Run with the Black Knight

Injured

2012-02-09T14:01:00.005+01:00

Injured. I am injured, I didn't listen to my body, I didn't want to stop my runs because I had the good sensation to run faster, to improve day after day. I thought that slowing down during the workouts and the last tough race was the right solution. This because my main goal is (was) the Roma-Ostia half marathon, the most participated in Italy, where I would have liked to establish the time to start the next half marathons in better corrals (last year my finishing time was 1:46:12 and this year my possible goal was 1:43:59). The day before yesterday I did the magnetic resonance imaging to understand why I have pain inside my left knee, however even if I had nothing (as my phisyo said), I must take 10 days off and take it easy for the following 3 weeks. Swimming will help but it is not the same.

Snow. After 27 years a heavy snowfall covered the city. All the inhabitants were unprepared but not the Black Knight Army. Last friday, the day of the snowfall, the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and his humble servant Massimo, ran 10.5 km in the darkness through the frozen city where they didn't meet other runners. It happened in a magic atmosphere unknown in these places: different lights and shadows, the falling snow, the ice on the desert streets, the unreal silence (there were no cars): great and new experience! Here are 3 photos: the first is my absolute worst pic possible (taken after the workout - see the ice on the hat), the second in my backyard and the third inside my wife's car:

The Black Knight Army is always more powerful, other 4 brave warriors joined us: Lady Christi is another amazon, Teamarcia is the Lady of seafaring vessels, sir Kenley is Lord of Dillsurg and we are waiting for the Sir Joahnn's decision about his role.

Maratonina dei 3 Comuni

2012-02-02T16:42:00.006+01:00

Prologue: On Sunday jan. 29th the B.K., Sir theyogi, Sir Giorgio and his humble servant Massimo left the Black Knight Kingdom in early morning to go to Castel S.Elia for a tough race 22.550 km (14 mi) long: the Maratonina dei 3 Comuni. It is part of the mountain circuit race. The path, never flat and with only downhill and uphill, is called the devil’s buttocks as you can see here:

We ran through 3 medieval little towns: Castel S.Elia, Civitacastellana and Nepi; every town was built on a hill. The battle was bloody and the siege was long. As usual we didn’t take prisoners. Here are the pictures of Civitacastellana before and after our raid (the photos are real and both the places are in Civitacastellana):

No previous goals, only to finish this difficult long distance run as training for the most important half-marathon of Italy: the Roma-Ostia at the end of february.

Stats: 22.550 km (14 mi) in 1:55:33 at the pace of 5’07”/km (8’14”/mi); 1210/2121 overall and 97/215 age group. The loot was interesting: a sport bag, olive oil and an artistic plate.

The Black Knight Army. We have the honour to announce that other 2 brave warriors joined the Black Knight Army: Lady Caroline is our official interpreter and Lady Terzah our first foot soldier. The Black Knight Army needs you! Find your role and join us!
Have a good week end

11 Things

2012-01-26T18:28:00.006+01:00

Christi tagged me to share 11 things about me. Here it goes:

Post these rules;
You must post 11 random things about yourself;
Answer the questions set for you in their post;
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer;
Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them;
No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 Random Things About Me:

I live in Italy and I studied, I work and I live in the same city where I was born;
I love my family, I got married with Daniela when she was 18 and I 22 y.o. Now we have one son (32 y.o.), one daughter (27 y.o.), 2 grandsons (3 y.o. and 2 months) …. and 3 cats;
My best friend was Sebastiano, now he is in heaven and I am sure he has always a smile on his lips. I cannot forget his sayings, his jokes, his laughs. We were in the same course at the University and we worked together. The best person who I have ever known. Ciao Lino!
The best period of my life was when I was in the Coast Guard;
In my youth I was a real champion of table-football and I earned money playing (single and double). Below is a 1978 photo:
I like to travel, in 1999 and 2000 I visited the USA (the last pic is in Disneyland);
I like rugby and every year in february and march I follow the italian team in the 6 Nations;
I am teetotal, I don’t smoke, I don’t like seafood and I don’t dance;
My favourite food is pizza and pepsi;
I like the progressive, the hard rock and the gothic rock music even if my favourite band are the Roxy Music (front man is Bryan Ferry);
The last member to join the Black Knight Army is Raina, our new strategist. Welcome Lady Raina!

