
8.50

I was feeling much better tonight I went out with the idea of doing a 10k and then I warmed up, legs and lungs were doing their job, I ended up with a few more km.

I am happy that things are going back to normal.

Total Distance
7.00

Total Distance
10.00

Total Distance
5.00

The last 7 days I ended up doing an un-intentional tapering week. I discovered that doing two long runs for two consecutive weekends at marathon pace it is not in my legs and in my brain. During the second one after 13-14 miles I slowed down big time with my legs totally numb toward the end. On top of that the next few days I got sick and the rest of the week was stressfull due to a big deadline this coming wednesday. In spite of that I wanted to do another 13 miler last saturday at marathon pace thinking that I was completely recovered, but it didn't happen, after ten miles I was already exhausted and I stopped after 10 miles. 

I learned the lesson the hard way, too many miles too fast combined with stress at work means disaster. Now I am in real recovery phase, this week just a few slow miles with the goal to try to recover for sunday's race.

I think I got a little bit "overtrained" but I am still hopeful for sunday, otherwise, as usual, I will get what I can. I am keeping my "legs" crossed (not much running).

Total Distance
0.00

Rest and relaxing day, at least in the running department. Last day of stress at work.

Total Distance
5.00

A nice 5 mile run, my legs feel much better than last saturday. Tomorrow another rest day just to be cautious for next sunday. Weather is cold again, strong wind from the north, conditions for next sunday look bad, oh well not much I can do about it.

Comments
From Camille on Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 16:18:50 from 71.223.65.111

I hope you don't mind me checking out your blog. It caught my eye because of how simular your blog name is to my own.

Good luck with whatever it is you have going on this Sunday. Hopefully the weather will work out in your favor after all.

From Camillo on Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 13:52:47 from 79.52.220.18

Camille

sorry for the delay answering. Thanks for checking my blog. I assume Camille is your name, for me Camillo was my nickname when I was a kid.

I have a half marathon this coming sunday,

this race is always windy because we running along the sea so no matter which direction this time of the year is always windy, on the warm or on the cold side but always windy.

From Camille on Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 14:22:10 from 71.223.65.111

Yes, Camille is my first name. :o) Is there a story behind your childhood nick name?

Good luck tomorrow. It makes sense why the race is windy. Hopefully it is in your favor, if not for the whole race, for part of it.

From Camillo on Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 06:49:24 from 79.49.23.187

This nickname started when I was 14 and I started shaving my beard like this guy

Camillo Benso di Cavour (he is an 1800 politician from Turin, you can Google his name to see what kind of beard I had)plus I had glasses like him, so for one summer that was my name. When the beard went away the name follwed. After that I kept using it as my alternative name, I would have preferred that name instead of mine, but Eugenio in my family has a strong tradition on both sides so my parents thought it was the perfect choice.

Total Distance
5.00

Last training run before sunday's half marathon. 5 miles at 6:00/km.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day, cleaning up, pruning trees and taking care of the garden. I am trying to relax my mind.

Race: Roma Ostia half marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:27:58, Place overall: 1094, Place in age division: 230
Total Distance
13.10

The short version I started with the goal of keeping 4:10/km till the end for 1:28 final time and I finished in 1:27:58.

 

The longest version. I don’t get why this race is so popular (about 10000 runners) it is not scenic and it is just a long straightaway on a freeway from Rome basket ball arena to the sea (Ostia), for those of you living in Utah it is like running from the Energy Solutions Arena to the Salt Lake marina, on I-80, or on the causeway from Antelope Island. No crowd support along the way except for the wind usually coming from the sea inland making the whole run miserable and nothing to engage your eyes except for a couple of hills.

Back to my day. I woke up at 6 am and by 7 I was on my way to Rome with my running buddy. We parked our car ½ mile from the start but very close to the subway station, where we would come back. We realized that the temperatures were not as low as expected, around 35 degrees, cloudy sky and no wind, we thought that if these were the conditions in Ostia it would have been perfect.

We stopped at the porta potties, we undressed for the race and we put on a plastic cover to try to stay warm along with a couple of cotton T-shirt, and then we headed for our corral, called in Italian “the cage”. We went inside to try to stay as close as we could to the front line and we waited there 30 minutes warming up just jumping up and down along with the rest of the crowd.

Finally at 9:15 sharp race started we got rid of our extra "clothes" and in 15 secs we started our race. My running buddy went ahead immediately, he is faster than me, and I saw him again at the finish line. After 1km there was the huge wall of the 1:30 pacing group occupying all four lanes so I decided to push to pass them and finally I was able to run my own pace. From km 2 to km 6 I was on pace (or slightly ahead, due to the surge to pass the 1:30 group) and I felt very relaxed and the conditions were still great. First short hill (a few hundred meters) I slowed down just a little but then I recovered my cruising pace immediately, second hill was longer approx. the whole km and I slowed down even more but I recovered lost time in the down hill side. The third hill (called “ il camping” hill, because there is campground at the top) is the worst is 1.5 km long and after two hills can kill your pace for the rest of the race, plus on top of the hill you can see the finish line (we were at mile 8) and if it is windy you will meet Sir Wind right there. I accepted my fate and I started slowing down all the way to 4:56, instant speed, for a 4:46 average pace, at the top there was a marching band but more importantly there was no wind. The next km was flat at the top, I kept loosing ground my legs were dead, I felt impossible to recover my top speed. On the downhill section, I went back to my 4:10 pace and I felt almost worse, if I could not go under 4:10 downhill no way I could keep pushing the same pace for the rest of the race. I decided to take one km at a time and strange enough I started again going under 4:10, with two km from the end my legs were pieces of lead, I kept my head down, the only real mental push was during the last km when I realized that even slowing down to 5min/km I would still improve my PR. After the finish line I stopped the GPS and I could not believe I was under 1:28.

I found my running buddy, he finished with a good 1:25:39, we collected our stuff and we walked for another km to the bus that took us to the train station to get the subway back to our car in Rome.

My goal for this race was to try to go under 1:27, I started conservatively shooting for 1:28 and then I realized that with those hills I could not keep the pace for a faster finish. I am incredibly happy about my performance, I mentally never gave up, thanks also to the huge crowd of runners, every time I slowed down I was passed by ten people so I knew right away I was slowing down, that’s the reason because many people do their PR here, in spite of the hills and the wind.

Plus as added bonus weather was perfect, overall a great race. Now time to recover and taper for the marathon in three weeks. Stay tuned.

 My splits:

Split             Time     min/Km          Delta   min/Km

Km 5         0:20:39       4,07              0:20:39     4,07

Km 10       0:41:31        4,09             0:20:52     4,10

Km 15       1:02:35        4,10             0:21:04     4,12

Arrivo        1:27:58        4,10             0:25:23     4,09

 

Comments
From Kam on Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 18:23:32 from 68.66.163.179

Great job! Congrats on the PR. I hope to follow in your footsteps sometime this summer.

From TBean on Tue, Mar 01, 2011 at 17:39:24 from 63.241.173.64

Nice steady pace and good time for this early in the year.

With that time in the half you may have a marathon PR in the near future.

From Camillo on Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 06:48:20 from 79.49.23.187

Kam,thanks. With fast times you will do even better no doubts!!

Tbean, thanks for your encouragement, marathon is a wilder and more unpredictable beast.

Total Distance
4.00

I went out just for a slow motion jog to keep blood flowing in my muscles. I stopped after 4 miles because it started raining I didn't want to get wet. Legs tonight are already much better than this morning, my right leg is much more sore than my left one, this is the first time I noticed this asymmetry.

Total Distance
5.00

Another slow recovery run 5 miles in 52:40. My goal for tonight's run was to run longer and farther than yesterday. Unfortunately tonight I didn't have the luxury of stay dry, because it was already raining when I started and after 2km I was soaking wet.

My legs are still sore, my right quadriceps is more sore a lot more than my left one, but full recovery is in sight. This is the first time after a half marathon I am feeling so sore, it is very similar to marathon soreness and for this reason I am very "happy" (obviously only a runner can think is good feeling crippled), it means I left on the road all I had.

 


Total Distance
5.00

Another wet and rainy and cold recovery run, 5 miles a little bit faster than yesterday in 48 minutes. Legs are feeling much better

Total Distance
4.00

Total Distance
6.20

Total Distance
17.50

Last long run before the race. I wanted to stay on my feet for 2 hours and 30 minutes and I finished in 2:35. It was refreshing running slow during the day in spite of the light rain and humid weather it felt relaxing. Two more weeks to rest and finish the recover from the half and I will be ready for the marathon.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles at 5:24/km. I am afraid to say that I completely recovered from Saturday run and I am ready to taper for the next 10 days. Last november I was feeling great two weeks before Florence marathon and then 4 days before the race I fell sick with bronchitis, fever and sore throat. I will try to focus my mind on positive aspects.

Total Distance
3.10

No enough time to run tonight, "tapering" doubts are coming.

Total Distance
7.00

7 miles at 5:10/km. Tonight speed came back into my legs, if the marathon was no approaching so fast it would have been a perfect day for a fast workout. At least I can feel my legs behaving in a normal way, no complain.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles at 5:50/km, nothing special. Just a few more days of this and I should be ready for the marathon.

Comments
From TBean on Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 15:17:41 from 63.241.173.64

Good Luck in the Marathon!!

Total Distance
6.20

Total Distance
10.50

Total Distance
6.20

Two more runs before the marathon. This is the time when all doubts are coming out. Plus during the last month I did not run as often as I would. I also started questioning myself if it is a good idea doing an half and a full marathon three weeks apart (the reason I did them is because they are the two greatest races around here). This is the second year I am playing this scheme and I am not sure if I will do it again. I am not concerned about physical recovery but more about my mental strength. After the half I felt I achieved a great result and it was really difficult to be "hungry" again for a full marathon. I know I know this is just the usual taper madness, I have to trust my training, but because my training was not very strong during the last thirty days doubts are getting stronger and stronger.

There is not much I can do about it right now and somehow write them down helps a little bit, at least tonight I felt very relaxed, the first couple of miles were under an heavy rain shower and then when I was fully wet it stopped raining and the rest of the run was good.

Tomorrow rest day and my ritual haircut before the marathon.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles at 5:45/km. One more run on friday and then the big on sunday. Tonight it was raining from the beginning, I ended up wet and stronger. This run will go in the books as a good mental training run.

Total Distance
1.50

I didn't go out to do 1.5 miles, I wanted 5 or 6 as my last run before the race. I had a bad headache all the afternoon I was hoping it would go away while running (sometimes it does) but it didn't so after 10 minutes I was feeling worse with nausea and I went back home.

This is the marathon cycle with the largest "taper" I have ever experienced almost five weeks excluding the half marathon 3 weeks ago. I am not very happy about it but at least I should be well rested. My original three goals for sunday's race were: goal A 3:10-3:15 goal B under 3:20 goal C under 3:27 (my 2010 time); right now I am still shooting for goal A and I will ready to accept with a smile any finishing time will come.

 



Race: Rome Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:24:21, Place overall: 1396, Place in age division: 170
Total Distance
26.20

This was my 11th marathon, not the one that I planned but I am still happy about the result achieved (it was my goal C to go under 3:27). I was shooting for sub 3:15 but it was not in my legs today.

This is the recap of the race: everything was perfect at 7:00 am we were at the starting area, cool temperatures around 8 degrees Celsius with a light breeze from the north. We entered the designated corrals at 8 and then at 9:07 we moved. The first 2 km were a little bit congested but I was happy to have a "wall" of people to block my stupidity and by mile 10 I was perfectly were I wanted to be on track for a 3:13-3:14 finish time. I passed the half with 1:36:40 and the whole system was fine, I was running smoothly and I was very proud not having pushed a faster pace, then all of a sudden in the next 5 km I started slowing down and by the 30th km I was in a total drama. I could not go under 5 min/km my breathing was fine but my legs were no longer cooperating with my will to push. I straggled until the end, I didn't give up but I watched my goal B slowly going away without having the possibility to fight and then I finished with the just one goal left.

These are the emotions from the race: I was really looking forward to running this race after last year, it is an incredible feeling if you are born around Rome to have the honor to run on some the streets in downtown (where only cars are allowed), empty just for the race. After the start, the race goes through some residential areas not that beautiful, at mile 6 we rejoined the river Tiber and we followed it back and forth for the next 13 miles, sun and blue skies were just picture perfect and the entrance in the road leading to St Peter was just as special as last year. Approaching St. Peter was something really unique, it was the only place were the stream of people running in front of me looked so small in the vast emptiness of St. Peter square, after leaving that area and the half was behind we entered the no-man's land of a non descriptive area where no supporters were around until mile 20 when we re-entered Rome downtown. This part was full of supporting people, we run through many narrow streets and then through Piazza Navona, Via del Corso, Spanish steps, Fontana di Trevi  and the scenery was great, the last two km took us around the Foro and the main archeological area until the arch of the last km had the Coliseum in the background, last hill around the Coliseum a short downhill and the finish line was in sight.

Overall it was a great experience. Rome marathon is a hard marathon in spite of being a sea level flatish race, there are many ups and downs, sharp corners and the "official" 5 miles of uneven cobblestones make the race hard on your ankles. Only during the two Rome marathons I had at the end really bad calf cramps, I never experienced them before (after Ogden, Salt Lake, Des News and Park City) and I think cobblestones are responsible. I missed goal A and goal B and I consider my time only a partial consolation, I started this race with the sincere hope that under well 3:20 was easily achievable, but I learned that the word "easy" must not be used in the same sentence with "marathon". I missed the last month of training because the half marathon and a deadline at work. I am still a student in this field, I need more mileage and more mileage. In three weeks I will have a trail marathon, it won't be a redemption race more a fun/adventure race.

