Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon, 21 Feb

Finished the Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon yesterday! My Garmin timed it at 5:59 but the official result showed 6:00:53. This was the smallest marathon I have ever participated in, with about 520+ runners in the marathon and approximately 1,650 half marathoners. There was also a wheelchair race and 5K. The expo and race package pick up, inside a shopping mall, was very small.

The starting time weather at 6:00 AM was great, but it got progressively warmer as the morning turned clear and sunny. My first half was great, I ran with the 5:30 pace team and found a running buddy Tom from Tennessee, doing his 2nd marathon. He did a 5 min run, 1 min walk routine, and I went along. It was nice to run with a group, we had "running conversations" which made the time and distance pass quickly. At the turn-off for the half marathon at mile 9, we suddenly found the route empty in front of us, as the majority of the participants signed up for the half. After doing marathons with thousands of people in front and behind me, the rest of the course was a lonely experience.

Unfortunately my lack of distance training started to show just before the halfway point and I fell behind the group. Still, I completed the half in 2:45. The 2nd half was very slow, with walking breaks as my right leg started to cramp up. There were plenty of drink stops, but very little food food, other than granola bars (!). I really missed the gels esp, after mile 18, and had to ration the few packs I carried with me. By mile 21, the roads were partly opened, and the remaining runners (not too many of us left) had to keep an eye on approaching traffic, including a few cars that strayed into the half of the road that was supposed to be closed for runners. At one turn, I ran straight instead of turning, there was no sign and I just followed the coned off road. Fortunately at the next intersection I saw the water station on the parallel road to the left and turned then.

Crowd support? What crowd support? Other than a few people who shouted encouragement, fellow runners were the most vocal supporters. In general people who were doing their morning walks/jogs/cycling just ignored us. There were only a small handful of people cheering at the finish line where my husband and son were waiting with the video carmera. Besides the medal, I was given only a bottle of cold water. Not sure if the food ran out for the slow runners or if there was none to begin with. No attention was given to the late finishers, in fact I have to ask where to go to get my timing chip removed. Despite the flat course, the view of the beach at the beginning and the end of the route, this is not one of my favorite marathons. But the finisher's medal is indeed unique, a scallop shell that opens with the name of the marathon inscribed.

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!