11 Questions asked by Christi

Which actor played James Bond the best? Sean Connery;
Are you a cat person or a dog person? I am a dog person even if I have only cats at home;
What is your favorite race to date? All the races in Maremma (southern part of Tuscany) for the scenery and the rich loots;
Do you prefer beer or wine? I am teetotal;
What is the first race that you ever completed? April 28, 1985: 8 km, my finishing time was 40’00” (5’/km – 8’03”/mi) and I was the last;
Do you have a coach to help you with your training? No, I don’t;
If you could compete in any long distance triathlon and race fees were not a factor would you choose IM or Rev 3 races? No triathlon for me, after the motor-bike incident I am too scared to ride a bike in a competition;
How many blogging friends have you met in person? strewth, CJ and IHateToast from Australia, Dori from USA and of course many ITALIAN BLOGTROTTERS;
Who is going to win the Superbowl, New England Patriots or New York Giants? The Black Knight Army!!!!!
If you could meet one person alive or dead, who would it be? Julius Caesar;
And finally the big question, do you prefer Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars.

Now here are my questions for those that I tag:

How many races have you done?
What is your unforgettable race?
Have you ever raced abroad?
Are you the only runner (swimmer, biker) in your family?
What is the job of your dreams?
The trip of your dreams?
Your favorite post-race food?
The more expensive fee you have ever payed for a race?
The best movie?
The best song?
The best friend?

If you haven’t been tagged go ahead and do it, I like reading these about other people.

Trofeo Lidense 15 km

2012-01-20T13:05:00.006+01:00

Prologue. On Sunday part of the Black Knight Army: the B.K., Sir theyogi, Sir Giorgio and his humble squire Massimo entered the Trofeo Lidense 15 k. It was a perfect day to race, sunny and cold, with a light sea breeze; the flat path was very scenic near the sea and through a wonderful pine-wood. The start was crowded but the rest of the race was perfect. My goal was to finish in 1:15:00 and it was a secret that I didn’t share because I didn’t want to stress myself to prove that I could do it (click on the pics to enlarge)

Stats. 15 km (9.3 mi) in 1:12:11 at the pace of 4’49”/km (7’45” mi); 652/1388 overall and 47/123 age group. As usual a very competitive and fast pack, here it is almost impossible to enter a race only for fun and to enjoy a day of sport.

The Loot. Only a technical blue shirt with long sleeves but the fee was 12 euro. However the organization was perfect and at the end a lot of refreshments were served.

HAPPY RUNNING

Wordless

2012-01-18T09:30:00.000+01:00

Blogger Gift Exchange

2012-01-13T08:02:00.004+01:00

Blogger Gift Exchange. I got my Christmas gift from Jill's bloggy exchange and it was a nice surprise because it is an item that I was thinking to buy. I received a Road ID, thanks a lot my dear friend Christi. Often I run alone far from the city and through the country, so it is a very useful present.

Lidense Trophy. On Sunday a Black Knight Army’s platoon (the B.K., Sir Giorgio and his humble squire Massimo) will march to the battlefield of Ostia for a 15 km race. That is the Sir theyogi County and he needs our help to defeat the bloody enemies who put under siege his territory. Below (July 2011) you can see the humble squire while loading the Black Knight’s bag on the Sir Giorgio’s car (he is laughing because it’s a honour for him to serve the invincible Knights) and the platoon after a battle:

Latest workouts. This was a tapering week so after the 24.3 km (15.1 mi) of saturday, I did only relaxing runs: monday 10.5 km, wednesday 10 km and this morning 12 km (7.45 mi). After the failure of the marathon I don’t follow a scheduled plan and I feel lazy; for this reason, not to stress my mind, I run every other day. I hope to find again the right spirit with the next programmed races.

Question: Do you plan a long distance run 7 days before a race no longer than a half marathon?

2011: One Running Year

2012-01-06T11:47:00.006+01:00

2011. That was a good year for me because I learned new lessons despite I have been running since 1985: the importance of the cross training (swimming and running); regular sessions of physiotherapy (a weekly massage) and, when the path of a race is too tough, to take it easy as a normal workout.