Next road marathon next fall.

 


Comments
From TBean on Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 18:36:06 from 63.241.173.64

Great try on the marathon. Sounds like you were where you wanted to be half way through for your A goal but it just wasn't meant to be.

From Camillo on Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 16:49:58 from 79.47.220.76

Ahah!! Thanks TBean for you words for sure I tried my best, but I didn't consider the second half that ended up being just a decent training run, not even very fast. Marathon is always full of surprises that's why is so loved!!!

From Kam on Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 16:48:52 from 68.66.163.179

Excellent race! Man, the second half of a marathon is harsh. I'm sure that surface didn't help at all. Take what you have learned, have a good, uninterrupted training cycle, (if such a thing is possible) and you'll hit that a-goal in the fall.

From Camillo on Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 16:11:47 from 79.46.215.131

Kam, you read my mind my goal for my next marathon is to have a good uninterrupted training cycle, plus I wont have the excuse of the winter weather.

From Adam RW on Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 09:55:50 from 155.101.152.123

I can't even imagine. Great job! I hope everything is treating you well. Missed you on St. Pat's day. I only wish I would have joined the group while you were still here.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day. Actually I went for a brisk walk at night just to relax.

Total Distance
3.20

First run after the marathon, my legs are almost recovered, calves are ok, cramps did not leave any residual soreness and my quadriceps are just a little bit tense. I will keep this mileage for the rest of the week just to enjoy the spring weather, next week I will start again to increase my miles.

Total Distance
3.30

3.3 miles at whatever pace it is left in my legs, no watch, just enjoyed the evening breeze waiting impatiently for the warm italian spring weather and more hours of light at night for running next week after the daylight saving time change.

Total Distance
3.50

Another good recovery run of 3.5 miles at night. The weather is still relatively cold at night, spring time is not here yet.

Total Distance
3.20

Another short recovery run, actually this is the second run completely pain free since sunday. Life is not back yet into my legs but I am working on it. Tomorrow long run to check the course of the trail marathon, it will be more a fun exploratory run than a real run.

Total Distance
13.40

I wanted to explore some of the trails of the upcoming trail marathon, my original plan was to do 16-20 miles but at the top of a hill 7 miles from my car I realized my legs were still fried from last race. I turned around and headed home. On the way down and during the last 3 miles I was really tired, at least I enjoyed the good cool sunny  weather. Enjoy your weekend.

Total Distance
5.30

A nice run along the Adriatic sea in Pescara. Temperature, sunny skies and a cool breeze made it a perfect run. My legs are still tired but toward the end of the run I felt I was able to push the pace again, 5.3 miles in 54 minutes. 

Total Distance
6.20

Thanks to the Daylight Savings time change, at 7pm there was light, so we started our "spring-summer" season going running near the lake. It was refreshing not running the same loop in the industrial area over and over and even though it was past sunset with cloudy skies there was enough light to enjoy a good run. My running buddy and I officially celebrated the end of the winter season with a decent recovery run. My plan for this week is to keep 6 miles/day for the rest of the week hoping that some slow miles might help the post-marathon recovery.

Total Distance
6.50

It was a good run, perfect weather, legs are finally cooperating. More than a 10k in 52:39.

Spring is here.

Total Distance
6.20

Good progressive run from 6:00/km to 4:30/km toward the end. A nice 10km in 53:30.

Total Distance
6.20

Tonight I wanted to check my legs and I wanted to see if my "dream" MP was still there. I started at 5:00/km I progressed in a couple of km to cruising speed (4:30/km) and then I progressively went faster to catch up the initial slow kms. Overall a 10km in 44:20 faster and better than expected. It is a good start for a new spring-summer training cycle. 

Total Distance
5.00

Good run, 5 miles in 43:20. The sunset on the hills was really beautiful this evening.

Comments
From TBean on Fri, Apr 01, 2011 at 15:54:47 from 63.241.173.64

Great week for having run a recent marathon.

From Camillo on Sat, Apr 02, 2011 at 15:55:50 from 95.236.10.250

TBean,

I decided to keep a 6.2 miles a day during this second week after/before a marathon as a recovery/"tapery" schedule.

I am not sure if it will work but at least I am out enjoying the spring weather, without pushing too much.

Total Distance
6.20

I did another 6.2 miles a 54 minutes something. I decided for this week to keep a 10k as a maintenance/recovery/taper and at least I succeeded. A few more runs before next week trail marathon. This trail run will be more a fun/training race/run. I am really looking forward to starting a more regular running schedule without having a marathon in the near future.

Spring exploded today blue skies, warm temperatures, cool breeze, perfect day to be out.

Total Distance
11.60

My original plan was to do a 10 miler slow and easy, but I was alone and temperatures were kind of warm for this time of the year, I did not trust too much my will power, when I met a couple of friends running in a different direction I decided to join them so there was no turning around.

Pace was nice and easy, conversation was not that great because they were on the last section of their 18 miler so they were struggling a little bit and could not care less of my desire to talk.

Today for the first time after the marathon my legs were trying to tell me to push the pace just a little bit, but next weekend race will give them plenty of opportunities to go faster if they still want. It was more a summer morning rather than a spring one, everyone was out on the lake beach to take all the sun possible. Crazy weather.

Total Distance
0.00

Planned rest day, the headache was supporting this decision.

 

Comments
From Kam on Mon, Apr 04, 2011 at 16:07:22 from 68.66.163.179

Good call. Running with a headache is sub-optimal.

Total Distance
6.20

A good relaxing run 6.2 miles in 55 minutes. A strong wind from the north cleared up the skies and lowered the temperatures. I am feeling recovered from the marathon and ready to assault another one next sunday.

Total Distance
5.00

Another nice run, 5 miles at whatever pace.

One more run on friday.

Total Distance
0.00

Planned rest day. For next sunday's race I don't have any real goal. I would like to start slow and easy, the first 2 km are straight uphill, and trying to keep an easy pace until km 19 when we reach the highest point of the race and then on a more rolling terrain trying to keep a strong finish pace until the end.

This race will be my third of fourth trail race (after the Bonneville shoreline trail marathons and the Wahsatch steeplechase) but obviously on a smaller scale compared to the other two Utah races.

Total altitude gain will be approx. 1600meters considering that the whole race is held on hills no higher than 1200m and it starts at 800m the organizers did a pretty good job to include all the steepest sections possible.

This is not a goal but more a prediction, I think I should be able to finish between 4:15 and 4:45, but really any finish time will be welcome. After three big races since the beginning of the year I am really looking forward to some more "relaxing" training time, increasing mileage, and a more regular schedule without worrying too much about tapering, recovering and racing.

According to the forecast and current weather right now, sunday it will be perfect more summer than spring but no rain (and mud), warm temperatures and a light breeze.

Total Distance
4.00

4 sweet miles. Weather right now is crazy is definitively summer no spring at all, temperatures are around 30 degrees Celsius (80 F).

Race: Ecomaratona Monti Cimini (trail marathon) (26.2 Miles) 04:50:50, Place overall: 42
Total Distance
26.20

This was my 2nd marathon in 3 weeks, 2nd trail marathon of my "running career", 12th marathon since 2004.

I don't consider myself a trail runner even though I spent a considerable amount of miles on trails.

Trail running around here is not big and this race was at its first edition with 140 runners. It represents a decent number considering also that 30 miles away there was also an half marathon with 390 people. In Italy races are usually this size because to race you need a medical certificate and being part of a sport group, so this keeps away most of the occasional runners.

This race was just 10 minutes drive from my house in the beautiful monastery-town of San Martino al Cimino. I woke up at 6:30 and by 7:30 I was on my way to the start. At 8:00 I was already around the starting line chatting with people, no pressure to gain the first positions, just enjoying the friendly atmosphere in preparation for the race.

The race starting line was at the north gate of the town (very narrow approx. one car-wide) and then we immediately started going straight uphill on asphalt road for 2km to reach the crater ridge line. This is a volcanic territory with hills no higher than 1200 meters and the whole race consisted on climbing and descending the walls of this volcanic lake (Vico lake) and some of the highest peaks around. After 2km, the rest of the race until km 40 was on trails, then again 2 km on asphalt to go back to San Martino.

I started enjoying the hill and then I tried hard to restrain myself until km 17. During this section where we lost altitude, I restrained myself probably a little bit too much, but it was already hot and I was sweating too much. At km 17 started the most important climb of the day with 2km to reach the top of Monte Cimino no views from the top because the forest is too thick, but the whole ground in any direction in the top 50 meters was completely covered with white and blue flowers. It was really beautiful, I stopped with other runners around to take a group picture, even though we didn't know each other, we felt we were sharing the same feelings.

We dropped down to reach an aid station and then we climbed back up through a different route and we headed back to the crater lake.

At km 20 there was an aid station "manned" by five silent girls (they didn't look italian) offering water and the usual staff, I thought I heard one whispering something in english, so I said loud with my worst american-english accent "Ey has it going girls!!!!!!!" and they exploded in laughing and comments and wanted to chat and talk, they were from all over US but none of them from Utah, I didn't ask them what they were doing in the middle of nowhere at an aid station of a trail marathon and it will remain a mistery. From km20 to km 29 we regained all the altitude lost during the first part, one hill after the other partly walking partly running, this was also the hardest point, all negative thoughts kicked in, at a fountain I submerged my head in the water, I ate some candies and kept moving to the aid station at km 29 at the top of the crater.

That aid station had loud music and two very nice cheering women-angels, I drank some more water and gatorade, ate some more food and probably the combination of all those things together brough new life to my legs. Next 3 km were straight down to the lake and I was flying on a technical trail like I was crazy, I couldn't believe how fast I was going down compared to the misery of 10 minutes earlier, I reached the bottom and then moved along on a rolling section at slower pace until I reached the swampy area of the lake. This was at km35 only 7 km to go with 2 of them on a dry mud/sandy mosquito infested terrain until I reached the base of the crater again. Then another 2 km straight uphill and this was painful, I was running the last 2 km with another guy and we were walking uphill, when at certain point I realized I was alone because he stopped and he was trying to recover, I kept moving up until there was a runner in distress seating on a rock with some volunteers around, he was feeling sick and nauseous and he couldn't keep moving, we were on a single track trail and no vehicle could come down, the doctor was on his way down but I wasn't sure how they could move the runner without his collaboration.

I started moving again I reached after another km the top and the end of the trail and the ambulance with the doc just arrived. The doctor with his tools was nicely dressed and there was no way he could go down for 1 km with his leather shoes, I told him more or less what was going on and then I kept moving while they called a guy on motorcycle to try to bring the runner to the ambulance. At that point 2 km of pure downhill hell separeted me from the finish line and I think I was moving really at 5k speed ignoring my screaming quads. The last twist of the race was that they made us go to the bottom of the town and the arrival was at the top with a final stretch of 200 meters of pure uphill agony.

After crossing the finish line and receiving the finisher medal  I walked a few steps and for the first time in my running career I left on the cobblestone the last 1/2 liter of gatorade and water I drank that was obviously seating in my stomach deciding where to go.

I predicted a finish time between 4:15 and 4:45 and I was right on, if I had pressed the first part a little bit more I would have finished 10-15 minutes earlier, but time didn't really matter. It was an incredible experience on a very beautiful, well organized course. For pictures of the course and maps you can check their website and start practicing your italian.

http://www.ecomaratonadeimonticimini.it/ecomaratona_dei_monti_cimini.html

I hope this race will keep growing in the next few years because trail running can be a nice "relaxing" break from road racing.

Comments
From TBean on Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 16:23:16 from 63.241.173.64

Sounds like a great run. Good Job!

From Adam RW on Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 08:41:08 from 155.101.152.123

They must not be keeping you busy enough in lab :) Two marathons in so few days very jealous. It sounds like a great run. Glad to see you getting out there so much.

From Camillo on Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 16:05:41 from 79.55.217.167

TBean,

It was a good run indeed.

Adam,

actually between recovery and tapering I ended up spending more time in lab, because I didn't have to go home at night for my usual run.

I have never done 2 marathons so close, my previous record it was 5 weeks apart, but definitively the second one was more "relaxing".

Total Distance
0.00

Much needed rest day, both mentally and physically.

Total Distance
0.00

Another planned rest day. I struggled during the last two days with lack of good sleep.

Legs are tired but recovering, I feel just general fatigue.

Total Distance
3.10

Last night was the first good sleeping night since the marathon, this morning I felt refreshed and ready to resume a more normal schedule.

I went out to do a short run, I didn't wear my Garmin but it was at a good clip. Cooler temperatures and clear skies helped to enjoy the run. I will keep this mileage for the next few days just to stay safe, I don't want to get injured.

Total Distance
3.10

Another nice 5k at 5:30ish/km. Temperatures dropped in the last 3 days from 85F to 50F.

Usual crazy spring weather.

Total Distance
3.70

Total Distance
10.00

10 miles in 1:22:30. It is good to resume a normal running schedule without worrying too much about upcoming race. I am planning in the next few months to build a consistent mileage base while enjoying the nice spring weather, then surviving the summer heat and finally start "tapering" again for a good fall marathon.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 55 and something. The news of the day was the overall incredible performance in Boston by the winners and by our "winner" Paul Petersen. Incredible day for the whole running community around the world.

Total Distance
6.20

My legs are recovering fast and furious, tonight I pushed the pace toward the end of the run doing a good progression from 5:45-6:00/km to 4:30-4:15/km at the end overall 5:00/km average. Weather was great, just cool enough while the sun was going down. A good day overall.

