Summary of 2013 events

Am not running any faster, as can be seen in the finishing times of the events since the Cherry Blossom last year. Found some new ARRC running buddies at the same pace group, we had a great time training together for the MCM 2013. Also went to cheer on some ARRC members running the Grant-Pierce Indoor Marathon and 50K in July, and ended up volunteering to be a time-keeper/lap counter. It was an interesting experience! See if you can catch a glimpse of me at 0:52 in this youtube video of the event.

I registered for the Army Ten Miler in May, not realizing that the event was just the week before MCM. I ran hard at the ATM, completing it in just past 2:00. However, I might have strained my legs, did not feel good starting out at the MCM the next week and had a really tough time towards the end. Was too bad, especially since training throughout spring and summer went so well. Ah well, there is always next year.

Spring and Cherry Blossoms

Just completed my 2nd Cherry Blossom 10 miler last Sunday, April 7. Cold and windy in parts, glad I did not check in my windbreaker, wish I had worn long pants. Unlike last year, the cherry blossoms have not even bloomed yet since the weather has been so cold. Was able to get a guaranteed entry into this race since I was a volunteer last year, will have to get into the lottery next year if I decide to do this again. Signed up for the Marine Corp Historic Half and managed to register for the Marine Corp Marathon after an hour of trying when registration opened at noon March 27 (missed lunch!) Also registered for the Sarasota Half next year, got a great discount for the extremely early registration.

Changes ...

Here I am, sitting in my apartment in northern Virginia, having a 2nd day off work thanks to Hurricane Sandy. Since moving back to the States almost 2 years ago, I had joined the Arlington Road Runners Club and ran several races. Did my best marathon in recent memory (i.e. under 6 hrs) at last year's Marine Corps Marathon, wish I had done more training to run last week's MCM with ARRC members. Anything up to a half marathon is doable, but the full distance needs a lot of time and commitment (and discipline). The ARRC has a winter program as well, but the idea of running in the cold is not very appealing. I joined a gym instead, so that I can keep in shape for the spring winter/spring events. Enjoyed my first Army 10-Miler two weeks ago, looking forward to the Surf-n-Santa 10 Miler in December.

Spotty winter running

With Debi relocating back to the US after our Berlin experience, the weather turning cold and rainy much of the time, it was difficult getting motivated to run. I went to DC the week before Thanksgiving, woke up before dawn the next day due to jetlag, and went out for a 5 mile run from the convention center to the Mall, turning around after the Lincoln Memorial. It was cold starting out (did not think to bring warm gear) but managed to warm up a little by the time I finished, only my hands were numb from the cold . But it felt great to be running, also nice to see so many people out there doing the same. The rest of the time in DC, the weather turned cold and wet, so I used the hotel's really nice fitness center which is also a private gym used by others in the area. Amazing that so many people were already on the exercise machines at 5:30 in the morning. Back in Italy, am having a hard time getting back to an exercise regime ... need to sign up for something to get motivated.

Berlin Marathon, 26 September 2010

Yes, I know, it's been 2 weeks already, but I was too lazy to blog it. Basically, I finished the marathon, not a great time (6:18), blame it on the weather (cold and rainy) and of course insufficient training (the real culprit), since we slacked off the 4 weeks or so before the race. Debi managed to complete 25K, the longest distance she has ever run. The race was crowded, but what can one expect with 40,000 participants. Bad day for the official photographers since most people ran with a plastic cover to ward off the rain. I threw off my transparent plastic raincoat earlier, got wet and cold halfway and fearing hypothermia, donned a plastic coverall picked up on the course. Did not like the fact that there were really no give-aways, not even a race T-Shirt (you have to buy one yourself). Liked the fact that the entertainment (lots of bands) was still playing for us slow runners, there was quite a lot of crowd support, and showers at the end (one has to forget about modesty with the group shower tent, at least it was segregated male/female). We had a great time visiting Berlin, drank lots of beer, ate lots of German food (maybe that was our downfall).

Training for Berlin

Nothing interesting to blog about since May! Training can be pretty boring--Debi and I have been quite focused on sticking to our training schedule. Weekdays (evenings after work, neither of us are morning people) 10-13K (7-8 miles) in Marinella and long runs during the weekends are mostly in Lucca; we did two 21K (13.1 miles) in training on consecutive Saturdays. Last Saturday was a washout due to rain, but on Sunday we ran/walked 25+ K (my Garmin showed 15.75 miles) in Lucca's, 6 times around the city walls. It was very crowded due to the Ferragosta (Assumption day) holiday and the great weather after a stormy Saturday. On the other hand, trying to dodge/run around cyclists and strollers (both people and baby), and groups stopped in the middle of the road to chat, kept us alert. We had been experimenting with the run/walk method, and found that the 1:4 interval works pretty well for us. At least running in Lucca is interesting and trees provide some amount of shade on the route. Running in Marinella is closer to home (30 min vs. 50 min drive) but recently, like this evening, we were running into swarms of gnats (I think) and mosquitoes. Pretty gross when bugs end up in hair and stuck to sweaty skin. I found that insect repellent works OK, but did not prevent the bugs from buzzing around your head, and sometimes getting into eyes and mouth. Yuck!