Final stats. Running: 2.183 km (1.356 mi), 170 workouts and 15 races (see below). Swimming: 41 km (25,4 mi) in 33 times. I stopped my swimming in early september to prepare the marathon that I didn’t run.

January 16 - Ostia: 14° Trofeo Lidense 14 km (8.7 mi) in 1:09:47 at the pace of 4’59”/km (8’01” mi). 746/259 overall, 678/1008 men and 55/110 age group. I got the first bottle of wine of the year. The B.K. is the #1002:

February 27 - Roma-Ostia half-marathon in 1:46:12 at the pace of 5’02”/km (8’06” mi). 5238/9486 overall and 363/781 age group. This was a success, I started from the last corral because my previous finishing time was not considered sufficient to get a bib to be included among the “real runners”. The B.K. is the #7055:

March 13 – Ladispoli Correndo nei Giardini 10 km in 47:41 at the pace of 4’46”/km (7’40” mi). 800/1479 overall and 63/132 age group. The B.K. is the #413:

19 – Edinburgh (Scotland) Park Run 5 km in 23:13 at the pace of 4’38” (7’27” ml). 104/252 overall and 5/22 in my age group (see the difference with the score in my italian region !!!).

April 03 – Civitavecchia Vivicittà 12 km (7.45 mi) in 58:31 at the pace of 4’52”/km (7’50 mi). 117/135 overall and 107/119 men. A race not to run anymore because there are 4 long hearthbreak hills. See again the difference with the races abroad (Edinburgh for instance). The B.K. is the #102:

10 – Montalto 17^ Maratonina 9.6 km (5.96 mi) in 44:50 at the pace of 4’40”/km (7’31”mi). 83/136 overall and 4° in my age group. Thanks to this 4th place I got a very big loot:

May 22 – Roma Race for the Cure 5 km in 23:57 at the pace of 4’48”/km (7’43” mi). We were 40.000 among walkers, joggers and runners, if I had got the competitive bib I would have arrived 825/1900 overall. My son Paolo raced too, he is the #26720:

June 04 – Roma Corri per l’Acorp 6 km (3.7 mi) in a hot afternoon with 30° C (86° F) on a dusty path. Finishing time 30:02 at the pace of 5’00”/km (8’03” mi), 102/170 overall and 18/25 age group. The B.K. is the #7:

July 08 – Orbetello Night Run 6.3 km (3.9 mi) on the cobblestones in 29:40 at the pace of 4’43”/km (7’35” ml). 152/196 overall and 15/17 (!!!!!) age group. The B.K. is the #16:

16 – S.Marinella Trofeo Perla del Tirreno 9.5 km (5.9 mi), through a tough and hilly path, in 48:09 at the pace of 5’04”/km (8’09” mi). 223/324 overall and 18/22 age group:

August 11 – Montefiascone Trofeo Avis 7.4 km (4.6 mi). When we arrived we decided to run very very slowly because it was a dangerous path: cobblestones and only uphill and downhill. That was the first time that I made the decision to take a race easy. Finishing time 41:18 at the pace of 5’35” (9’00” mi). 132/141 overall. This is the photo after the “ordeal”:

September 04 – Ladispoli Trofeo Todaro 6.06 km (3.76 mi) in 29:44 at the pace of 4’55” (7’55” ml). 59/75 overall.

25 – Grosseto BioHalf Marathon in 1:57:13, my PW on the distance, at the pace of 5’33”/km (8’56” mi) under the sun with 33° C (92° F) and weak for antibiotics. 207/257 overall, 190/233 men and 12/17 age group.

October 09 – Ostia 30 km del mare. Indeed it was 30.240 km (18.8 mi). I took it easy as a training for the marathon. Finishing time 2:52:45 at the pace of 5’43”/km (9’12” mi). 835/1077 overall, 756/940 men and 62/88 age group.

December 08 – Civitavecchia Liberty Run Christmas 10.3 km (6.4 mi), with only uphill and downhill, in 51:15 at the pace of 4’58”/km (8’00” mi). 88/106 overall (the runners at the start were 136).