Total Distance
8.00

8 miles in 1:05:37. A good run overall.

Total Distance
8.00

Another boring entry for a good run overall, 8 miles in 1:02:32. I wish this spring weather, would last forever.

Total Distance
8.00

This was more a recovery/relaxing run after the last two runs slightly faster than usual. My speed is back but I feel I am working much harder than I should to run at that speed, sooner or later everything should be back to normal. I just need to be patient.

Total Distance
8.00

This morning was raining, after lunch was still raining so I decided to go out anyway, waiting was no going to change the weather. 

Unfortunately my legs did not want to come with me (the usual lame excuses: it's going to be wet, we are tired and so on) I got mad and decided to leave them at home as an extreme punishement (they usually enjoy go running around the lake in broad daylight).

Unfortunately for me, without them, I struggled all 8 miles long finishing with a new record time of 1:14:35. I was wet and a little bit depressed for my legs at home enjoying whatever they were enjoying.

Happy Easter/Buona Pasqua everybody!!!

Total Distance
6.20

I am glad that Easter holidays are over, I can resume my regular schedule.

I did my usual route around the lake after work in 51:37. Tomorrow I am planning to push both the pace and the distance.

Total Distance
7.00

Tonight I wanted to test my legs, after two marathons in one month and lots of tapering/recovery runs and many of them just flat without and decent speed. I started with the goal of finishing 6.2 miles in 45 minutes I ended up finishing in 42:30. It was a big confidence boost. I felt tired and for sure I was pushing all the time, no stroll in the park, but when I realized that not only I was maintaining my pace but I was accelerating I was very happy. Last 0.8 miles at slow pace to resume a decent heart rate before driving home.

Comments
From TBean on Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 15:40:23 from 63.241.173.64

Nice 10K time! Much faster than 45.

Total Distance
7.20

Good run around the lake 7.2 miles in 58:18, I thought I was going to be much slower after yesterday run, I wasn't. It means after three week of slow runs I am really rested and my sluggish runs are caused by my lazy brain rather than by fatigued legs.

Total Distance
8.00

8 miles in 1:14:20 nothing really special, during the afternoon there were several thunderstorms so there was a very high humidity. 

Comments
From Adam RW on Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 16:44:04 from 155.101.147.14

Isn't it bed time for you :)

Total Distance
13.10

Morning run, I wanted to do an half marathon in 1:35 I ended up doing it in 1:36:57. I am still happy about the result, it is in the marathon pace territory, so it is good. I felt it was difficult to maintain the planned pace (4:30/km), the two minutes at the end were the result of the slow start  during the first 10km then when all my hopes to finish under 1:40 were almost gone I kept the pace ending up doing the last 11km at 4:30 or slightly faster. It was probably a mix between tired legs and mind that were not working in sync.

 

Total Distance
10.00

Good evening run, 10 miles around the lake in 1:23:31. Light rain and warm wind it was like running in tropical weather.

Total Distance
6.20

Good relaxing run, I started slow at 6:00/km and finished fast at 4:18/km, 10k in 51:30.

Nothing else to report.

Total Distance
10.00

10 miles at dream marathon pace finishing strong in 1:11:17. Time to go to bed.

Comments
From Kam on Wed, May 04, 2011 at 19:56:37 from 68.66.163.179

It's crazy to think about adding 16 miles and holding that pace, isn't it? Maybe we'll both get there in the next year.

From Camillo on Thu, May 05, 2011 at 17:22:37 from 79.52.220.97

I know, especially last night, I felt exactly the same, it was also the first time I finished so fast in 3-4 weeks.

I don't want to sound too arrogant but I would like to try to make an honest attempt to go sub 3:15 by the end of this year. You will get there sooner than next year.

Total Distance
6.20

Night run, I finished my 6.2 miles in 57:22 around the industrial area at 10:15pm. Nothing really special about this one, it was just a recovery run, but very needed to clear up my brain after a long day at work. Time to go to bed. 

Total Distance
6.50

Good evening run, the sun was still out and the light breeze made it much easier than last night.

Slightly longer run but the time was almost the same.

I am looking forward to a couple of good runs this weekend.

Total Distance
13.10

One of those rare afternoon runs, it was a little bit warmer than expected, but I managed to do 13.1 in 1:35:21.

I would like to be able to maintain the training scheme and mileage of the last seven days for the next three months. It will be challenging with the increasing heat, but I will try to do my best.

Total Distance
13.10

I went running at 10 am with the sun high in the sky and the temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius, I felt it was a good way to start my summer conditioning. I ended up doing a slow jog after yesterday run, but I was happy to be able to still finish the 13.1 I planned.

Everybody was around the lake biking, running, walking and sunbathing, water was still cold to swim.

Total Distance
0.00

I had two friends from Utah visiting Rome, we spent the whole day touring all major touristic attractions walking, I didn't have a Garmin with me but I checked our "course" and we walked in terms of just straight distance approx. 6 miles. Not counting all the stops inside churches, ice cream shops, clothes and shoes shops, or in front of one of the gazillion fountains. Got home at 10:32 pm really tired. I didn't have any will power to go out and run.

Total Distance
5.00

Not enough time to run tonight 5 miles in 47:12. I am still recovering from yesterday Rome walking tour.

Total Distance
10.00

Tonight my goal was to keep 4:30/km for the whole 10 miles (my dream marathon pace). I did it. Somehow it was easier than last saturday when I tried the same thing for 13 miles. So I knew I could keep that pace and somehow running during the evening for me is so much easier, in spite the day at work and the commute. I really had to restrain to myself during the first 5 miles and then I went all out during the second half finishing 10 miles in 1:09:59. Finishing under 1:10 it was an added reward.

Total Distance
8.10

Long day at work, shorter run than I wanted, at least at the end I felt fully recovered from yesterday.

8.1 in 1:11:53.

Time to go to bed.

Total Distance
6.20

10k run in 53:52 not much else to report.

Total Distance
10.00

In my plan there was a half marathon in 1:35 but I knew when I was having breakfast that was not going to happen (I was tired and at 7:30 am the temperatures were already around 70F, so it was going to be hottish), there where two options: going 13 miles at slower pace or doing 10 and trying to finish in 1:12. Between the two options the last one was "safer", I know myself pretty well and if I had started with the idea of doing 13 slow miles I would have stopped anyway at 10. I finished 10 miles in 1:11:25 so I was very happy with that, but going for 3 more miles would have been very hard and at 9:15 when I finished the temperatures were around 80F.

I am glad I have the whole day ahead.

Total Distance
6.20

Total Distance
6.20

I got back home from work earlier than usual, I had just one hour before going out again for some other stuff, so I made it to the lake in 5 minutes run 6.2 miles trying to stay relaxed and slow and still trying to finish in 50-55 minutes. I ended up finishing in 49:26, 5 minutes drive, shower, and now while I waiting to leave again I am typing this entry.

Tomorrow it will be another day, hopefully less stressfull.

Total Distance
10.00

Another good training run 10 miles in 1:10:03 (dream marathon pace). My goal was to finish it in 1:12 but I always end up pushing the second half and even though I am alone I am really racing against time toward the end. It is good to be able to do so at a pace that is not relaxing yet but sometimes it would be better to stick to the original plan in order to stay more relaxed at the end and to recover faster in the next few days. I will try to keep this kind of workout for the next couple of months while I am going to slowly increase my weekly mileage in order to see what kind of results it will generate in fall. Time to go to bed.

Comments
From Kam on Tue, May 17, 2011 at 17:48:56 from 68.66.163.179

Very nice workout. Way to stick with the pace all on your own. That mental discipline will pay off down the road.

Total Distance
9.00

I didn't feel great, plus I realized tonight that the forth toe of my right foot is probably broken. Last week during a night trip to the kitchen (no lights) to get some water I hit with my right foot the corner of the sofa and I started screaming pretty bad, the day after the forth little guy was black and red and swollen, now is still swollen and there is a clear painful point. I doesn't affect my gait or my running but I am very careful in crowded places I don't want anybody coming close to my right foot or stepping on it. I digress...... going back to the beginning, I was not feeling great, legs were tired from yesterday and from long standing hours at work, I started my run with the goal of running for one hour, I ended up with 9 miles in 1:19:54, I am very pleased with the outcome and with the run itself.

Total Distance
5.20

Just a slow, short, spent run. No much energies available, my brain is already focused on tomorrow's night race. Time to go to bed.

Race: StraViterbo (5 Miles) 00:32:55
Total Distance
0.00

This is a fun race, starts at 9pm and usually is held during a weekday. This race is "fun" because is a roller coaster, it goes up and down in the old medieval town of Viterbo, there are approx. 400 meters of flat terrain and it is also the only section with asphalt while the rest is cobblestone. The main "danger" is represented by pedestrian going to a restaurant, going home or walking around, in narrow streets while 300 runners are charging blind corner, 90 degrees turns at full speed. If you add that we run in poorly lit streets it makes the whole thing really challenging.

I wanted to do a good time improving my last two years time (32:50 and 31:28), but it was clear since the beginning from the second km it was not going to happen. Last year I was regaining speed after every corner or hill, tonight it didn't happen. These are my splits/km: 3:54,4:00,4:01,3:59 (end of the first lap),4:22,4:21, 4:11, 4:03. I didn't taper for this race and my training in the last month was "hard" for my standards with lots of fast runs, I have no many regrets because I know I am in much better shape than last year, I have to keep my training strong and slowly increasing my mileage, I will keep using these shorter races as a VOmax training runs.

Comments
From Burt on Sat, May 21, 2011 at 14:52:39 from 72.223.90.79

Man, that sounds like a fun race! Nice job.

From Camillo on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 17:34:45 from 79.53.29.153

Thanks Burt.

Total Distance
0.00

I went to bed at 1 am last night, I couldn't fall asleep right away too much adrenaline still around.I will take a day off, while I am going to take care of the lawn and I am going to plant outside tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and cantaloupe plants. Spring is here to stay.

Total Distance
5.50

Nice relaxing run on the beach 5.5miles in 59 minutes. Tomorrow back to a more regular schedule.

Total Distance
5.10

No enough time to run, I managed to squeeze 5 miles in 41:13. I did my best tomorrow it will be a different day.

Total Distance
10.00

I took another marathon pace class tonight, I was the only one in the classroom but the teacher couldn't care less, the lesson was about consistency on the 4:30/km rhythm, we kept repeating over and over the 4:30 mantra for 1 hour 10 min and 26 seconds.

I was very satisfied about the result and so my teacher because we finished a full minute and 34 seconds earlier.

Tomorrow a more boring recovery run and entry.

Total Distance
10.00

10 miles in 1:23:56, good recovery run, especially the second half was 6 minutes faster than the first half. I felt very good from the beginning and finished strong at 9 pm when was already dark. 

Total Distance
8.00

This is one of those runs where the goal is just to finish the planned miles and nothing else.

I felt my legs were completely glicogen depleted, no energy left, completely dead. I am glad when it was over. 8 miles in 1:14:07.

Comments
From Steam8 on Thu, May 26, 2011 at 17:01:41 from 166.70.55.77

You've been running lots of miles this week. No wonder you feel glycogen deficient! ha!~ Nice work!

From Camillo on Fri, May 27, 2011 at 16:43:05 from 79.18.245.182

The two previous runs did not feel so hard on my legs, but they probably silently killed my muscles. Sometimes it is good to feel pain and fatigue, gives me a good reality check and force me to listen to my body.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 57:27. Another recovery run, I was trying to relax as much as possible, pretending it was not hot and humid.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 1:01:16 and it says it all. I am going to skip tomorrow race to rest a little bit and regroup. Next three days I will be on vacation, it will be a good time to rest and relax and recover some energies.

Comments
From Kam on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 15:19:14 from 68.66.163.179

It looks like you are totally sapped. Enjoy some time off and you'll be flying down the road soon.

From Camillo on Sun, Jun 05, 2011 at 14:18:20 from 95.234.223.174

Kam,

sorry for the delay, I was on vacation with limited internet access.

You were right between allergies, stress at work and lack of sleep I was ready for some rest. I am back right now and I feel I need a few more days to completely recover. I will take it easy at work in the next few days and slowly catching up with my mileage.

Total Distance
5.50

Total Distance
5.00

Total Distance
5.00

Total Distance
7.00

Total Distance
13.10

I am back from a vacation, not the most relaxing one because I got sore throat for a few days, but it was a good relaxing time. I didn't keep a "consistent" running schedule but I tried to enjoy running as much as possible and to recover from my last bad runs at the end of the last week. Today I re-started with a trail run with many uphills and downhills, when I started at 3pm I was running under a thunderstorm (I thought it was going to last only a few minutes and the whole run was under a thick tree cover) fortunately I was right and after 15 minutes sun was back and the humidity was very high.

I finished 13.1 in 2:12 nothing spectacular, but I felt very good at the end (at least one week of very low mileage paid off).

Comments
From Adam RW on Sat, Jun 04, 2011 at 17:10:20 from 155.101.144.2

Where was the vacation? I'm heading to Europe later this month. Brussels for a talk. I wish I could take some significant time to tour some of the rest of the area...

From Camillo on Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 16:10:58 from 79.41.60.41

Adam it was just a vacation on a small town (300 people during the winter) in the mountains in central Italy. No fast internet connection, just sheep, meadows, hills and snow melting, I really needed to spend some time doing absolutely nothing.

If you want to stop by next time you are in Europe, I want you to let you know that you will have a free ride from the airport, a house and a bed, not too far away from Rome, where to stay.

Think about next time....

