Change in plan

Signed up for the Fort Lauderdale A1A Marathon instead of the Mardi Gras Marathon! Managed to finish 28 miles of training last week, most of which were on a treadmill. A long way yet to go ...

Marathon training started

Having almost decided to sign up for my 9th marathon, the Rock'n'Roll Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans (Feb 28. 2010), it's time to get serious about training, especially with a goal to improve on my last marathon time. I managed to do a 10K run in Marinella last Sunday, the last time we had good weather. It seemed like everyone in town decided to do their passeggiata there, it was unbelievably crowded at about 3 PM. The rest of the week was cold and rainy, so the running had to move into the gym. It's really boring and difficult to keep the distance on a treadmill, but I managed progressive runs at 5 miles (Tuesday), 6 miles (Thursday) and this afternoon, 10 miles (yay!). The good thing about running on a treadmill is that one can control the incline, speed, and get real-time feedback on distance completed (in miles, the treadmill I used is American), calories expended, etc. For motivation, I got on the 'net and checked out my favorite running sites. I also wanted to read the on-going debate about "plodders" in a marathon, following the New York Times article that my husband sent me. I came upon John "The Penguin" Bingham's blog and Facebook page which were interesting and reassuring to all slow runners, maybe I'll get one of those running shirts that read "I'm slow, I know. Get over it".

Marcia "Tra i quartieri nel verde", 25 Oct

Had not planned on going to this morning's marcia, but I missed my run in Marinella yesterday evening, and decided to go ahead even though non of my regular running buddies are around. I was told that this is a run in the park, i.e. several times around the Parco Maggiolina in La Spezia. I showed up promptly (for once) at 8:30 but could not see anyone and thought I had the wrong place. I finally spied a group setting up the registration table, the lady in charge looked at me strangely and told me that they will be ready in a few "minuti". I thought it was rather disorganized to be setting up when the sign said registration was at 8:10, also strange that there were no runners there except for myself. I was getting ready to call it off and go running elsewhere by myself when it dawned upon me that daylight savings time ends today. Oops! I was early for the event by a whole hour! So I got back to the car, listened to music and reset the clock. Sure enough by 8:00 runners started showing up. A few people who recognized me greeted me like a old friend (I have not done a marcia since May), I registered and noted that a map was provided. Surprise, surprise, this is no flat run around the park. The 10/14K course took us steeply up to Montepertico towards Forte Montalbano. We left the park behind after crossing over the railroad tracks (no way anyone can run up that overhead pedestrian crossing). Still, it was not too bad, since most of the course was on asphalt and the few off road trails were not wet and slippery as I feared since it had been rainy last week. I of course walked all of the uphill sections. Fortunately what goes up has to come down; after about 5 K, the course went downhill. The way down was a little more complicated as we turned off into trails. At one section a number of people stopped to pet a pair of very friendly donkeys (I think, see photo). I was congratulating myself for being able to follow the green arrows--there were a few turns I would have missed in the old days. On the other hand, I think I may have missed the turnoff to the 14K, since I was back at the train tracks about 11K and the end at 12.5K. Just for the fun of it, I ran around the park so as to finish at 13K, with a time of 1:55. The souvenir was a T-shirt, there was plenty of snacks available but I could not eat anything other than a piece of focaccia. Note: While at the first ristoro (rest stop), I met Rino and Ernesto and found out that they were also planning to do the Midnight Sun (Half) Marathon next June in Norway. Sounds like all of us have the same idea, since Debi and I are almost certain to participate in that event and maybe include the Santa Claus (Half) Marathon as well, depending on how our training goes.