Best wishes for a 2012 full of successful races, workouts and PB

Happy New Year

2011-12-30T08:57:00.004+01:00

Happy New Year. I want to begin this post with the best wishes for a 2012 of happiness and success, full of beautiful things and …. PB. Happy New Year, my friends!!!!!

The Storm. In the last post I wrote about the storm that hit my city and mainly the port making many damages. Here are 2 pictures, the first outside the breakwater and the second in a marina half mile far from the port:

Running. Now I am doing speed-works in the evening with the Sir Giorgio's (now Duke of Pisterzo, please Giorgio explain how you got the title) group. They are faster than me so I can improve my speed. These are the last workouts: sunday 22.8 km (14.2 mi); tuesday 13.8 km (8.5 mi), thursday 11.8 km (7.3 mi) and yesterday a tempo-run on the hills 10.6 km (6.6 mi). We will celebrate the 31st with a long distance run near the sea.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Liberty Run Christmas

2011-12-23T07:06:00.004+01:00

Pisa Marathon. After a lot of thoughts I decided to run the Pisa Marathon. On Saturday afternoon I was in the beautiful city, I left the baggage in hotel and I went to take the bib. But while I was walking through the crowded streets full of lights I received a phone call: “Please come back as soon as possible because there is a storm, 2 ships and 1 pontoon have broken the mooring ropes; the breakwater is closed for the traffic and we don’t know if the line-ships can leave”. At 08.00 p.m. I got home. No marathon. In the next post I will put the pictures of Pisa and the storm.

Liberty Run Christmas. Not to waste 4 months of training the day after (Sunday 18^th) I entered, in my city, the Liberty Run Christmas a tough race 10.3 km long: only uphill and downhill streets one after the other as you can see:

After the storm of the day before, the weather was a little better but always rainy, windy and cold. I was not ready for a short race because I didn’t do speed-works, only long distance runs, mainly on flat roads, to prepare the marathon. Finishing time: 51’15” at the pace of 4’58”/km (8’00” ml). Final stats: 88/106 (the runners at the start were 136). Being a race to raise money for charity we got only a t-shirt in cotton.

And now it’s time to wish MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Another broken dream

2011-12-16T16:59:00.003+01:00

Goodbye Marathon. I surrender, despite 4 months of training with many tough workouts, today I have understood that on sunday I cannot enter the Pisa Marathon. I have an inflammation and I feel pain when I run; it is impossible to finish 42.2 km in such conditions. The ultimate test of this morning was the confirm.

Shopping in Rome. Last saturday I decided to do shopping in Rome with my wife Daniela. We hoped in an ordinary quiet day but when the people knew that the Black Knight was around Spanish Steps, Via del Corso and Via Condotti, the day became hectic and the streets crowded. All the persons wanted to see, the cheer and to greet the famous Knight. Pictures: #1 Via Condotti; #2 Spanish Steps; #3 Via Condotti from Spanish Steps.

Are you ready for Christmas time? Where will you spend the holidays?

21 Things (Tagged)

2011-12-09T13:22:00.006+01:00

Amy tagged me to share 21 things about myself. Here it goes and sorry for the long list:

01. I like to run but when I was young I played judo and rugby (the B.k. is under the arrow):

02. I don't have any brother and so my wife. We were not spoiled;

03. I have a Law Degree from "La Sapienza" University in Rome. I also have a Grad. Dip. in "Accountancy". However I don't use them because I work in the maritime branch:

04. I was not a good student and only thanks to my mom and my wife I got those "titles" because I spent all my time on my "own business" (playing rugby, reading, lazy, traveling ecc);

05. In 1977 I had a terrible car-crash, I finished down in a slop after many "somersaults". I was lucky because I left the broken car completely unhurt;

06. I have never smoked;

07. I am teetotal;

08. I don't eat seafood;

09. I love Coca Cola;

10. My favorite movie is Clockwork Orange;

11. I like to read historical books mainly about the ancient roman and the etruscan people;

12. I love to spend some days in Scotland. Before Italy entered in the 6Nations Tournament (rugby) I was a proud member of the Tartan Army. However I like all the british rugby;

13. Running? I have been running since 1985 even if my first race was in 1969 and I arrived 6th among all the students of the junior high schools: I was very upset because I considered it as a failure;

14. I spent a short part of my life in the Naval Bases of Taranto and La Maddalena. Here are my children in La Maddalena. Now Paolo is 32 and Elisa 27.