From Adam RW on Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 16:32:35 from 155.101.152.123

I will definitely have to take you up on that. Hopefully it is not another decade before I head back to Europe. Your vacation sounds so appealing. Especially after I just finished a "marathon" weekend of work preparing for this mornings lab meeting.

Total Distance
10.00

I went running in the afternoon taking advantage of the afternoon storm to cool the air. I did the first 5 in 45 minutes and the last 5 in 37:30. Overall a great run.

Total Distance
10.10

Anther 10.1 miles just before a storm. Conditions were perfect the sun was down light breeze, almost heaven.

Total Distance
8.00

8 miles in 1:14:07 around the lake. Not much else.

Total Distance
8.00

I did my first Yasso test in two years. I started doing it again more as a fast workout for my half marathon training rather than as a real predictor of my marathon time. In the past it was always 10-15 minutes "optimistic" compared to my marathon time.

I knew, given my last 3:24 marathon time and my 1:28 half marathon time, that I should not had any problem to nail a 3:10 for 10  repeats but fear at the beginning was definitively there.

I decided to start with 3:10 and 3 minutes of jogging at whatever pace felt comfortable.

This was the outcome: 3:02, 3:13, 3:11, 3:16, 3:11, 3:10, 3:05, 3:06, 3:05, 3:04. Average 3:08. Total mileage, including warm up and cool down was also good. Definitively I was cautious at the beginning and then I opened the gas at the end doing the last three repeats without any "rest" in between, just to finish as soon as possible. This is a confirmation that I can do a 3:18-3:23 marathon (Rome was 3:24 and it is slower than a pancake flat race), not a 3:08, at least considering my actual level of aerobic training(read lack of mileage).

I am planning to use this training once a week for the next three months with the goal to improve my half-marathon time and as a tool to convince my brain that I can be faster in a marathon too.


Comments
From TBean on Wed, Jun 08, 2011 at 17:22:45 from 63.241.173.64

Good job getting below the 3:10 average!

Total Distance
8.70

Run without garmin, the only goal was to cover ground and enjoy the cool evening. I ended up doing 8.7 miles in approx. 1:25ish, I was tired from yesterday but nothing really dramatic. 

Total Distance
5.00

"Rest day" 5 miles in 49 minutes. I wanted to go slow, short and finish early around 8pm, I accomplished all those goals. Ready to go to bed after a long week at work and running wise. Good luck to all marathoners.

Total Distance
7.00

I ended up not having not enough time to run, I opted for a fast 10 k with some cool down. I did 6.2miles in 43:11 and then finished the remaining distance to get to 7 miles in whatever pace was left. 

Total Distance
8.00

This morning I went running on a big hill in the Appennini several miles away from my house, I ended up covering 5 miles up, but evey 1.5km up I turned around and run down for 1 km and so when I was coming down I kept going up.

It was a fun run enjoying a beautiful scenery and overall a great day outside.

Total Distance
10.00

I did 10 miles in 1:29 not exactly the fastest time on earth, but the mileage at the end was there.

Total Distance
10.00

I did my second modified Yasso training, 10 800m repeats with 2:30 recover. These are my splits: 3:01, 3:01, 3:04, 3:03, 3:03, 3:05, 3:05, 3:05, 3:06, 3:01.

As I said last week this is not a "test" but more like a standard training run using a speed between my 5k and 10k time.

Compared to last week it was much harder because I decided to stay between 3:00 and 3:05 and cut my recover to 2:30. I ended up, on average, 5 seconds faster than last time but it was a lot more work. Last time I wanted to see where I was, today I wanted to see if I could push a faster pace and to be able to keep pushin at the end when the legs are slowing down (I desperately need this kind of mental training). This is one of my greatest problem, when everything is fine I am fine, when things are becoming difficult I usually mentally give up and enter in a conservative pace even if I can still push a faster pace.

Overall I was very happy about the overall result, not giving up during the last five repeats in spite of some slow down at the end, and in general going home with a 10 miler for the day.

Total Distance
6.20

I felt surprisingly fresh and good but I didn't want to push my limits, I stopped at 6.2 miles in 56 minutes. I felt really recovered from yesterday, tomorrow I will do more miles.

Total Distance
9.00

It was warmer/hottish than normal at 7pm tonight, the first few miles I felt uncomfortable, than when the sun when down a light breeze came up and the rest of the run was just pleasant. 9 miles in 1:20 nothing fast, just miles in.

Total Distance
9.00

9 miles in 1:20 again, a good evening run, I am glad the week is over.

Total Distance
13.10

I started at 9 am when was the sun was already up and hot. I did the complete loop around of the lake in 1:50 min. I was dehydrated at the end. Cold bath at home and now I am brand new.

Race: Woman in trail (6.2 Miles) 01:10:20, Place overall: 9
Total Distance
6.20

I didn't plan to do this race until 7:00 am this morning when I discovered that rain and fog would make pretty difficult to go out and run. This race was on a trail 20 minutes drive from my house, so I called my running buddy, we changed our plan and we headed to the top of the highest mountain around to the start of the race. Half of the course is part of the trail marathon I did in april and it has this name because the main sponsor is Estee Lauder offering good prizes (parfumes and make up) to all women.

Once up there we where shivering in shorts and shirt, we payed 5 euros, got our goodies bag and bib number and we went back to our car until 15 minutes before the race.

Because it is a tough race, fall weather and temperature and on a trail there were only approx. 100 men and 20 women.

My plan was to try to finish around 1:10, I started conservatively the first 2km are crazy technical downhill, but on the way up I was the only one around running (for the first 400 meters), and immediately I gained several positions, even when I started walking I was still passing people and until the end nobody passed me. After km 4 when I was passed by a 70 y old german guy (and then I passed him again) I was on my own not knowing that I was in 9th position, I was just trying to maintain an honest effort and when I saw I was finishing in 1:10 I relaxed a little bit on the final downhill.

I was happy about how I felt throughout the race, I didn't expect to be in the top 10 (and winning two bottles of wine), but honestly it was the result of lack of competition and my final time shows. It was a good training run overall.

Total Distance
8.00

8 miles in 1:19 and my legs were really sore, I was just happy just to be able to slow jog that distance.

Total Distance
5.00

My legs were really sore tonight, much more than yesterday. This is common for me the second day after a race, it is always the worse day, while the third one I am usually feeling OK. I am really looking forward to verifying my conditions tomorrow night. 5 miles in 50 minutes, not exactly fast.

Total Distance
8.00

I felt much better than last night but not completely recovered. Today it was very hot during the day, after sunset temperatures dropped immediately and running was much more pleasant. 8 miles in 1:14.

Total Distance
10.00

10 miles in 1:29:40, not much else. Ready to go to sleep before another long day at work tomorrow.

Total Distance
10.00

Another 10 miler in 1:30 minutes, with the excuse of slow recovery runs I am piling up lots of miles.

Total Distance
13.00

13.1 miles in 1:50ish, no Garmin, I checked the time in my car. I started at 8am and it was already hot, it is a good mental training.r

Total Distance
3.10

This was my rest day, just a short run and nothing else.

Total Distance
6.20

 I didn't sleep much during the weekend and this morning I felt miserable at work from lack of sleep. Plus today the heat was on outside and running 6.2 miles was much harder than usual.

Total Distance
10.00

Great workout 10 800m with the following splits: 3:00, 3:02, 3:00, 3:02, 3:02, 3:03, 3:07, 3:08, 3:08, 3:02. 2:30 minutes recovery jog (for at least 400m). Total mileage was 10. I felt really good even though the last five were more difficult (and slower).

Total Distance
7.00

No work today because is St Peter and Paul and all offices are closed. Day at work at home. I went running at the usual time in the evening for a short 7 miler, my legs were kind of dead after last night.

Total Distance
8.00

A good 8 miler, my legs feel better than last night the big problem was the heat and humidity, survived through the run but I at the end I was in miserable conditions.

Total Distance
6.20

Lots of excuses for not running tonight: long day at wok, long week, nausea and headache, humid hot weather...... I went anyway for a slow 10k and the end I didn't feel any better but at at least I wasn't feeling worse. Time to go to bed.

Total Distance
10.00

10 miles in the morning around the lake in 1:12:39. At this point of the year I was hoping this pace (my dream marathon pace) would feel easier, it is not. I will keep training at this pace once a week, but honestly I don't think I will be able to keep it for 26.2 miles in october.

Total Distance
8.00

I did an uphill run 4 miles up (about 300m total climb) then 4 miles back down. Overall a good experience trying to avoid the heat.

Total Distance
6.20

Today I went to the sport medicine doctor to get my certificate to keep racing (this is mandatory in Italy for racing and for 36 euros you can get some peace of mind).

I have some mild heart problems related to border line high blood pressure, I accidentally discovered this two years ago after 9 marathons and 6 years of running during my first visit to the sport medicine doctor, so every year the outcome is uncertain. I am usually the "star" of the morning because I am doing almost all available tests, all medical students and young resident are there to see the whole set of exams. As a bonus they have right now a machine to test oxygen consumption so I tested that too.

At the end lots of good news: my blood pressure is well under control, my heart is still in good conditions to run and race and my O2 is 43ml/min/kg according to the doc 110% for my age.

Tonight my run was mentally much easier after the visit. 6.2 miles in 52 minutes at a very happy pace.

 Happy 4th of July!!!!

Total Distance
6.20

A huge thunderstorm with hail this morning destroyed my tomato, cucumber, pepper plants. The whole road around the lake was flooded with mud and rocks, in many places the black top is gone inside huge potholes. This pathetic introduction just to say that my plans for a speedy workout were gone as soon as I got to the lake, I wanted to do a running tour of the road but it was impassable even on foot, I retreated back to the car and run an half km stretch of clean  road back and forth until I reached the 10 km limit. It was like running on a treadmill.

Comments
From Kam on Tue, Jul 05, 2011 at 18:28:44 from 68.66.163.179

That sounds like a miserable workout.

Total Distance
7.00

My speedy workout didn't end up as fast as I wanted but for sure was intense.

Goal: 5x1600m at 6:10-6-20 with 3:00 of jogging recovery.

This was the outcome: 6:20, 6.23, 6:30, 6:32, 6.34.

It was difficult since the beginning to maintain the pace, I am glad I finished it, doing my best effort to maintain whatever fast pace was left in my legs after each one.

I need this kind of "punishment" to learn to keep my fastest pace even when I am slowing down (without giving up).

Comments
From Adam RW on Thu, Jul 07, 2011 at 16:33:48 from 155.101.144.2

Was this on the track or out on the road? Seems that you are doing the right things just an off target day.

From Camillo on Fri, Jul 08, 2011 at 02:39:59 from 79.56.231.72

Adam,

it was on the road, it was definitively a bad day,my 800s for the last 4 weeks were much faster and more consistent.

I was happy finishing the workout at whatever pace was left.

Total Distance
8.00

Started at 7:44pm done by 9pm. 8 nice recovery miles.

Total Distance
10.00

Trail run, 10 miles up and down the crater around the lake in 1:45, it was a good escape from the heat, the whole trail was in the woods.

Total Distance
11.20

I didn't wake up early enough, so I headed for the hills to beat the heat. I drove to the top of the crater ridge line and run out and back for 11.2 miles in 1:35:22. Up there (at 900m above sea level) temperatures were around 21 degrees Celsius compared to the usual lake road 300 m below with almost 33 degrees.

Comments
From Kam on Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 00:53:10 from 174.23.205.58

Way to beat the heat. I like the sound of 21 degrees.

Total Distance
6.20

Total Distance
20.00

Total Distance
6.20

Total Distance
5.00

Total Distance
6.20

Back from a vacation on the Appennini. Weather was hotter than expected a 900m above sea level, but for sure more pleasant than Rome.

My running was on a low maintenance mode, with a 20 miler peak up and down a couple of hills that made the whole thing quite challenging. 

Today I did a short 10 k just to relax and enjoy the usual scenery, tomorrow morning back to work.

Total Distance
9.00

9 miles around the lake in 1:24:51, cooler temperatures and light breeze, it was a perfect run.

Total Distance
8.00

After two weeks I attempted again a 5 X 1600m series.

The average time was exactly the same with the following splits: 6:16, 6:21, 6:29, 6:38, 6:36. Recovery time was 3 minutes.

Two weeks ago I felt a little bit depressed, I thought I was faster (between 6:10 and 6:20) today it was a reality check and I have to conclude that this is where I am right now.

At least I managed to do 8 good miles and another tough run is done.

Total Distance
8.00

The worst part of the run were my legs, they were fresh and rested. Usually after a 10 X 800 I am tired for at least a couple of days, tonight I felt good, in spite of this I don't think yesterday I could have pushed any faster pace.

8 miles at 5:24/km nothing really fast but overall a good training run.

Total Distance
8.00

Another good 8 miles in 1:07:36. Good weather too, about 72 degrees and light breeze.

Total Distance
10.00

10 miles at MP, the first half was done not paying attention to my speed and time, at the turnaround I was only 4 seconds behind then in the last 4km I started pushing and gained 42 seconds at the end. 10 miles in 1:11:18 4:28/km.

Total Distance
11.00

I was tired this morning but the "good running weather" (it was raining and the temperatures were below 70) pushed out of the door to do another 10 miler. I ended up with 11 just to finish the week with 60 miles.

Good luck to all Deseret News runners next monday.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 57:38, good relaxing run.

Total Distance
10.00

Congratulations to all DNers, my legs were in Utah today with all you.

The rest of me was here running 10 miles in 1:30.

Total Distance
7.00

7 miles in 1:04.

Total Distance
0.00

A huge thunderstorm is trasforming the town in a huge pond, no way I could go out and run tonight.