Run to the Tower, 16 Oct

Can't believe that this is my 4th Run to the Tower! This annual event goes from Camp Darby to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a distance of 12K or 7.2 miles. Lisa, Debi and I drove down from La Spezia at 7:30 AM, on a cold but clear Friday morning. As reflected in the lack of postings here that I have not been doing much running, just a couple of 5Ks on the treadmill, so did not have very high expectations of doing a PB. We got to the starting point with plenty of time to get our race packet and to warm up. There was a limit of 500 runners in this race, and some local running groups were there for the competitive race. The race started on time, at 9:30 AM. As usual, it took me a while to get up to speed as I started way behind the pack. My Garmin was not able to locate a satellite so I had to run without it. Because I was with the slow runners, I got to see the usual drama of irate drivers stuck/held up in traffic, honking and yelling at the carabinieri. After about 4K, I started getting warmed up and picked up speed, and completed the rest of the course at a pretty good clip (relatively speaking of course), surprising myself with a finish time of 1:22, according to the clock at the finish line. Lisa finished earlier at 1:15 while Debi (who had not been running due to tendonitis) came in at 1:32. It was a thrill to be running to the finish right next to the Tower, surrounded by tourists. We had to wait around for the shuttle bus to take us back to the base. Later on, Debi and I treated ourselves to a very nice lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant Pechino before going back to work in La Spezia. ADDENDUM (totally forgot this): Since we were sitting in the shuttle bus instead of attending the closing ceremony, I was not aware that I actually won a trophy (imagine that!). I was told a few days later by the Camp Darby Public Affairs Officer that I came in 3rd in my age category! First time I actually placed in a race, well, there are some advantages to getting older :)

Still running, but even slower

Lots of interruptions since my last posting back in May. Weather got increasingly hot, was busy moving to a new apartment, went on travel a few times for work as well as vacation in June/July, caught the H1N1 flu during July trip in the US. All which were good excuses to take a break from running, although out of guilt, I put in a few short 5-8K jogs in Lerici and Marinella (this was after the flu). And then it was August, when most people in Europe go on summer vacation. I spent almost 3 weeks in the US with family. Connie and Franco, friends from Italy who are marce regulars came along. We took an RV tour of the Gulf Coast, from Florida to Texas, difficult to do much running when RVing, especially in the hot and humid deep south. The last 5 days of vacation were spent in Washington, DC where the weather was surprising fall-like. I did a 1-hour run/walk around the capital, re-living old times when I used to jog from the Union Station area, through the Mall, turning back at the Lincoln Memorial, during lunch hour while training for the 2005 Marine Corp Marathon. This time I started from our hotel in Georgetown and just ran around the war memorials since we walked all over the Mall the day before. It was extremely slow going, but felt great to be back in the groove. There were so many people jogging all around DC! Incidentally I heard in the news that a female jogger suffered serious injuries after being hit by a Metrobus at Dupont Circle that morning.

Was supposed to do the marce this morning in Lerici (where I used to live), but due to too much eating, dancing and staying up late at the Sagra della Fritella di Baccala (Festival of the Fried Codfish) in Carnea, an ancient hilltop town near Follo, it was impossible to get up for the 8:30 registration. Instead at 10:00, I went on a "marcia di solo" from Pitelli (where I now live) to Pugliola, along undulating curvy roads. Weather was great, cool and sunny, and parts of the route had nice views of the ocean. No photos, though, forgot my camera. Completed 8K very slowly, walking towards the end, but it did help to assuage the guilt from calorie built-up over the past few weeks! Due to lack of preparation, and the shortage of annual leave, I have decided to bow out of the Dublin Marathon (but Debi is still going for it). Hopefully we will get back in the marce schedule in the coming weeks. Next big event is the Run to the Tower 2009 (i.e. 12K from Camp Darby to the Leaning Tower of Pisa).

Trofeo AVIS Sarzana, 17 May

This morning's marcia started from the Fortezza Firmafede Sarzana (the Castle near the town center), with distances of 6, 14, 28 or 60 K. There were a lot of participants this sunny morning, including groups from out of town and school groups (apparently this is a competition for the groups). On arriving at the castle, I waved to Kimberly taking off with a group of friends (this is her first marcia), and met Connie and Franco who were also just setting off. Franco went on his 6K course, while Connie waited for me to sign up since we were both doing the 14K (or so we thought). We started walking, but after 500 m or so I decided to jog since the first few K were quite flat. The course initially followed a stream and went gradually uphill, but it was mostly on asphalt or not as steep as the last week's marcia, passing houses with small farms. However it was quite humid and I was got very sweaty and thirsty, wondering where the first "ristoro" (drink station) was.