Only 39 days to the Berlin Marathon, wish we have more training time!

Spa and run in Salsomaggiore, 9 May

Debi and I decided to do some sight seeing and possibly do a run in the Parma area last weekend (8-9 May) on my way to Vicenza. We left early Saturday for Soragna, about 1.5 hours away, to visit the Castle (Rocca di Soragna). We had an enjoyable guided tour, even saw the Prince of Soragna himself (he still lives in the castle). We were not allowed to take photos inside the castle, but this website has a great online tour and photographs. Next item on the agenda was the Cheese Museum close by (Museo di Parmigiana-Reggiano) where we walked around the exhibits, and was lucky enough to meet the man who designed the museum who gave us an impromptu tasting session. There was a section in the exhibits that showed packaging of imitation parmigiana from various countries (including the Kraft grated Parmesan cheese in the familiar green canister from the US). There are a lot of castles in this area plus 3 more food museums, but we decided to leave those for another time. Instead we drove down to the spa town of Salsomaggiore Terme where we checked into a hotel and walked around town, looking for lunch. We decided to go light, ordered a pizza to split between us, and a beer each (OK, not so light since they don't do light beer here). To our surprise, when the pizza came it was totally hidden under slices of ham and parmigiana. We were glad we did not order more food since that was more than enough to fill the tummy. Next, we checked out the spa facilities. The waters of Salsomaggiore are well known for its curative powers, it is home to a fabulous spa, the Berzieri Terme. (right photo). We signed up for a 3 hour slot at the Piscine Mari d'Oriente which are a series of large jacuzzi pools with jets that target different parts of your body. It was absolutely relaxing and decadent! The spa tickets came with a free cocktail, so we avail ourselves to the drink and snack buffet at the bar downstairs, surrounded by the high ceilings, frescos on the walls, marbled columns, and listening to music being played on a grand piano by a young man with girlfriend sitting next to him. He was really good, going from piece to piece non-stop (mainly classical with some jazz thrown in) without referring to any scores. When he finally stood up to leave after almost an hour, we applauded (we were the only people left, the bar has closed by then) -- he confirmed that he is a professional pianist just passing by (I think he was a spa customer), and could not resist playing on the piano in the Berzieri with its great acoustics.

So, where is the running part of this blog post, you ask? I'm getting there :) The next morning we got into our running gear and decided to take a run around the town. But since the town is so small and we wanted to run at least 5K, we decided to follow a signpost to some "Parco" (you'd think by now that we'd know better than to trust road signs). After jogging up a main road with no park in sight, we saw an older man coming down some steps and asked him if he came from the park. He looked puzzled and said that he came from the cemetary but told us about a 8 KM route used by cyclists that has a scenic view of the town. In fact he walked with us to make sure that we got on the right side road, a really nice and friendly gentleman. And what a route! After a steep and painful 3 KM climb, we had amazing views of the countryside. I did not bring my camera, but we drove back on the route when we left town, so that we could capture the scenery. The rest of the route was a gradual downhill with a lovely view of Salsomaggiore below. It was a perfect way to end the week. Of course most people would do the exercise first and then the spa, but we did not plan this trip in any detail, did not even have a hotel reservation, so we were really happy with how things turned out.

On the way out of Salsomaggiore, we checked out the smaller town of Tabiano Terme. It is interesting, not as touristy and has lots of possibilities for running. We headed out to Parma, and as it was lunch time, I kept an eye out for possible eating places. I saw a trattoria on the road to the autostrada, the many cars in its parking lot a likely testimony that the food must be good. So we did a U-turn, got ourselves a table and proceeded to eat some really good food. We were the only foreigners in the restaurant, and quite a novelty among the other diners. We ended up talking with people from different tables, it was really nice!

After lunch we left for Parma, where Debi caught a ride with a friend back to La Spezia while I continued on to the rest of my trip. We decided that we should do this type of trips more often, to break the monotony of running around in circles at the Marinella farm as we train for the Berlin Marathon. Did I forget to mention that both Debi and I signed up for Berlin in September?