Total Distance
7.00

5X1600 with 3 minutes recovery (jogging between 400m and 500m).

This time it went much better than last two times when I did a similar run.

These are the things were different this time: I just did only 600 meters as a warm up and then I used the first 1600m to get blood in my legs, in this way in my first lap I was not sprinting all out as I was chased down by a bear. First lap in 6:22.

Another thing that was different instead progressively accelerating toward the end of the recovery time I started going when the time started, in this way I used the first 200m to reach the cruising speed and then maintained, accelerating a little bit at the end to make up for the first 200m. Second lap 6:19, third 6:18, forth 6:20, fifth 6:18. Much better than the previous times when I could barely hold 6:28 average.

Overall I felt great about this training run but I felt I was cheating because last night I was forced (by the weather) to rest, tonight my legs were much fresher than usual. At least now I know that on rested legs I can go sub 6:20 for 5 repeats.

Total Distance
8.50

Nice recovery run around the lake, 8.5 miles in 1:22. Nothing fast but just enough to enjoy the cool evening out.

Total Distance
8.00

2X5000m at 4:30/km with 1000 recovery at 5:30. First set was at 4:31, the second one at 4:25. Overall I felt great at the end. I wanted to do 4 sets but I didn't have enough time today. Next weekends I am going to use this scheme (increasing the number of repeats) to do my long runs.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day at the beach, I run a few miles on the shoreline just to enjoy the light breeze.

Total Distance
7.50

Nothing really special about tonight's run, just 7.5 miles in preparation of tomorrow night fast training. As added bonus I run with a guy who does only 800-1500m, he was doing his "long" run, it was really nice to share a completely different running perspective.

Total Distance
8.00

Great workout tonight 5 x 1600m with 3:00 jogging in between.

These were my splits: 6:25, 6:18, 6:14 (at this point I was feeling really great and  I was hoping I could keep lowering my time), 6:18 (still good but definitively a reality check) and final one in 6:21 (I really wanted to keep it under 6:20 but the final 200 m were slightly uphill and my legs were already done). I am very happy timewise about this training, I hit the same splits did last week but the feeling this time was great throughout the whole workout, I had no problem to maintain the pace.


Total Distance
8.00

8 recovery miles in 1:13. Today I had the "after-a-big-training-run" blues. Yesterday I was on top of the world, today after the first 1600m in 11minutes I started doubting about my progresses. I know that yesterday training run was not fake, but it takes a while and more similar training runs to completely trust them, in order to go faster in a race.

 Enough mental micromanaging, time to go to bed.

Total Distance
8.00

Busy day at work and at home. 8 miles in 1:12. My legs are recovering very well.

Total Distance
6.20

I didn't have enough time to run my usual 8, 6.2 in 59 minutes and change nothing fast in preparation for tomorrow long run. I am really tired right, time to go to bed (9pm).

Total Distance
15.00

Longish run with the following scheme: 4X5000m with 1k recovery. These were my splits:

1k 6:11/km

1X5000 4:30/km average

1k 5:25/km

1X5000 4:30/km average

1k 5:54/km

1X5000 4:27/km average

1k 5:52/km

1X5000 4:25/km average

A few hundred meters of cooldown for a total of 15 miles in 1:53:00 4:42/km average.

One of those training run when everything went as planned, especially because I was alone and even at 7:30am when I started it was already hot.

Total Distance
8.00

Tonight I went running just to enjoy the run, no watch, no garmin, I checked the time when I left my car and when I came back. The whole purpose was to enjoy a good summer evening and nothing else. 

I have to admit I cheated on my way back, the first half was a little bit too relaxed so with 6k to go I definitively started pushing overall I did 8 mile in 1:15. It was really a relaxing one.

Total Distance
8.00

8 miles around the lake, the first half was very nice because I met an old friendI haven't seen in a while, we spent a couple of kms to catch up and then we enojoyed the beautiful sunset while a storm was approaching. Second half by myself was just boring and unfortunately no rain.

Total Distance
8.00

Tonight was the 5X1600m night.

These were my splits each one followed by a 3:00 recovery jog:

6:14 then 413m recovery jog in 3:00

6:13 then 456m recovery jog in 3:00

6:10  then 498m recovery jog in 3:00

6:14 then 502m recovery jog in 3:00

6:17 then 500m recovery jog in 3:00

A couple of miles between warmup and cooldown. I wanted to stay close to 6:15 and covering at least 500 m for the 3 minutes recovery jog. I have to push a little bit more on the recovery, but overall I felt great.

Comments
From ACorn on Tue, Aug 09, 2011 at 17:16:05 from 68.66.168.22

Awesome workout! Great consistency with your pace.

Total Distance
8.00

Just 8 miles in 1:16 with a perfect breezy evening.

Total Distance
8.10

To break the monotony of 8 miles I did 8.1. 1:08:13 I felt relax and confident, a very good run.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 54:34. Good relaxing run before tomorrow long run.

Total Distance
17.40

Long run with 4X5000m intervals at MP (4:30/km) with 1000 recovery run 1 minute slower. At the end I was in decent shape and not too sore, I added another 1k recovery plus a 3000m at MP.

These were my splits:

1k 6:21/km

5k 4:30/km average pace

1k 5:18/km

5k 4:30/km average pace

1k 5:24/km

5k 4:29/km average pace

1k 5:19/km

5k 4:28/km average pace

1k 5:31/km

3k 4:29/km average pace

I did 17,4 miles in 2:10:57 with 14.3 miles at MP. Overall I felt really great. It is also a great excuse to have a  nap in the afternoon.


Total Distance
3.10

Total Distance
3.10

Race: Civita di Bagnoregio race (5.4 Miles) 00:38:23, Place overall: 31, Place in age division: 5
Total Distance
6.20

I just got back from a week in Paris. While in Paris a couple of times early in the morning I went running along the Seine river for a few miles just to enjoy the city while was still sleeping.

There was this race tonight and the captain of my team needed a few more people, so I decided to start running with this race after a week of endless walks and doing a good speed workout.

I drove to the town of Civita di Bagnoregio, known also the "dying city", the race was supposed to start at 8pm, but when we got there there was an announcement saying that the course was slightly changed and the start postponed at 8:30pm. Instead finishing running up the top of the old town on a bridge we would start walking up there and then walking down and there at the bottom of the canyon between the old town and the new town we would start the race going up and then we would finish in the new Bagnoregio.

At 8:30pm  we took off on a steep uphill for 1km, then we entered in a circuit of about 3.5 km with constant uphills and downhills, to be repeated twice and then the last half mile to the finish line.

I didn't have any watch with me, but  my plan was rather simple, going out hard and trying to keep an honest pace without racing all out. The plan was well executed until the beginning of the second loop when I started fading and to keep the same pace I really had to push much harder, at the point I realized that was not worth it, and kept fading until the end.

I finished with the third woman, 5th in my age group, I don't have my time (37 minutes is an educated guess based on other  people time), I have to wait for the final results to be posted. Garmin of other runners indicated 8.8km not to far off from the 9km advertised.

A good training run, slighly under par, but considering I was not in racing mood-mode, after a week of vacation I was happy with the run.

Total Distance
10.00

Today  it was a hot day the wind from Sahara brought the temperatures around and above 100F under my porch. This is not very common, I waited to go running until 6pm when a light breeze made the heat more bearable.

The plan was to go out slow and easy around the lake after last night race, but I met a couple of running friends that wanted to do something faster and rather than going by myself I drafted after them, we did a roller coaster route for 10km at 4:35/km pace (45:47) and then one of  them stopped with the other companion with did a 6km cooldown at a more relaxing pace finishing 10 miles in 1:18 and change.

At the end I was very happy about this "recovery" run, at least going fast had the advantage of making the sweating time shorter.

Total Distance
8.60

8.6 miles in 1:13:48. My goal was again to go nice and easy, instead I met two other friends, not the same ones of last night, but the outcome was the same: the pace was a little bit too fast. I was happy to run with one of this guys, he doesn't race but he is always there every night for a run and I was really surprised to see him keeping sub 8min/mile for the whole run without any problem. I tried to convince him to start racing, but he wasn't converted at the end. It is always nice running and chatting with someone else, it makes running much more enjoyable and faster, even during recovery runs.

Total Distance
8.00

Back to my usual solo run, no friends tonight. After 2 miles I felt the temperatures unbearably hot and humid, I still managed to keep moving for the rest of the run at a very slow and relaxing pace. I finished 8 miles in 1:19, I achieved my goal to keep the pace under control and finally I started my  recovery after three consecutive days of faster pace.

I hope that this african weather pattern will go away soon, is becoming annoying.

Total Distance
8.00

Fast  workout night. 5X1600m with 3:00 recovery jog.

These were the splits: 6:07, 6:10, 6:12, 6:19, 6:18. During the recovery I covered between 430m and 490m.

I wanted to average below 6:15 and no interval above 6:15, the first goal was accomplished, I have to still work on the second one. Two weeks ago I was more consistent running around 6:13, this time I tried since the beginning to push my pace around and below 6:10 but as it is clear from the fourth interval I don't have it in my legs yet.

Overall I was very satisfied about the outcome, plus tonight temperatures and humidity were higher than two weeks ago. As added bonus this is the first time since 2003, when I started running, that I am keeping a good mileage, with some fast miles during the month of august, heat is the best killer of my good running intentions, if I can survive for one more week august will be over and hopefully the saharian wind will be replaced by a much cooler and refreshing atlantic jetstream. I hope this "character-building I-don't-want-to-go-running-with-this-heat" will be translated in faster times in the upcoming races.


Comments
From Kam on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 00:48:06 from 174.23.127.3

Those are fantastic splits. The time you spend in that speed range will definitely pay off. You are putting money in the bank, so to speak.

From Camillo on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 15:22:02 from 95.234.221.170

Kam,

considering current global economics and the bank system all over the world I am really afraid of putting any money in any bank, I hope you didn't mean that I will end up bankrupcying/bonking pretty bad at the end of a race......:)))hahahahhhaha!!!!

Thanks anyway for your words of encouragment:)

From TBean on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 16:03:17 from 63.241.173.64

Nice workout! I don't like speed workouts but they help out a lot.

Total Distance
8.00

8 recovery miles around mount Venere, not much else to report.

Total Distance
6.20

Nice relaxing run at 5pm, it was hot and humid, 6.2 miles in 1hour.

Total Distance
13.10

Very simple run: I wanted an half-marathon at marathon pace (4:30/km) and this is what I got. I woke up later than I planned and I didn't start until 8:40 am when the sun was already up and running, I didn't have any problem to keep the pace until mile 12 when dehydration, heat and the perspective of having two big black toe nails materialized.

I didn't have any water with me in the car and by the time I was home 10 minutes later, I was really dehydrated, I usually check my weight before and after medium/long runs and today I lost 2.5 kg. My toenails on top of that were,as expected, dark and gingerly painful. This was  related to the new wave inspire shoes, last week  I bought the wave fortis and with those I got two huge blisters on  my left foot, so right now I don't have a good new pair of shoes to run long distances, without having foot problems, except for my 2000 miles old wave inspire.

The only good thing it was my time it took me 1:35:00 for 13.1 miles (I intentionally slowed down big time during  the last 0.2 miles to finish exactly in 1:35:00). Now time to ice bath and a few napping hours.

 

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles along the sea, after 10 days the african wind went home and we are back to cooler temperature.

Total Distance
8.50

Good recovery progressive run. I started at 6:00/km finished at 4:00/km. I felt progressively stronger and better as the temperatures were going down. Unfortunately at 8pm is cool but right now is already dark. In a few weeks I will retreat to a more ugly area to run at night and  that will last until next april at least during the weekdays.

Total Distance
8.00

8 good miles at night. 

Total Distance
7.00

Good workout, 5X1600m with 3:00 recovery jog covering between 400-500m.

These were my splits: 6:11, 6:14, 6:14, 6:12, 6:11.

Overall the average was very similar to the last two workouts (6:13 AP) this time the feeling was different, first of all I managed to do all of them under 6:15, then the fastest ones were the last two and I was always in control of my pace until the end.

Short digression: this is the time of the year of hazelnut harvest and the rural road around Vico lake I am running on every night is flanked left and right by hazelnut trees, so this time of the year the road is really crowded with cars, tractors and dust they make picking up the nuts. During the third repeat after dodging and passing at double speed countless tractors going home I had the road completely blocked by a tractor and its trailer, instead stopping trying to walk around I did a 180 turn almost losing my shoes, during the turn, fortunately the shoes remained with my feet and I quickly regained speed and confidence. It was a big boost because at the end my pace didn't suffer too much and I felt so strong that I knew I could finish the last two under 6:15.

I am very happy about this month with >200 miles and well on track to be above 2400 miles by the end of the year.

Total Distance
7.00

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

Total Distance
5.00

"Rest day" 5 miles in 46:00.

Total Distance
20.00

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.

Total Distance
5.00

5 miles at 8pm the heat was still unbearable.

Total Distance
8.00

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.

Total Distance
5.50

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. 

Comments
From TBean on Tue, Sep 06, 2011 at 15:23:30 from 63.241.173.64

Nice workout. Good luck on the MezzaMaratona.

Total Distance
4.00

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.

Comments
From Claudio on Wed, Sep 07, 2011 at 15:52:25 from 216.99.185.50

In bocca al lupo per la mezza al lago di Vico. How's the weather forecast?

From Camillo on Thu, Sep 08, 2011 at 15:16:36 from 79.56.232.121

Ciao Claudio,

so you don't have just an italian/latin name you are also italian?