At almost 7K, there were more signs of civilization -- the drink station was someone's garage on the top of the trail in the town of Carignano (house on top of hill in the middle of left photo). And what a spread! This is the first time I've seen so many varieties of food and drinks. I was offered water, hot tea, fruit juices or wine (only in Italy one gets wine at a drink station, although I read that wine is also offered in the Marathon du Medoc in France). As for food -- there were cookies, sgabei (fried pizza dough), panettone (bread with fruit), torta di riso (custard over rice, sweet), torta di faro (sort of barley pie, savory), torta di zucchini (zucchini pie), torta di fruita (fruit tart), pieces of chocolate, cut fruit, and get this, porchetta (slices of whole roasted pork) and panini (sandwiches with the same porchetta). I may have missed a few other dishes -- pretty amazing. If not for the fact that there are still another 7K to go, I would have sampled everything. I had a few glasses of water, hot tea and grapefruit juice plus a few slices of oranges, and regretfully passed on the porchetta (tried a small bite of barley pie out of curiousity, definitely not something I like at first bite). Some of the other participants sat down in the chairs provided and had a proper rest with food!

While I was checking out the food and snapping a few photos, Connie made it to the ristoro. After she had her drinks, we walked on together. The course split after the ristoro, the 28 and 60K routes continue on to more hilltop towns while the 14K course went downhill back to Sarzana. Connie took the opportunity to continue Italian conversation lessons on the way back (she teaches me Italian every Friday evening). Because we were talking, we did not feel the distance and before too long, my Garmin displayed that we have completed 14K with no castle in sight. Turned out that the course was 16K, at least according to my GPS. Nearer to town, we saw a sign that said "KM Ultimo" (last KM), and as we crossed to a pedestrian walkway along a path, someone has spray painted a sign on the path which translated to "tired?" which we thought was amusing. We finally made it back to the castle after 2:36 hrs where Franco was waiting. The courtyard of the castle grounds was filled with people collecting their goodies (a bottle of wine with the label of the running club and the event, there is a choice of red or white), and receiving trophies. Participants also received a lucky draw chit for a free gift. Franco gave me his for a music cassette while I got a very nice pair of shorts which were too small, but will probably fit Connie or one of her granddaughters :) There were more food at the finish but I still could not eat any of the panini (with mortadella) or pastries (more sgabei, torta, etc), although I had a hard boiled egg. There was also ice cream and yoghurt. I will always remember this marcia for the food!

"Tra fiume collina e mare", 10 May

After a long hiatus due to unexpected travel, having missed all of the marce in April, I finally made it to this one that was held in Montemarcello. I carpooled with friends Connie and Franco due to limited parking at the hill-top town. It was a beautiful day, cool and sunny. The course (8, 16 or 21 K) was unbelievable, as reflected by the title of the event, went through river, hills and sea. Franco was set to do the 8K, while Connie and I agreed on the 16K. The first 5K or so was easy downhill, mostly on asphalt from Montemarcello towards Bocca di Magra. I kept reminding myself, what goes down has to come up again. Unfortunately, in my haste to leave the house, I forgot my Garmin, so I was not able to tell the distance nor the time. In fact, after running so long with a GPS, I felt really lost without it; I did not have a regular watch with me either. At Bocca di Magra, the river flows into the ocean and lots of boats were moored along the built-up river banks. A number of fishermen were already positioned along the banks, as luck would have it, as I reached the river, I saw one person slowly reeling in a bent line. Most of my friends know what an avid fisherwoman I am, so I had to stop and watch the action (as did a few others). I have seen people fish in Italy but have never seen anyone land a fish; I was told that there is not much fish around here and it takes a long time to catch one. I tested that information myself and it was true! So I got my camera ready and took shots of a huge mullet being brought in. Show over, we resumed the marcia. I took off running along the flat sidewalk, telling Connie and friends that they are likely to catch up with me on the uphill sections (I don't do hills very well). We turned from the river/ocean towards the hills, turning off on a trail. It was painfully steep and appeared to go up forever (without the GPS I really have no idea). Once at the top, I was up on a road to the historic town of Ameglia looking at Bocca di Magra way down below. From then on, it was a series of up and down trails until we reached Monte Rocchetta. It was grueling and I got slower and slower with each hill.
However the weather was great, it was nice and cool, especially in the shade, despite the bright sun. And the smell of spring flowers was incredible. I was surprised that Connie has not caught up with me since most people I know go uphill faster than I. I tried to call her but my phone was not picking up any signals. At that stage there were few people on the trail. At the Monte Rocchetta drink station there was a split for the 16 vs 21 K, a small group of people there said that they were going on to the 21K route. Then it was back uphill toward the town of Zanego where another drink station was located right next to a bell, and a large group of teenagers gathered. I thought there was a tour group or something but the volunteers signaled to me to come get a drink. As I got nearer, I realised that the group was singing hyms and saying prayers, led by a priest. This was so weird and very uncomfortable to be drinking thirstily while standing next to a prayer group. The volunteers said something to me but I only understood a fraction of it; apparently they too were taken by surprise when the group appeared. Thankfully, after Zanego there was only a small uphill trail, after which it was downhill all the way, alternating between asphalt and trails. At one point the sandy/rocky trail was so steep going down that I had to get down and use my hands to get traction. Later on I found that at least one person fell and scrapped his legs. Towards the end, the trail turned into a jungle which was quite amazing.