15. Both my children work in the port. Paolo in a terminal container and Elisa in a private company. My wife Daniela is an elementary school teacher.

16. We got married in 1979 when she was 19 and I was 23. We get very well together.

17. I traveled a lot, in Europe, in Asia and in Africa. Here we are in Tunisia, Sahara Desert.

18. During my trips I had the chance to race in Athens (10k), Edinburgh (10 ml and 5 k) and Berlin (half marathon);

19. I like the rock music. Among the oldies I prefer the Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry and now I love the gothic rock. Here is an example: Nightwish (wonderful rock band and the voice of Tarja is inimitable)!!!!!

20. I hope to finish the Pisa Marathon on dec. 18th.

21. .....have a wonderful week end!!!!

If you haven't been tagged go ahead and do it, I like reading these about other people.

Filippo

2011-12-02T17:00:00.004+01:00

Filippo. Filippo, my second grandson, was born this morning at 06.30 a.m. Here is his first photo taken one hour later. Welcome to the Black Knight Army!

Susan & Serena. There are other 2 newcomers arrived last monday: Susan and Serena, my daughter Elisa's cats. Here they are with the brother Umberto.
33 km (20.5 ml). At last, on sunday, I succeeded in running 33 km (20.5 ml) under a warm sun. It was a slow run, with many short uphill, at the 5'48"/km (9'18"/ml) pace. Now if the things go well (no flu, no bronchitis, no cold, no antibiotics for some stupid reason) I will run the Pisa Marathon on Dec. 18th.

Happy Running

The Last Chance

2011-11-25T11:05:00.002+01:00

Marathon: the last chance. I planned 3 months of training, since september, to run this sunday the Florence Marathon but many health problems (teeths and bronchitis) didn't allow to follow the scheduled plan and I had to give up. I skipped many workouts included long distance and tempo runs. As second possibility I thought to enter Latina (dec. 4) or Reggio Emilia (dec. 11) but the first is psychologically tough because there are 3 laps to do and the second is far from here. The last chance is the Pisa Marathon on dec. 18, a beautiful city of art and only 2 hours of (fast) train from here. But .... between the Black Knight and the Pisa Marathon there are 33km to run tomorrow or sunday.

Surfing the web, I have found these two pictures of the Trofeo Todaro that I ran last September with Sir Giorgio. As usual in these places there were few (only 75) but fast runners.

Happy Running Everyone

A week end to forget

2011-11-19T16:58:00.007+01:00

Prologue. The last was a week-end to forget for 2 reasons: the first for the workout 33 km. long to confirm my participation at the Florence Marathon and the second for the Mark Knopfler’s concerts. But both the things went wrong. In chronological order:

Dylan-Knopfler’s Concert. I bought the “limited visibility tickets” because all the others were sold out. But, what a surprise, when I arrived at the auditorium in Rome (Palalottomatica) I found 2 sites with no visibility at all!!!! They were at the far right and under the stage hidden by a lateral curtain. When I complained at the help (???) desk the woman said: “send a letter” and I replied: “I don’t want to send a letter, I want to see the concert”!!!! No way. I left Rome and I came back home without following the concert. The day after I wrote to both the organizers ticketone.it and www.dalessandroegalli.com The first affirmed not to be responsible and the second that I knew that the visibility was limited. I argued that limited is different than nothing. No way, no refund. Now I am studying a legal action and I will start a press campiagn against those dishonest operators. On the first picture (I am under the arrow), took 4 days later during the Zucchero concert, you can see the 2 sites I bought and on the second Mark Knopfler (from the exit gate) before I left the Palalottomatica:

Running and Marathon plan. The day after (sunday) I was upset again for the adventure at the concert and I tried to do the workout 33 km. long but, after 25 km (15.5 mi), I gave up and I came back home. The other workouts during the week were: 11.4 km (7.1 mi), 12 km(7.4 mi) and 26.1 km (16.2 km) this morning. It means goodbye Florence!!! Looking at the calendar my last chance is the Pisa Marathon on dec. 18 if I succeed in running those “damned” 33 km on the next sunday.