Weather forecasts don't look too good, it will be warm with temperatures around 25-30°C. The race starts at 10am so it will be definitively warm. The worst thing is the dust cloud hovering over the lake during the last 10 days (http://www.danielecamilli.it/?p=8711) the only hope is some light breeze/wind to improve the dusty conditions and the heat.

Anyway: CREPI IL LUPO!!!!

From Claudio on Thu, Sep 08, 2011 at 16:10:26 from 96.234.240.129

Born in Liguria, in 1974, and raised there until the age of 27, then moved to the US.

Wow that huge dust cloud looks really ugly, but worst it would make it really hard to breathe... I wish I could send your way some of the rain we're having here in Maryland. Here's hoping for cleaner air and cooler temps on race day, looking forward to your race report.

From Camillo on Fri, Sep 09, 2011 at 15:05:40 from 95.239.219.145

We could definitively use some rain here, we haven't had a single drop of rain since mid july.

In the meantime some light breeze could help.

We both moved to the US in 2001, we were probably on the same flight.... july 12th perhaps???

From Claudio on Fri, Sep 09, 2011 at 16:37:59 from 173.67.59.116

Close enough about the moving date! :) I was at PSU from January to May 2001 working on my thesis as a visiting student from UNIGE, then back to Italy I got my laurea on July 26 2001, then moved for good to US a couple of weeks later to start my first semester of grad school - never went back, excluding a few of times to visit my relatives. Do you miss the US at all?

From Camillo on Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 10:24:34 from 95.236.10.186

I really miss many friends I left in Utah and some of them are now spread throughout the US. I miss Utah too, that is a great place where to live, most of the time when I was there I felt I was on a vacation (a seven years long vacation!!!).

One of the reasons I came back to Italy it is because I had to move anyway somewhere else out of Utah for my career, at that point between coming back to Rome (with a job) or starting in a new place in US, I chose home.

Utah has a very special place in my heart even now after three years.

Total Distance
4.00

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.

Comments
From Kam on Thu, Sep 08, 2011 at 15:26:08 from 68.66.163.179

I look forward to reading your race report. Anything at sub 7:00 pace is a good half marathon. On what sounds like a tough course, anything sub 7 would be a great half.

Total Distance
4.00

Another 4 miler, it was relaxing.

Total Distance
3.10

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.

Race: Half marathon Lago di Vico (13.1 Miles) 01:32:30, Place overall: 129, Place in age division: 19
Total Distance
13.10

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".

Comments
From Kam on Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 19:53:00 from 174.23.125.250

The heat won't last. Your rock solid training will. Way to gut it out to a nice finishing time.

From Claudio on Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 15:03:26 from 216.99.185.50

I think 7 min/mile for a half marathon in the heat is a great effort, this race will pay dividends in a month, just in time for your Fall marathons.

From Camillo on Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 16:01:29 from 79.53.19.252

Kam, Claudio,

thanks for your words. I am actually fine with my race, I wish I didn't taper, I felt I lost 30 miles worth of good marathon training.

From TBean on Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 16:55:19 from 63.241.173.64

Good effort on a hot day.

From Adam RW on Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 22:00:44 from 155.101.152.123

Eugenio, Way to stick it out!

Total Distance
4.50

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.

Total Distance
8.00

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.

Total Distance
5.00

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.

Total Distance
8.50

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.

Total Distance
6.20

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

Total Distance
20.00

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.

 


Comments
From Colby Park on Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 12:15:50 from 139.139.51.70

That looks really strong Eugenio, I am impressed. Looks like your level of fitness if where you want it to be right now, huh?

Total Distance
6.50

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

Total Distance
6.20

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.

Total Distance
10.00

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.

Comments
From TBean on Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 15:40:34 from 63.241.173.64

Great run!

Total Distance
7.00

7 miles in1 hour. Temperatures are going  up again.

Total Distance
6.20

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

Total Distance
4.20

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.

Total Distance
23.00

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 am pre-blogging a mandatory powerful nap in the afternoon.


Race: StraccaVejano (6.2 Miles) 00:45:08, Place in age division: 14
Total Distance
10.00

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.

Comments
From TBean on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 16:27:09 from 63.241.173.64

You're getting some good training and racing in.

From Adam RW on Sun, Oct 02, 2011 at 01:27:44 from 67.182.248.141

You are a racing beast!

From Camillo on Mon, Oct 03, 2011 at 16:55:12 from 79.49.23.250

Adam, I am actually glad to see you are racing again.

I wish I were there doing the 5k on track, you did a very fast time all things considered.

Do you have any plan for a marathon in the near future?

From Adam RW on Mon, Oct 03, 2011 at 22:49:23 from 155.101.152.123

I'm finally moving in the right direction. It definitely helps with all the work stress. I was thinking about a winter marathon (Vegas again) but think I will just go another year without a marathon. It hurts to say that but it just does not seem like a good idea for me to just run a marathon. I tend to get hurt when I do things like that. I want to have in a serious bout of training and since I'm just getting back to it I don't want to ruin anything now. My current goal is keep up the shorter races as my workouts and plan for a spring marathon.

Total Distance
8.00

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

Total Distance
8.00

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.

Total Distance
0.00

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

Total Distance
8.00

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

Temperatures are still too high.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day, I drove in the evening to Pescara.

Total Distance
16.00

I am in Pescara for the weekend, I decided to do a good general reharsal for the marathon in 2 weeks. I went around the starting line of the marathon and I wanted to do an half marathon at goal marathon pace (4:37/km, 3h:15m total) starting at the same time (9am) and doing exactly the same course. For the first 10k I was on cruise control sun on my back and wind in my face, I extended the distance to 13k because I was feeling good and I thought going for 26k at that pace. As soon as I turned around, face to the sun and wind in my back, things started going south almost immediately, at mile 10 I decided 13.1 was enough at this pace, but during the last 4k I really struggled to keep the pace. It was definitively hot (many thermometers indicated between 30 and 32°C) and as soon as I hit 13.1 in 1:37:30 exactly, I stopped at a drinking fountain and spent the next 5 minutes drinking and dousing myself in a too-late attempt to cooldown. Because I had to go back to the car 5k away I started running at a slow speed more depressed than actually tired.

I felt really bad and depressed, because I thought it was going to be much easier to maintain that pace (as I did in some of my long runs in the last few weeks), the "two" excuses are the usual suspects: the heat and being tired after lots of mileage (for me). For sure if the temperatures won't go down at least 10-15°C in the next two weeks I will reassess my goal to a slower pace for the marathon. I have already decided to move my goal from 3:10 to 3:15 because I am not feeling very confident and I also have another attempt at the end of november in Florence. But if the heat will the same as yesterday even with some more rest and tapering things won't change much, I have already done three races in the heat in the last two months and I know I don't do very well when the temps at the start are above 25°C.

At least I can't blame taper madness because I haven't start tapering yet (and probably I should).

Total Distance
8.00

In order to try to kick the bad feelings away about yesterday run, I went running at higher altitude to have some cooler temperatures on some of the hills around Pescara. The temperatures were already 10° lower but my mood didn't change much. I went 4 miles uphill and then came down, but I was tired and demotivated. No energy in my legs and in my brain, I wanted just to be over with the run, have lunch and take a nap. 

I really need some rest to regroup. Tomorrow I will take a day off from running.

Total Distance
0.00

My legs are not so bad today, but I will take a day off, the rest of the week I will maintain my mileage around 40, but no speed until next saturday.

Total Distance
6.20

This will be the mileage I will be running everyday for the rest of the week, I am trying to recover my energies while moving my legs on some minimal, non-stressfull miles. I hope it will work because after 6.2 miles in 58 minutes, my legs are still heavy and my desire to run is close to zero.

 

Total Distance
6.20

Another recovery run 6.2 miles in 59 minutes, my legs are still heavy, breathing is fine.

Total Distance
5.00

Running these days is really hard, my legs are constantly tired but tonight I concluded that it is just a mental problem. My brain is trying to convince me that I am tired and I have to rest, it is just a life saving mechanism. Even if I would like to push the pace, my brain is telling me to slow down because is concerned about the upcoming marathon. I will go through the next 10 days with whatever pace feels good there is not much I can do about this, and I would rather getting at the starting line well rested and "hungry" for some good old fast miles than tired and demotivated. 5 miles in 48 minutes. 

Total Distance
6.20

I got home at 6pm tonight and I went running around the lake taking advantage of the last  hour of light, it was really refreshing compared to the 1k loop in the industrial area. Legs are still tired.

Total Distance
6.20

Finally a cold wind kick the summer out, at least for the weekend.

I waited  until 9am before going out running, last time I started so late on saturday morning was probable back in may.

Another slow 10k, enjoyed the sun and the crisp air, I am so tired of this out of season heat.

Total Distance
6.20

Another 10k at whatever pace was comfortable slow at the beginning and then progressively faster.

A few more running days and in one week the marathon.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day. Walking around Rome as a tourist guide all day, it was not the best way to rest my legs.

Total Distance
3.10

Short run just to move my legs and keep my brain entertained.

Total Distance
0.00

It's about time to look back at the training cycle leading to the upcoming maraton and try to evaluate in an "unbiased" way positive and negative aspects.

Positive things: this is my first fall marathon ever (I am keeping my fingers crossed), I am unjured and since april all my training was uninterrupted. It is the first fall marathon because it was always hard to train throughout the summer months, last year I tried and I signed up for Florence, but three days before the race I fell sick with high fever, but my training was not as consistent as this year. This year I also maintained high mileage and good speed in july and august. I have doubts and questions in my brain right now (as a side effect of not running much), but I will have a second chance at the end of november at the Florence marathon, for this reason I am not too worried about this race.

Negative things: I wish I had more slow/base miles in may and june, but I was afraid to crash and burn as I did during the last three years failing all the attempts to run a fall marathon, so I kept the mileage more manageable. I feel I lack some endurance (I wish I had 200 more miles on my board). Racing was really bad, I didn't race much because  I felt always tired and the two races at the end of august and the half in september were really sub par due to the heat. I wish I had a couple of good (in terms of feeling at the end) races to better evaluate my training. Other than these two points I don't have many regrets.

I am going to write down my three goals just to keep my mind focused: #1 to finish in 3:15:00 maintaining a constant pace of 4:37/km, #2 to finish in 3:19:59 this would open the door of the first corral at the Florence and Rome marathon, #3 to finish under 3:24:21 and beat my most recent PR done in Rome. The most important thing for me is still to finish, if uninjured would be even better. I get a very special mental reward even when I don't reach my goals, I am progressively slowing down, but I am still able to fight until the end, until the finish line. Being able to do this kind of activity is a blessing and I will try to enjoy it while I can.

Total Distance
4.00

4 miles 36 minutes.  The weather forecast looks promising cooler temperatures and cloudy sky, the only open question about the weather is the strength of the wind. I am almost there, no real pain or problem, the only concern is my lack of excitement and anticipation, but there is not much I can do about it.

Comments
From Claudio on Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 17:09:53 from 173.67.52.6

I think the lack of excitement can really work on your favor, staying cool and in control. And I am sure the excitement will rise as you will approach the finish line... You've done a very solid training and great mileage for several months now, so part of what you are feeling is also probably a well-supported confidence.

In bocca al lupo!

From Camillo on Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 04:13:31 from 93.42.144.84

Claudio,

I really hope you are right, but I don't feel very confident either. It is what it is.

Crepi il lupo!!!

In bocca al lupo for your race.

Race: Pescara marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:14:40, Place overall: 44, Place in age division: 11
Total Distance
26.20

It was a great race in spite everything, as added bonus I did better than my goals.

I stayed at a friend place, woke up at 7am to find a cloudy sky and cold weather (about 50F) and some light wind. As soon as we arrived in Pescara the wind was stronger especially on the main marathon road along the sea. My mood was totally flat no excitement whatsoever, I was just determined to repeat 4:37/km for 20 miles as I did three times during my long runs and then evaluate my situation and trying to get the best out of it.

This race included also a half-marathon with 800 people, a non competive walk with some 200 people and a marathon with 200 people. It is a 3 loop course, first one of 13.1 miles along with half-marathoners and then 2 shorter loops of 6.5 miles. The course is completely flat, at sea level right in front of the sea going north for half of the distance and south for the remaining one.

The only "hill" was a bridge 200 meters long 30m high the rest was pancake flat. No crowd support except for the last 100 meters before the finish line, the rest of the race was a time trial with a few runners here and there, the wind and the roaring sea.

The race started at 9:25 and immediately I settled in a relaxing pace that I discovered soon was a little bit faster than I wanted, in spite my efforts to slow down I thought we were going south we had a tail wind, so I decided to maintain the 4:30ish per km. As soon as we turned around (mile 4) going north the wind was definitively making an impact on my efforts, but I did my best to stay behind my wonderful fellow half marathoners and I passed the bridge with the hill with about 1:30 of advantage respect to my time table. Still heading north the road was wider it was really difficult to stay behind anybody so the whole line of runners moved right next to buildings or parked cars, whatever was offering a better protection. At km 17.5 first 180 turn and we were heading south again, my advantage was the same meaning that I kept a more honest pace. First passage in front of the finish line and goodbye to the half marathoners, I was at mile 13.1 in 1:36:02, now the fun begins (so I thought). We were going south (tail wind) and there were 3 people in the next km in front of me and about 2 behind, and no one else around, just a few cars trying to run over the volunteers at the intersections. Going north was a fight against the wind, my times went from 4:37/km to 4:50/km, but I was OK with that, another 180 degree turn and going south my times and my speed were good again hovering around 4:28-4:30. I passed in front of the finish line (again for the second time) to start the last loop and at mile 20 I was still 1:30 ahead of my schedule (2:26 and change). I got a big mental push out of that, I calculated that with 5:00/km (8.00/mile) I would still do a great time, so I decided while I was still going south to keep pushing as fast as I could (around 4:30), going north the story was the same of the previous loop, my times went immediately up, but I was picking up people (most of them were marathoners still in their first short loop) and my times never went above 4:55/km. Third 180 degrees turn I was heading south with 4.5 km to go and wind  under my wings, I wanted to go down to 4:30/km again but it was not going to happen, I could do just 4:35-4:37. Final 2 km were on some kind of cobblestone, but I couldn't care less I was flying again until the finish line.