After what seemed a long time, I finally made it back to Montemarcello. I had more difficulty finding my way to the finish point through the streets and stone houses than while on the trails which were very well marked (either that or I am getting better at reading the arrows and ribbons marking the trails). At the finish area, a very worried Connie was looking out for me. I was amazed that she passed me on the course, but she said that she decided to do the 8K after hearing from the volunteers at the first drink station that the rest of the course is very tough. That's what happens when one knows the language! The next day, Natalie told me that someone said the 16K was actually 18K (really wish I had my GPS!). But even with tired and aching legs, I did not mind doing the longer distance, the views and the weather were well worth it (not to mention using up the extra calories; I need to get rid of a few lbs). I just felt bad that Connie and Franco had to wait almost 2 hours for me to finish the course, and was worried that I was hurt or got sick on the trail. However they were still smiling at the end of the event so I guess I am still welcomed to their place for dinner on Fridays :). I did not realise that I was on the marcia for over 3 hours! In the end, it may be a good thing that I did not have my GPS with me, it would have been discouraging to know how much more distance I had to cover. But this is one course I would like to do again next year, maybe take on the challenge of the 21K which includes the town of La Serra.

Stramilano, 5 Apr

Milan, one of the fashion capitals of the world. I expected to see a lot of well-dressed people on the streets, shops selling the latest fashions and 50,000 people running the Stramilano, with some running the competitive international half marathon. Not quite expected were crowds everywhere and police at street corners (more about that later). Debi and I took the train from La Spezia to Milano on Saturday morning, joined by Kimberly who decided to run the 10K with us. After checking into our really nice (but affordable) hotel, we walked the 300 m to the Duomo (Cathedral) to pick up our race pack. The process was surprisingly efficient: we showed receipts from our online registration and were given a bag with a T-shirt, a running bib and other stuff. Took maybe 10 minutes max, then on to lunch. A colleague, Nicky, told me about a cafeteria on top of a building with a nice view of the Duomo across. After searching for some time, we found the food court which was on the 7th floor of a big department store, La Rinacentre. It was really crowded but we heard the sushi bar with plates on a conveyor belt calling out to us. Cosmopolitan Milan is one of the few places in Italy where one can find authentic sushi, Thai, India, Mexican ... what I call ethnic food. This was it for Kimberly who has been craving sushi for a whole year, we sat at the sushi bar and started stuffing ourselves, while keeping an eye on the color coded plates to make sure that we did not end up with a 100 euro lunch. After that satisfying meal (and no, we did not empty our purses at this meal), we took a look around the upscale store. Hey, we're in Milan, just have to look at clothes and cosmetics, and ogle at the beautiful people.