Zucchero’s Concert. At last a very good concert, last wednesday I saw with my wife Daniela the Zucchero “Sugar” Fornaciari’s concert. 2 hours and half of wonderful rock and blues. Fortunately I found the “right” tickets to follow the performance from a good central position. Here are a couple of pictures of the concert in Rome:

This singer is also famous because he sang with the Queen "Las Palabras De Amor" during the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert:

The first photo

2011-11-11T10:40:00.002+01:00

Training update. I am trying again to run a marathon despite all the days off for the bronchitis. This week I have done tough workouts: sunday 28 km (17.4 mi), tuesday 15.1 km (9.4 mi), thursday 17.3 km (10.7 mi) and this morning a recovery run 9.3 km (5.8 mi) long. If I succeed in running 33 km (20.5 mi) on sunday, I will enter the Florence Marathon.

The First Photo. Few days ago I was putting in order some pictures and I found my first running pic: 25 years ago when I was 30. Another era: few runners (we were pioneers here); all the cars look like toys; on the right now we have an open market; all the buildings are different and on the left now there is a building 5 floors high.

The Clandestine. In spring he arrived to the garden wounded and shy. He was fed and cured. Day after day he became always more friendly and affectionate. Yesterday we found Red at home, on the chair under the table with Gioconda who controles the situation. Welcome home Red!!!!

Happy Running!!!

Troubles and doubts

2011-11-04T16:29:00.002+01:00

October. October had to be the month to load mileage for the marathon but I only ran 196 km (121,7 ml) for a bronchitis: 9 days off!!!! Now I don't know if can enter the Florence Marathon because I also skipped 2 long distance runs. However I have the plan b: Latina Marathon (dec. 4) & the plan c: Reggio Emilia marathon (dec. 11). Now Italy is under a strong rain storm and it will not be easy to follow the scheduled plan.

Gioconda likes the artichokes:

Mark Knopfler and Bob Dylan. On nov. 12 I will go with my wife Daniela to the Mark Knopfler and Bob Dylan's concert in Rome. This is the Daniela's favorite song:

Ciao a tutti (what does it mean?)

The Versatile Blogger

2011-10-28T09:06:00.003+02:00

Big thanks to Terzah for tagging me with the Versatile Blogger award. These "tag" posts are fun because you can learn a lot about your fellow bloggers. There are a few basic rules with this award:

a) You have to thank the giver and provide a link to that person's post. Thanks Terzah, I like your blog and your posts. I hope one day you can also run in Italy;

b) Share 7 random facts about yourself;

c) Award 15 other newly discovered blogs the same award.

Here are the 7 random facts about me:

1) The Black Knight is a Gigi Proietti's joke that finishes with a very rude but nice sentence in roman slang ("don't piss off the Black Knight" has the same meaning of this sentence but is kinder). We founded the Black Knight Army during a summer workout because we were angry against a stupid driver. Please listen to the final, even if it is in italian I am sure you will have fun:

2) In 1977 I joined the Coast Guard where I served for 20 years. Now I work in a Port Authority. I will never forget those 20 years in uniform spent with wonderful collegues: we were and are friends; we were and are again a family;

3) In 1979 I got married with Daniela, now we have one son (32 y.o.), one daughter (26 y.o.) and one grandson (3 y.o.) Both the children work in the port and live by their own. I am happy that they work near my office and live near my house;

4) I am a cancer survivor. I had a melanoma in 1991;

5) The story began with one cat, a devon rex. Later a lady cat without husband arrived and gave us 2 kittens. So we left the mom in the garden and offered hospitality at home to the 2 "babies". The mom didn't like to have lunch alone so, day after day, other 5 welcome guests (4 gentlemen and 1 lady) joined the group. Now we have 8 "owners" who claim the usucapion of the flat and the garden;

6) I love the rock concerts. In the last period I saw: Deep Purple, Marc Knopfler, Bryan Adams, Within Temptation, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Ferry, Queen, Le Orme, Chicago, Elton John, Joe Cocker, Leonard Cohen, Depeche Mode, The Pretenders ... to be continued;

7) So far I have run 197 races (since 1986). Not many because only this year I have learned that I can enter a race only to enjoy the event, taking it easy and without pushing over my limits. In the past I didn't enter if I was not sure to be in perfect shape and well trained. The best memories: my PB on the marathon (1991 - 3h34'09"), the qualification in the National Navy Team (1996 - 8th overall and the Team had to be composed by 8 runners) and my first real half marathon after the surgeries (2011 - 1.46.12 far from my PB of 1h31'58" but I cried for the happiness).