This is the end of a journey started in Ogden in 2006 when I did 3:20 and change. Since then I couldn't put together a strong training plan or race day was just bad.

I thought at certaing point (last year) that going under 3:20 would be near impossible, but I kept pressing on and finally all those long runs at MP and all those miles finally paid off.

I can squeeze a few more minutes out of this training, because today's conditions were hard (the wind), no crowd and no runners around, the course was flat but monotonous. It was really like one of my long runs, where I am by myself going out and back on a 6.2 mile stretch. In Florence in 40 days I will try to go after 3:10,  this time I have nothing to loose.

My splits from the official timing service:

            Distance    Position Age group         Time                               Average pace

Lap 1    17km            52         11                    01:17:01                            4.32
Lap 2    27.5km         51         12                    02:05:43    00:48:41          4.34
Lap 3    38km            47         11                    02:54:31    00:48:48          4.35
Arrivo   42.195km     44          11                    03:14:40    00:20:08          4.36


Comments
From Claudio on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 15:29:53 from 216.99.185.50

Excellent performance Camillo! Congratulations on a huge PR and beating even your goal #1. Rest well and go get that 3:10 in Firenze!

From Kam on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 19:18:04 from 68.66.163.179

Great job on your race. On a flat, flat course, that is a very impressive result. Your training really paid dividends.

From Camillo on Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 15:24:49 from 79.47.208.158

Claudio, Kam,

thanks for your great support.

From Tom on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 15:40:31 from 137.65.56.2

Great job on the PR and smashing your goal! Very impressive performance and looks real good for getting the 3:10 next time.

From Camillo on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 16:26:45 from 79.56.232.169

Tom,

thanks for your kind words, I will try my best to get to 3:10 in the next several attempts.

From TBean on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 16:37:34 from 63.241.173.64

Great race. Good luck in Firenze. I'm jealous.

From Andrea on Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 22:14:18 from 67.177.21.60

Congratulations on a new PR! Glad the training all paid off. Very smart pacing and STRONG finish!

From Camillo on Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 16:46:52 from 79.55.93.100

Thanks Andrea, I am keeping my fingers crossed for you and Jake for the upcoming big race. You really deserve a big reward out of the impressive training of the last several months. You are an inspiration.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day. Legs are still tired especially my hips. I didn't sleep very well last night too much adrenaline and my hips every time I was turning reminded me they were in pain. For sure the 3 hour drive back home last night didn't help.

Every marathon for me has its signature pain: Ogden and Des News quadriceps on fire (Ogden 3/5, Des News 5/5), Rome calf cramps/pain, two different trail marathons (BoSho and Monti cimini) knee and ankle tenderness, Pescara hips, Park City except for the usual being dead tired didn't leave any specific pain or tenderness.

I will take a couple of days off or until pain is gone and then I will do a reverse taper. A few more days of vacation from running will be good.

Comments
From Claudio on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 15:31:49 from 216.99.185.50

You must be the only person I've ever heard of who doesn't feel the slightest emotion before running a marathon, but then can't sleep because of too much adrenaline the night AFTER it! :)

From Camillo on Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 15:22:52 from 79.47.208.158

Hahahaha, Claudio, this was the first time for me too. I am kind of a freak!!! Plus you have to consider that there was no expo to pick the bib number, the cost of the race was just 25 euros and I received the goodies bag after returning the timing chip. So my body didn't register the usual hints that I was going to run a marathon.

On the sleeping department, however, I always slept very well before any marathon, 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep are crucial to my physical and mental wellbeing. Hence, lack of sleep after it is a strong indicator about my emotions after the race.

Total Distance
0.00

Another good rest day. Hips are almost back to normal, legs are just tired, my sleeping pattern is almost back to normal (I hope that the next 8 good hours of sleep will help to normalize). Tomorrow I will probably do my first running steps.

Total Distance
3.10

First miles post marathon. I took advantage of a great sunny afternoon to go to the lake to shake out whatever was left in my muscles after the race.

A 5k in 30 minutes not exactly a run, it was more an excuse to get some sun and a light breeeze. Legs were heavy but no residual pain not even in my hips.

Total Distance
3.50

A huge thunderstorm flooded Rome this morning and transformed my normal 1h20m morning commute in a 3 hours hell adventure and this evening was the same.

I got home and I went running just to relax. Tonight I broke the wall of the 35 minutes of continuous running for 3.5 miles total, in a couple of days I should get up to 45 or even 50 minutes. I am just glad my recovery is fine.

Total Distance
4.00

4 miles in 40 minutes, weird pain on top of my left foot around the fourth metatarsal bone.

I hope it will go away.

Total Distance
5.00

I am getting faster 5 miles in 48 minutes, first time under 10:00/mile since the marathon.

My legs are still heavy without any desire to go faster than this. Pain in my left foot is  coming and going.

Total Distance
7.20

Today I wanted to break the 6.2 miles for the run, I went a little bit longer, but the feeling was  still the same of the last four days, slow and heavy, last monday I thought  I would be able to bounce back in no time, but it will take a few more days. I need to be patient, I need to be patient, I need to be patient.

Total Distance
7.20

Total Distance
2.00

I have just got back home after spending two days in Bolzano. Yesterday it took 5 h to get there by airplane (driving from my house, waiting at the airport, flying and then cab to the hotel) and today about 6 h. I went out tonight just to do something and enjoy the breeze.

It is funny because when I arrived in Salt Lake City in 2001 I felt the whole setting was very similar to Bolzano (a city in a valley surrounded by mountains), now I consider Bolzano like Salt Lake, even though the valley is very narrow and the mountains are just 360 degrees all around and you can reach the tops of some of them with a tramway from the city.

I spent two good days upthere and yesterday I managed a few miles along the river, the main problem there are the bike paths (and the bikes on them), there are miles and miles of bike paths crowded with bikers going everywhere (to and from work, loaded with groceries, biking is an official way to go around town), I risked several times collisions with bikers coming from different directions, it was crazy and a few times I felt much safer running on the main road along with cars.....

Back to a more normal schedule and probably my legs in a few days will be ready to resume a more regular running routine.

Total Distance
8.80

Highest mileage in one day since the marathon and fastest pace too, 1:11, with the last half at marathon pace. Today I was at home much earlier than usual so I took advantage of the sun still out for the first 20 minutes of the run and the nice temperatures after sunset.

Total Distance
0.00

No run today, last night I didn't sleep very well and this morning my throat was on fire. No fever (yet) but I am feeling as someone has beaten me up with a stick. I guess running a marathon and then flying is the perfect combination to catch one of the early bugs of the season. Tomorrow I have to go to work, dead or alive, this the worst part.

Total Distance
0.00

Third consecutive day of no running, my chest is still congested, fever keeps going up and down and my muscles and bones are beaten. I think this is the way my body is telling me to relax for a few days, I don't even have the remote desire to put my nose out of bed.

I hope this bug will be my early vaccination for the rest of the winter season.

Total Distance
3.10

Today I felt better no fever and not feeling tired. Yesterday already I was without fever but I spent most of the day sleeping. I took advantage of the holiday and I postponed my first adventure out right after lunch when the sun was out and temperatures were really nice.

The advantage of beeing sick for five days on NSAIDs is that my legs today had no pains or aches left, the side effect was that my legs didn't know how to run, but in a few more days they will learn it again.

Comments
From Claudio on Tue, Nov 01, 2011 at 14:35:46 from 216.99.185.50

Good to hear you're feeling better. I am sure you will get your leg back in a few days, it wasn't too bad of a timing for a pause after all... I miss all the Italian holidays - buona Festa dei Santi!

Total Distance
7.00

7 miles in 52:24. Tonight I wanted to go faster, I felt no reason to keep going slow except laziness. For the first 4 miles, after struggling during the first mile, I was actually going around 7:00/mile then a suddenly strange/weird/totally unexpected pain in my left knee convinced me to slow down to a more reasonable pace, in a couple of miles pain was gone and I finished at whatever pace I was running at that point. Overall a great night of running.

Total Distance
6.50

I am slowly going back to a normal schedule. Slower run tonight to recover from yesterday. Actually I wanted to see in 1:00 how many miles I could squeeze in without pushing. I felt fine at the end.

Total Distance
5.00

5 slow miles as an active rest day. Tomorrow I will attempt first 20 miler after the marathon, I hope it will go well.

Comments
From Kam on Fri, Nov 04, 2011 at 16:19:11 from 68.66.163.179

5 miles sounds like a very active rest day. It's weird how we talk about an easy 5 miler. Most people struggle to run a complete mile, let alone 5.

From Camillo on Mon, Nov 07, 2011 at 15:11:58 from 79.55.218.8

Kam,

it is funny/weird not only for the general population, but also in my area most of the runners(approx. 95-97%) don't do marathons, so my training schedule with an easy 5 miler it is really considered crazy. Many times (right after or before 10k) I try avoiding running in places where I can be seen, for many of them it is just inconceivable.

Total Distance
17.00

I wanted to do a long run, didn't happen. I wanted to do it at 4:50/km, didn't happen. And I wanted to be "easy" and it was not the case. I started at 8:30 in the morning with a cloudy sky, after 10 minutes the wind brought some heavy rain that lasted for the next two hours. At that point after I have already abandoned my glorious fast and "easy" goals and I was beyond miserable, wet and cold, I abandoned my last goal to finish with 17 miles in 2:15:21. Once at home I felt I survived this training. This is also the reason why I decided to do an early fall marathon and a late marathon, the weather during november can be really bad and doing a good amount of miles during this month can be challenging. In three weeks in Florence even with bad weather I can still enjoy the scenery (I hope so).

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day, I was just too lazy and I didn't want to go out and get another hour or so of rain and cold weather.

Total Distance
1.00

Another useless day in the running department. After long hours at work, I got home and it was raining hard, I ventured out around my neighbourhood to test the "water" after a mile I was wet and miserable so I got back home.

Total Distance
7.00

I got wet going from the train station to work, same story tonight from work to the train station (I know I should have brought an umbrella, but it was sunny when I left my house this morning), finally at home tonight there were clear skies and I went running without worrying too much getting wet.

7 slow miles, but it felt good anyway.

Total Distance
8.10

First good running day since the marathon. I started at 4pm (that helped) and went out on a progression run, after doing 4 miles in 38 minutes and change (not exactly fast) I came back in 22 minutes. I was feeling really great at the end. 

Total Distance
7.00

After last night fast run, I thought I would be destined on a slow recovery jog for today, instead my legs were fresh and ready I didn't want to push the pace and still I have done 7 miles in 57 minutes. Very easy and very fun. On a side note considering the almost full moon I left for half of the run the "safety" of the industrial loop to venture on some adjacent  rural roads using only the moonlight to see. It was eerie at the beginning but after a few minutes I was totally comfortble running with just the moonlight.

Total Distance
5.00

5 easy recovery miles before tomorrow 2nd attempt at running 20 miles (after  last weekend failure). At least no rain in the forecast.

Total Distance
13.10

Another disappointing training run. As soon as I woke up I knew that there was no way I was going to do 20 miles this morning I was already tired. I thought that I could do an half-marathon at marathon pace but after 6.5 miles in 48 minutes, keeping the same pace for just another mile would have been impossible, I resigned and finished the half in 1:48 and change and I was glad I was still able to run until the end.

I really need to rest and recover (mentally and physically).

Total Distance
10.00

I dragged my sorry legs for 10 slow painful miles, I friend of  mine wanted to be paced for a 10 miler in preparation for a spring half marathon. Without this external motivation I would have stayed at home this morning. Now I am feeling even more tired than yesterday.

Total Distance
6.20

I explored a new route through a residential area, the long loop is 2.1km the short one is 1.3km. Both loops are longer than the industrial area loop and have more variety (a long  hill, a short steep one, a flat part and the corresponding two downhills), the down side there is lots of car traffic at 8pm because there is a gym and a swimming pool. It will be good to change scenery once or twice a week. 6.2 miles in 57 minutes.

Total Distance
0.00

Second day without running, I am still sick again. Not much else to report.

Total Distance
7.00

This morning I was feeling much better, my throat is no longer on fire, even though whatever agent caused the inflammation is still in my body. I went out for a short run and it took 2k to clear up my throat and sinuses  from all the gunk accumulated in the last two days, after that I felt much better and I finished 7 miles in 55:34. I have to say I was really impressed by the outcome of this run, much much better than anticipated.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2  miles in 57 minutes, in spite of the cold air it was not too bad.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 54:40, just maintenance until next week end.

Total Distance
0.00

Rest day, just enjoyed a relaxing day doing laundry, ironing and mowing the lawn last time before the winter months. This week will be stressfull between a trip to Bolzano, a big meeting at work and the marathon next weekend. Not time and mind to run.

Total Distance
6.00

I got to Bolzano at 10:30 am quick 6 miles under a beautiful sunny sky and no snow on the mountains. Temperatures were around freezing but it was really nice, I ended up doing the last three miles along the river (slightly downhill) at HM pace. After that I spent the rest of the day at work.