We wanted to tour the La Scala Opera House but unfortunately the Museum staff that run the tour were on strike. So we decided to go back to the hotel to rest, before our planned “Milano aperitivi experience” at one of bars described by the Frugal Traveler at http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/in-milan-the-best-meal-deal-in-italy/?partner=rss&emc=rss. The Trattoria Bar Toscana was a 10-min walk from our hotel, but as we get closer to Corso di Porta Ticinese we started seeing a very different fashion culture, a lot of metal, leather and tattoos. The entrance of the bar itself was quite unpretentious, we thought we had the wrong place but inside, especially the courtyard-like bar area was quite spacious although it filled up quickly. The three of us enjoyed our happy hours, 6 euro a drink (we had only 2 rounds, yes, truly) accompanied by free food. We lost count of the number of times we went up to the bar to get samples of new dishes that came out of the kitchen (focaccia, salads, cold meats, hot pasta, meatballs, torta, risotto di fungi which was extremely good, etc). What saved us from making total pigs of ourselves was the big lunch we had only a few hours earlier. Luckily the next day’s run was only a 10K, not a marathon or I would probably see a repeat of the Rome experience!

Race day was cool and cloudy. We were taken by the festive sight in front of the Duomo, red balloons everywhere. A volunteer gave each of us a balloon and happily took a photo for us. The crowd got larger and larger, there were families with small children, some in strollers, people in wheelchairs, people with dogs on leashes, and dogs in slings (we asked permission to take this cute family picture, both dogs, Yoda and Napoleon, were registered participants and wore running bibs). The race started at 9:00 with the release of balloons, and off we went. It was packed the entire course, I’ve never seen anything like this. Runners had to go around walkers, a number of people were on skates and even bicycles; it was rather scary and one has to be really careful, I saw at least 3 people fall. Kimberly who is a fast runner, took off way ahead of us and finished 50 minutes later. I surprised myself with a PB of 1:08, had not expected to do as well as the Hague race since this is my first long distance after Rome. Debi, who had been ill the past week and did not get any training in, finished in 1:16. We all had a medal but the finish area was chaotic. People were jostling for drinks and freebies; Kimberly disappeared inside a crowd at the Easyjet tent, she actually come out alive with free T-shirts. Then it was a mad dash back to the hotel to take a shower and make the noon check out time. We left our bags at the hotel and went out for lunch, ending up at one of the touristy places on the main pedestrian mall. We were talked into trying the house aperitivo which was very good, but the waiter failed to tell us (because we failed to ask) what each glass cost. When the bill came, this was the meal that came very close to breaking our purses. Ah well, lesson learned – but the long lunch was very good, especially after a good race. We tried to tour the La Scala again. This time the staff were back at work but technicians were testing the lighting: we can only visit the exhibits but will not see much of the Theatre. We decided that we will have to come back to La Scala to see a show or an opera next time, and went shopping (or window shopping) again. As we got near the Duomo, there was a big crowd of people with flags and signs: it appears that a political demonstration was getting ready to start. There were police everywhere, including some carrying riot gear. It was rather disconcerting. To top it all, it started to rain, so we decided to get back to the hotel to pick up our bags. We found the main roads blocked off by police, and had to take the side streets, the road outside our hotel was also blocked by police vans (photo above). The desk clerk told us that the nearby metro was closed, so we walked to the other end of the road and took a taxi for the train station. We made it back to La Spezia without incident--what an experience. I don't know if I'll ever do the Stramilano again, but it was definitely a memorable event.

Maratona di Roma, 22 Mar

Rome the Eternal City – what a place to run a marathon. I did it last year and was very impressed by the organization. I had not planned on doing it again, have not been really training, but the goody bag and t-shirt (see bottom) were the deciding factor (seriously!) So despite doubts about my ability to finish the course, I registered just a month before the run. The registration process can be a little challenging for foreigners due to the need for a medical certificate and iffy online payment process (lots of comments on this from reviewers of the Rome Marathon at www.marathonguide.com). That was one of the reasons I joined a local club and FIDAL (the Italian Athletics Federation) last year, which makes a huge difference. Plus, paying the fee via the Italian Post Office, not an option for international runners.

