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?

Maratona di Roma, 21 March 2010

Call me crazy, but after a rather non-satisfying experience in Ft. Lauderdale last month, I decided on 8 March (registration deadline) to participate in the Rome Marathon again. Unfortunately on a light run just a week before the marathon, I felt a pulled muscle and thought it might have been caused by a fall down the stairs while in Miami. A trip to the doctor and xrays showed no bone stress nor fracture, and with no recurrence of the pain, the decision was made to go ahead on Thursday, with the option to just walk (this is also the 3rd "Fit-walking" race within the marathon). Booked my room on Friday evening, took the train to Rome to collect my bib on Saturday, and then it was the big day. How's that for last minute? I stayed at a really nice and affordable B&B near the Castro Pretorio metro stop which is a great location since it is on the blue line to the marathon village and to the starting point at the Colosseo. Since I knew I was not going to improve on my marathon time, I stayed way in the back of the last corral, with the fit-walking participants and in front of a crowd of some 80,000 4K participants who I was afraid were going to run over those of us just in front of them.

My 3rd consecutive Rome Marathon and it still has not lost its charm. The organization is great, lots of international runners, lots of drinks and food, even for slow participants. This time around, I noticed the groups of supportive locals who were applauding and shouting "Forza!" and "Bravi" most of the way; there also appeared to be more course control by volunteers and carabinieri. There was a record number of people running barefoot including one Japanese gentleman who carried a huge flag. I started with small strides to control stress on the legs, and was surprised to be able to make the half marathon marker in 2:54. Unfortunately, the fact that I just finished the Ft. Lauderdale marathon 4 weeks ago finally caught up; after about 14 miles my legs decided they had enough and started to cramp up. I mostly walked the next 8 miles and had the novel experience of fighting the urge to try to catch up with the people in front of me so as not to aggravate the strained muscles and become a DNF (did not finish) statistic. But I gave in to the urge the last few miles and was again surprised that I was able to jog much of the way and passed a few people. The last 5 miles were actually quite enjoyable, as I had snatches of conversations with fellow slow runners/walkers, as we all encouraged each other to keep going. I passed an elderly gentleman gamely chugging along. He had something printed on the back of his t-shirt that everyone has an impossible dream and completing this marathon is his (or something along that line). I saluted him and we chatted briefly as I passed, he's from Los Angeles, doing his very first marathon -- said that he needed to see a psychiatrist for wanting to put himself through this. I told him that I should be the one seeing a psychiatrist instead for repeated self-abuse! But I told him there was only 3 miles left and he should make it before the time limit of 7:30. For myself, I tried to jog down the last stretch since I resolved to finish below 6:30. My chip time was 6:22:50 -- I'm happy to take that :)

It was rather painful walking back to the B&B to change, then catch the train back to La Spezia. Which did not happen since I got on the wrong train and ended up in Milan instead! Had to stay overnight in Milan before catching another train back to La Spezia the next day. I was thinking of quitting marathons after completing my 10th, but am now having 2nd thoughts. There's the Berlin Marathon in September which has great reviews especially for its organization! Am going to take a few weeks of rest, and then try to train harder for Berlin. Maybe I will hit below 6 hrs next time. And then there is the Goofy Challenge at Disney World next year.

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.