Total Distance
0.00

I had no time to run this morning in Bolzano and when I got back home at 8pm tonight I didn't feel like going out even for a short run. I am trying to convince myself I am tapering for a marathon that I really didn't prepare at all, considering all "planned" and "unplanned" rest days during the last for 4 weeks. This marathon will end up being a long run to restart my spring training.

Comments
From Kam on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 17:56:55 from 68.66.163.179

It's hard to stay diligent about marathon training when it's so far away.

From Kam on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 17:57:15 from 68.66.163.179

Sometimes unplanned rest days are the best kind.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 59 minutes.

Total Distance
5.00

Last run before Florence marathon. My original goal for this marathon (a month ago while I was still high on adrenaline after Pescara marathon) was to go out and trying to hit 3:10 final time or dying in the process. After two episodes of sore throat and fever and sub par slow mileage in the last 30 days I lowered my goals: first and most important it will be to finish it in one piece without broken parts, second one finish under 3:30, third and near impossible finish under 3:20, but realistically no pressure to accomplish any goal time, I want to do it as a good training high intensity run. I am doing this race in spite my low mood because last year it was my first DNS because I was sick and this year I need redemption, the second and main reason is because I have relatives in Florence I haven't seen in a couple of years and this will a good way to have a nice family reunion.

Happy thanksgiving!!!!

Race: Florence marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:38:42, Place overall: 2437, Place in age division: 2295
Total Distance
26.20

It was a strange race, I wasn’t expecting much in terms of results since mid october my training was just low mileage maintenance and my mind was not ready yet to push hard another marathon.

I went anyway to Florence because I wanted to visit part of my family and the marathon was the perfect excuse. I woke up at 6:45 am, breakfast, prepared my bag and headed out of the door with my uncle who drove me as close as possible to the start, otherwise if I had to drive I should have abandoned my car around 2-3 miles from the starting area. The temperatures were good on the cold side, around freezing but when the sun came up made the weather really perfect for running. We started on time but in spite of the new starting area and wider roads the first miles were still congested. I wanted to keep 4:40-4:45/km to try to finish “relaxed” in 3:20 but during the first miles it was nearly impossible to go under 5:00/km. It is still a mystery to me how in spite starting in a corral with most of the people faster than me most of them were running much slower. After 3 miles I picked up my pace and I kept a decent rhythm until mile 10 when I realized that keeping the same pace for the rest of the race was not going to be easy.  I passed the half in 1:41 and I decided that I was not going to fight to keep an already unsustainable pace. I really wanted to finish without suffering much. I moved back to the 5:00/km pace and I stayed there until mile 20 and then I progressively slowed down even more. I didn’t have any intention to suffer and all I wanted was to complete this long run uninjured. I finished in 3:38:42 really  sightseeing Florence downtown during the last 10km: Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della signoria, Santa Maria del Fiore, il campanile di Giotto e il battistero and finally Santa Croce.

It took me almost 1 hour to leave the finish area walk 1km back to my bag and reach my cousin waiting for my with his scooter to go back to their home for an italian Sunday lunch.

It was a nice long run, my legs were sore at the end like after a long run, actually all my long runs in the last four months were a little bit shorter but at a pace 45sec/km faster, the weather was great and made this run really a nice one overall. If it was raining like last year it would have been a completely different experience. One day (next year maybe) I hope I will go back with a fighting body to conquer a better time. Now it is time to start a more solid training for the upcoming early spring marathons. For sure this experience turned my fire on again to push my training back on track. I also discovered that when my mind is not there it is nearly impossible to run a "relaxed" marathon.

After a big lunch and a couple of hours on a couch digesting I was almost back to normal and ready to drive for 3 hours to Rome.

Comments
From Claudio on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 15:37:36 from 216.99.185.50

"Firenze lo sai, non e' servita a cambiarla... la cosa che ha amato di piu' e' stata l'aria"

/sorry I just love that song, and Firenze too of course.

Nice run Camillo, I can't think of a more beautiful place than Firenze to sight-seeing the last 10 km of a marathon! One day I will run it too!

From LymanW on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 16:48:03 from 170.135.241.45

I agree with your comment that your mind really needs to be in the race to run a "relaxed" marathon. Still a great time. I spent a couple of weeks in Florence last year and enjoyed nothing more than running through the city early in the morning and enjoying its beautiful sights.

From Camillo on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 16:28:22 from 79.18.247.31

Claudio,

thanks for bringing back some good memories (in spite of the general sadness of that song), although my favourite song about Firenze is always Firenze Santa Maria Novella. It reminds me all mysummer vacations spent there with my cousins when I was a kid.

Lyman,

mind wins every time over body, that's the general rule, but more than this I didn't want to have regrets about not running this race just because I didn't feel into it. Stubborness is a difficult disease to treat!!!

From auntieem on Thu, Dec 01, 2011 at 12:39:11 from 71.197.255.236

Florence marathon sounds wonderful! It is one that I would like to do, just for the excuse of visiting Italy again. Best of luck getting back into your training. I enjoyed reading your report.

From Camillo on Fri, Dec 02, 2011 at 16:27:30 from 95.239.219.28

Auntieem,

just a suggestion, Rome marathon is a much better excuse to visit Italy while Firenze it is a wonderful place where to relax as post marathon relaxing "coold down".

Total Distance
0.00

My legs are more sore today than yesterday, so no run. Last night I didn't sleep much and today at work I felt totally disconnected. I need a few more days with good sleep at night before starting training hard again.

Total Distance
0.00

Another rest day, tomorrow I will start again with a few miles. Just some residual soreness in my legs.

Total Distance
4.10

First run post race. 4.1 miles at a good pace overall, around 35 minutes (no watch). My legs are slowly coming back to life.

Total Distance
6.80

6.8 miles at slow pace, still recovering.

Total Distance
4.20

Tonight the weather was humid but really warm. Good relaxing run.

Comments
From Kam on Fri, Dec 02, 2011 at 17:11:48 from 68.66.163.179

Warm sounds very nice. We've been enjoying steady 60mph winds with gusts over 100 mph. 1000's of trees have been uprooted.

From Camillo on Sun, Dec 04, 2011 at 17:52:05 from 79.41.61.223

Kam,

Utah was on the news twice these days, the first time for the inauguration of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah (I still remember the disappointment/anger three years ago when the new construction site killed one our popular running route in the name of nature "preservation").

The second time were the incredible pictures of the mess generated by the wind. For many people over here it is normal to think that extreme weather is normal in US, hurricanes, tornadoes, huge snowstorm ... but those pictures shown were really incredible to believe.

Total Distance
6.20

After several days I went running in the morning, the marathon last week doesn't qualify as a normal run. Unfortunately it was foggy and humid with some light rain, but at least it was not completely dark. Legs are not back to life and were more tired than last night, I did 6.2 miles at the slowest pace possible (in 1 hour and few seconds). Now I have the whole day to recover.

Total Distance
5.00

It was hard at the beginning my legs were still heavy and slow, after a couple of miles I started going a little bit faster and I finished with the last mile at 4:30/km. I hope it means recovery is really under way. As a side note last night for the first time in a couple of years I slept for 12 hours, and this didn't help. The weather was incredible I was running in shorts and short sleeves with temperatures around 70°F.

Total Distance
6.50

Tonight it was a strange run.

I was wearing shorts and shirt because temperatures were around 50F even though was raining on and off all day. After 5 minutes I was under an heavy downpour that lasted for the next 3 miles, after that I started freezing and I kept running a little bit faster each lap just to try to warm up, after 3 more miles I was almost dry, almost warm and I didn't realize I wasn't tired at all. I finished 6.5 miles really happy to have done some many miles on a bad night.

Comments
From BostonRob2 on Mon, Dec 05, 2011 at 16:37:49 from 159.53.46.142

nice 1. I love those runs where you get caught in a heavy downpour, you get absolutely soaked, and then realize you might as well just keep going..

Total Distance
5.00

On the way home tonight I felt fine, my legs were kind of fresh after sitting for 4 hours at a meeting, and outside conditions looked great no rain, clear skies, crisp temperatures and a light breeze. I decided to go out and test again some speed with a mini tempo run. I wanted to do 5 miles in 36 minutes, goal marathon pace, and at the end I exceeded my expectations finishing in 34:21. I started on pace and then I progressively accelerated to hm/10 k pace. At the end I could have kept the pace for another 5 miles but I didn't want to exaggerate and finished with a couple of km walking enjoying the cool crispy air.

Total Distance
7.00

7 easy miles at night. Tomorrow is a holiday so it means a morning run with hopefully some sun.

Total Distance
8.10

Today is a holiday and I took advantage of it going running in the morning when the sun was up. Temperatures were around 65F with a light breeze. I met one of the organizers of the Trail marathon I did in april and we did a few miles together, I discovered that the trail "marathon" was actually longer the 26 miles more around 27.5 miles. That doesn't change anything but I feel a little bit better about my performance, I thought I didn't slow down at all during the second half and still I was 10 minutes slower at the end, now I have the explanation. Good day overall so far.

Total Distance
2.00

Rest day. 2 miles just to go out and loosen up my legs.

Total Distance
15.50

I wanted to restart my marathon training with a long run with most of the miles at marathon pace. I woke up with a thick fog no more than 10m of visibility and 51°F with 100% humidity. I drove to the lake where everything is usually worse, more humidity (if possible) a couple of degrees (celsius) lower and thicker fog. I was alone and really felt lonely in this surreal/eerie place. I did a repeat style training run and surprisingly all this negative things made me stronger, since my warm up km I felt really strong and determined and the fact that I was the only human being out there gave me some extra mental power.  

1k (warm up) 5:37/km

5k 4:28/k + 3"

1k 4:57/k

5k 4:28/k 

1k 4:59/k 

5k 4:30/k

1k 5:04/k

6k 4:25/k + 3"

Overall a great workout 15.5 miles in 1:54:10 at 4:34/k. I was really strong at the end.

Total Distance
6.30

6.3 miles in 1 hour, temperatures were like early summer, unbelievable.

Total Distance
3.10

Not enough time to run and still recovering from saturday, 3.1 miles at slow pace. 

Total Distance
7.00

Tempo run at MP, I got carried away and finished with a pace in between HMP and MP.

10k in 43:06 + 1.3k cool down.

Tonight was the first cool night of the season with high humidity and low temperatures (41F), I was forced to use a long sleeve shirt.

Total Distance
5.00

5 slow miles, my legs had no energy, no power, probably no glicogen, I was just glad to finish without walking without injuries, tired is good. 

Total Distance
6.50

Another slow run, although leaving my house I didn't think I would be able to finish 6 miles I had planned. Overall I was happy about this run.

Total Distance
0.00

A strike of the railways workers and the Christmas party of my running club, killed my running time at night. At the party we also celebrated the victory of our team in the local circuit of races, and the fastest guy, who dominated the competion and is part of our team. The menu featured lots of prosciutto, salame, and other cured meat won in the last few months, along with pizza and wine. This was the first time we won in over 10 years since this championship started, winning again next year will be tough.

Total Distance
0.00

Bad weather rain/snow mix and a constant strong wind, I ventured to the lake dressed for running to check the conditions, but the wind was just crazy. I couldn't run on a straight line, I was constantly pushed to the left or to the right or stopped by the wind, after 200 yeards I turned around and went home.

I also decided to skip tomorrow race, I am done racing for the year.

Comments
From Kam on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 13:13:26 from 68.66.163.179

Sounds like pretty rough conditions. Too bad about your race.

Total Distance
7.00

I am back to almost normal life after a couple of hectic days. Tonight was the coldest day of this season, 32-34°F, I actually enjoyed being out and just having to run without having anything else to think about.

I signed up for a couple of spring marathons, San Valentino marathon on feb. 19 and Rome marathon on march 18, now it's time to commit again to more serious training. For every marathon I always added or changed something in my training, this time I really want to increase a little bit my mileage while keeping a couple of hard/fast workouts. To increase my mileage it will be harder doing it at night in one session, so I will try to add some easy miles early in the morning before leaving to work. I am writing this just to commit myself to this new goal. 7 easy miles.

Total Distance
3.30

This won't be the first double of the season because tonight I won't be able to run but it was the first early morning run (5:30-6:00) anyway and probably my first early morning run during the winter months ever. I did a 1.1km loop around my house without any watch, it was cold but not humid, overall it was a good experience and I hope to keep this enthusiasm when the feeling of doing something new will be gone. 5 laps for 3.3 miles at slow pace.

Total Distance
5.00

Tonight I went running to celebrate the "end"of the dark season, from now on days will gain minutes of light. I won't be able to go running in the evening with some light until mid march but summer is coming.

5 miles progressively faster, I started at 5:00/km finished at 4:30/km, total time 37:37.

Total Distance
6.20

6.2 miles in 58:58, nothing special, it was cold and windy.

Total Distance
8.30

Early morning run at 5:30, 3.3 miles at slow pace.

Second run in the evening 5 miles, felt good.

Total Distance
8.10

I had big plans for today's run, but rain, wind and just don't feeling all that great lowered my expectations I ended up with 8 slow miles. Just in general my legs don't feel recovered, constantly tired and even running slow doesn't seem to help, I would really like to start pushing again, in terms of miles and speed, but everytime I try to bump things up I feel lack of energy, aches and pain everywhere. Anyway it is what it is, I will do what I can.

Merry Christmas, buon Natale!!!

Comments
From Claudio on Sun, Jan 01, 2012 at 15:27:09 from 67.234.206.173

Buon Anno!!!

Total Distance
8.10

Total Distance
3.10

Total Distance
8.10

Total Distance
2308.16
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