I took the morning train from La Spezia to Rome, then the metro to the Marathon Village at the Palazzo dei Congressi. Clear directions given (in English as well) on the website, plus volunteers who handed maps and pointed participants to the right direction at the metro stop. Bib pickup was a breeze, although I did not like the narrow path through the vendors to get to the exit, I thought they could have arranged the booths better to reduce congestion.
Checked into my hotel, nice little place near a metro stop, then met up with friends Natalie, Ernesto, Rino and others from our running group, Arci Favaro. It was very cold, with a strong wind adding to the misery. We had dinner in a local restaurant in Trastevere: all 6 ladies ordered buccatini all’ amatriciana, the classic Roman pasta (left below), while the men skipped pasta in favor of steaks (Ernesto said it was too late for carbo-loading, he had a point since we did not eat until almost 9 PM). We also had really good carciofi (artichokes) and other side dishes. I ended up eating too much for which I paid dearly the next day.

Marathon morning was still very cold. I wore sweatpants and my hushand’s old sweater over my running garb; the old stuff was thrown away just before the start. I was under the false impression that it was getting warmer but it could be due to the wind having stopped temporarily, and aggregated body heat from so many people standing close to each other. This is one marathon where you don’t have to be at the start line 2 hours before gun time. The race started at 9:00 am and I did not even leave my hotel until 8:00 for the metro station, took only 5 min to get to the Colosseum. The starting area of any marathon is charged with pent-up energy, excitement and comradeship where total strangers share marathon and training stories. This one is no different, except perhaps for the world renown façade of the Colosseum next to where runners are let into their respective corals. Quite a number of international runners were evident, especially Team in Training participants from the US. It took over 4 minutes for those of us in the last coral to get to the start line.

I won’t go into detail about the whole course, but here are some observations. The porto-potties were terrible, yes, this is first-hand experience. I had to make 3 pit stops due to a tummy upset probably caused by the previous evening’s gluttony. Stern resolution to Self: no more social eating and drinking the night before a marathon! Despite that, I felt pretty relaxed, having decided early on to take it easy and just try to finish the race within the generous 7:30 time limit (well, OK, the self-competitive side said to try to finish the race in less than 6 hours). The wind picked up again, so I ran with my wind breaker zipped up most of the way. Highlights on the route: at about 25K, we passed a commercial district where only half of the road was blocked off. Traffic was jammed up on the other half, and drivers leaned on their horns. At one section, a van driver and a carabinieri (policeman) were yelling at each other so loudly that people thought there was going to be a fight. This seems to be a regular feature in Italian road running (have not seen this during bicycle races though). As we headed back towards centro (the historic centre), I turned a corner and there was this vaguely familiar beautiful building in front of me. As I got nearer I heard singing, and realized that I was in front of the Vatican (this was a change in the course from last year). It was surreal, the wide road was blocked off for runners so I had this open view of the building. There were a lot of people were walking on the sidewalks and standing on the square in front of the Vatican while hymns broadcast from the sound system. Two large screens showed a communion in progress inside St. Peters’ (I thought it was the Pope on the screen giving communion but found out later that he was in Africa that weekend). I just had to stop for a while to take it all in (and to take a few pictures).

Nearer toward the finish, we had to go through narrow cobble-stoned streets in a touristy shopping district. By that time, shoppers and tourists have taken over the running course, nobody bothered staying behind the yellow tapes. I just had to take a photo of what the “course” in front of me had turned into (see right photo) – a few times I had to say “excuse me” to get through the throng of families, baby strollers, dogs on leashes and bicyclists. I have previously heard complaints from serious runners about this problem. To slow runners like me who are not trying to qualify for Boston, this is an amusing experience, so typical of the way things are in Italy, so why sweat it? Fortunately once outside the shopping area, the road widened and it was less stressful, not having to avoid colliding with people. At 40K I was about 15 min away from my under-6 goal and have decided to give up on it. Then a power-walker from the US passed me. She and I have been passing each other the past 20K or so. As she passed, she asked why I was slowing down, she expected me to finish ahead of her, and dared me not to give up. That’s why it’s so nice to run with other slow runners/walkers, I did my share of encouraging others especially first-timers earlier on this race. That was the motivation I needed to “sprint” (as fast as a slow runner could sprint) the last K toward the finish. Even so, I just missed the goal, my Garmin noted that I crossed the line at 6:00:24 (bummer). Debi was yelling my name at the finish line, having stopped in Rome on her way up from Naples.

About 18 hours later, I received an email from the Marathon organizers informing me that my chip time was 6:00:34, and gave me a link to download my completion certificate. As mentioned before, I am impressed by their organization. The good thing about this marathon: besides the goody bag and t-shirt, I added another finisher’s medal to my collection. Best of all, I was still able to walk about 3K back to my hotel, change, head for the train station for the 3 hour trip back to La Spezia to be at work the next morning with just slight muscle soreness. On the train, Debi and I looked at the brochures I collected at the Marathon Village to see what half marathons and marathons we would like to try out (top of our list: Bergen in Norway, and Istanbul, and the June half marathon in Rome for Debi).

AD Haagsche Courant 10K, 14 Mar

Tip-toe through the tulips ... I mean the crocus crocuses? croci? (was too early for tulips in Holland)! We could not wait to get into our first race of the year, the AD Haagsche Courant 10K was one of the races at the Fortis City-Pier-City Loop Den Haag (kids' races, 5K, 10K and half marathon). My friend Lindsay, who lives in the Hague (and speaks Dutch), picked us up at Schipol Airport on Friday evening. After breakfast at Lindsay's apartment the next morning, we headed to the Malieveld in downtown Hague. But we had to stop first by the neighborhood shop to buy some delicious Dutch cheese (got to taste a few varieties at the shop) to take back to Italy. Went back to the apt to drop off the cheese and off to downtown via tram. Outside the train/tram station was a sea of bicycles parked in a lot (how does one know where to find his/her bike?). Lindsay told us the rules of the road where bicyclists are "kings" and pedestrians are not supposed to walk on bike paths and drivers have to give way to bicyclists when turning.

When we arrived at the start point, the children's race has already started. We looked all over for the registration tent since I needed to pick up my bib and Debi had to register. But there was no sign of it anywhere and the people Lindsay talked to had no idea where the tent was. We finally found someone who directed us to the right place, registration was quite easy; we did not run with a chip since it was only 10K and we had our Garmin watches to keep track of time/pace. The weather was cold and cloudy with a very light drizzle, quite nice for running. The race started at 1:00 pm with the firing of a very loud cannon, there were lots of runners and all the announcements were in Dutch.

We started at a steady, slightly faster pace than our usual training runs. Even so at about 3K, we heard someone on a bike behind us say (in English, maybe he said it first in Dutch but we would not have understood him): “You are the last two …" We turned and saw a race marshal just behind us, with an official vehicle following. Surely we couldn’t be the last two runners! Anyway, we just ignored him and continued running at the same pace, knowing that some people who started too fast were likely to slow down. Sure enough, by 5K we started passing other runners/walkers. In fact both Debi and I started to feel really good and picked up speed on the second half of the race. Many of the spectators were very nice, cheering us slow runners on, in Dutch of course, although most people here speak pretty good English. Debi said she kept saying "Grazie" while I just smile and wave back. Lindsay said that we were going to see some interesting sights on the route but I could not remember much, except that we passed the impressive Peace Palace. I did not want to slow down to take photos – here is the official website.

I finished the race in 1:09, Debi came in at 1:12; we both felt pretty good. Back in the apt, Debi had an interesting encounter with the unique heater (photo on left) in the guest room: the towel and headband she put on the heater to dry started to burn! She took a photo of the burnt stuff in the sink but we think it was a bit gross to post on this blog :). We topped the excitement of day with a very nice dinner in an Indonesian restaurant.

The next day was spent walking around Amsterdam, taking a leisurely lunch at a café (NOT a coffee shop!) and souvenir shopping. By the way, the photo on the right was not taken at an artistic angle, the apartment, typical Dutch style building next to the canal, is leaning over.
Too soon it was time to get back to the airport for our flight to Florence. What a weekend! Thanks to Lindsay for her hospitality (we’re trying to convince her to join us in Dublin in October). For me, it’s on to the Rome Marathon next weekend (Debi is taking off to the Amalfi coast with friends).

Festa della Mimosa, 8 Mar

We did not run in any events the past two weekends due to travel. Debi and I did a 10K in Marinella yesterday afternoon, and went on our first marcia in March :) this morning. The 16th Marcia Festa della Mimosa was held in San Terenzo, the next town over where we live. Today is also La Giornata Internazionale della Donna (International Women's Day) which is celebrated more widely in Europe than the US. Maybe that's why the arrows marking the route were all in pink (and there were lots of arrows, making this a well marked route). The marcia included a competitive run, as well as the usual non-competitive run/walk 4, 8, 15 K. The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, we walked the 2K to San Terenzo, a seaside town (photo on right), joined by a friend, Angela. As suspected, there was a large crowd at the starting point. The event was a "gita sociale" for other clubs and some groups came on chartered buses. The main roads were closed for the competitive race. We decided to do the non-competitive 15K. Most of the course was on paved roads, the first half of which was uphill. We passed through several towns, Solaro, Pugliola, Rocchetta, La Serra. Part way through the course, near Rocchetta, we encountered a man and his donkey who followed us part of the way. The unpaved path downhill towards the ocean was rather steep and rocky, but at least it was dry. The view of Lerici and Portovenere/Palmaria Island in the distance from La Serra was just lovely, deep blue sea dotted with sailboats out to take advantage of the great weather. The course from La Serra to Lerici were paved narrow walking paths through old stone houses (below right). Because we walked most of the route, it was quite late by the time we got to Lerici which had filled up with people strolling along the waterfront (with many ladies holding bunches of the yellow mimosa). We had to dodge the slow moving masses to try to get back to San Terenzo. The goodies this time was a pair of white socks, not very exciting.

Porcari Corre, 15 Feb

This morning's weather was the coldest we've encountered, frost in the fields, as we set out for our first "gita sociale" (social outing, i.e. marcia outside of our local area) in Porcari, a little town not far from Lucca, about an hour drive away. Not knowing what the course was like, I decided to wear my cross-trainers instead of running shoes (recall the wet, slippery slopes of past runs). This marcia offered varying distances: 3, 5, 12, 17, 20 and 25K, which means that entire families can participate. You can tell this is different immediately by the fact that there were hundreds of people everywhere, volunteers controlling traffic and a general festive atmosphere. We had to park quite far away, as the huge field which served as a parking lot was already full. We signed up in the crowded registration area (for only 2 euro each), asked for a map (there was none, we were told to follow the arrows) and set off. I soon found out it was a bad idea to have left my running shoes at home: most of the first 6K or so was on asphalt; after only 2K my shins were hurting. However it could be due to the fact that it was so cold, both Debi and I had problems warming up enough to stretch. I finally warmed up and found my stride after about 3K and began to enjoy the surroundings. We jogged up, towards the distant hills until we were among olive grooves and vineyards (bare vines at this stage), at one point we caught up with a tractor on the road. The clear sunny weather was perfect for picture taking. We actually found the course clearly marked (wow!), blue arrows on the road, blue signposts at intersections where the different distances separate, even km markers in several places. At one point, there was a big blue NO! marked on a path to indicate that we were not supposed to go there. If only all marce were so well marked! There were a number of memorable moments on our 12K route: crowded drink stations where they served water, hot tea, hot chocolate, coffee, cakes and some delicious fig tart. At one part of the trail, some people dressed in costumes greeted little kids -- this being Carnevale season and there was a Carnevale festival scheduled in Porcari later in the day. At one point we almost got lost, there was a confusing sign saying 20km which we thought pointed to the longer route so we went past the turnoff. We were not the only ones, but another group of walkers behind us figured out that the turn off was the correct route. So, signage at this marcia wasn't perfect after all. At the last major intersection we had a choice of taking the natural route or scenic route with a challenging descent. Both provided awesome views of the town below. That later part of the route also provided some consolation on my choice of shoes as we had to go down a steep hill slope made muddy by melting ice. We returned to the starting point at about 11K by our Garmins, not 12K. Goodies on this marcia were obvious since finishers were walking around with 6-pack paper towels. We also got some other freebies: playing cards and cotton puffs. I think these were sponsored by a company that makes paper products in the area. We ended the day with a walk around Lucca town to meet up with Debi's young friends, Marta and Anna, who were visiting. We had lunch, did some shopping/window shopping and looked around the antiques market.