Now I would have to tag 15 bloggers but I prefer not to choose. You are free to get the Versatile Blogger Award, to write 7 facts about yourselves and to award other blogs.

If you have followed the news, you know that in Italy we have had rainy storms. Here is a picture few hours before the local one.

Half-Way

2011-10-21T18:59:00.003+02:00

More than 3 years ago, 6 months after the surgery to rebuild my broken leg, I entered in Rome the "Race for the Cure" finishing very tired the 5 km. The effort was terrible and at that time I didn't want to buy this photo where it is evident. Here is that pic (the Black Knight is the 36804):

Now that is only a memory, many things are changed and I am more confident with running also thanks to Sir Giorgio and his humble squire Massimo who help me during the weekly long distance run. This is the 6th week of my marathon training. I am at half-way.

On wednesday I went to Naples for an international conference about the maritime connections between Italy and North Africa. I took the occasion to enjoy the local delicious mozzarelle (cheese) and the sfogliatelle (cake - see the photo).

Have a good week end

30 Km Ostia

2011-10-14T09:27:00.004+02:00

Prologue. On sunday oct. 9th the Black Knight Army - the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and his humble squire Massimo - went to Ostia (near Rome) to enter the so called "30 km of the Sea". We took it easy because we considered the race only another training run for the marathon. The path was very beautiful, we also passed near the archaeological site (see the photo below), through the natural reserve and along the promenade. I was worried because I spent the 2 days before with a terrible headache but fortunately it disappeared the day of the race. Near the start we met our blogger friend TheYogi but we didn't have the time to have a coffee because we were late (Sir Giorgio still had to pick up his bib).

Finishing time. A slow 2h 52'45". Average 5'43"/km (9'12"/ml) but the real distance was 30.240 km. Final stats. 835/1077 overall but many runners were not classified because there were 2 cut-off times at the 17° km and before the arrival; 756/940 men, 62/88 age group. Pictures: the Black Knight is the 331 and Sir Giorgio the 438.

Happy Running

October

2011-10-07T12:36:00.005+02:00

October is the 2nd month of the marathon training. The workouts become always longer. Last Sunday I left home at 06.00 a.m. for a run 28 km (17.4 ml) long. The first 8 km were totally in the dark and the other 20 under a warm sun. I got home in time to watch in TV the rugby match Ireland-Italy: it was a shame, a "bloody sunday" with the final score 36-6. Everything was wrong and Ireland too strong. At last we are going to change the head coach!!!!

Here is the monthly mileage (in km), as you can see I began to increase the miles since June. (corsa facile - easy run; corsa in salita - hilly run; corsa lunga - long distance run; gara - race).

On Sunday the Black Knight Army will enter the Ostia 30 km race, for me it will only be a little bit faster training for the marathon, no more; for Sir Giorgio the longest distance ever and for his humble insolent squire Massimo .... we don't know because he was sick until yesterday.

Now I have another boring problem. This is my eye now, I don't know what happened but the doctor said that I am ok. Do I have to trust him?

Happy running, biking, swimming, racing .....

Grosseto Bio Half Marathon

2011-09-30T10:55:00.005+02:00

Prologue. Last sunday the Black Knight Army - the Black Knight, sir Giorgio and his humble squire Massimo, went to Grosseto (Tuscany) to run the half marathon. I decided to do this race (and other 3 in the near future) as a training run for the Florence Marathon, reminding myself to slow down to avoid injures. In the past I was too proud to take this kind of decisions: better few races but at my max speed. Now I have changed my mind, I want also enjoy the atmosphere but I always worry not to be the last because in these places the pack is very fast.

Good Things. Perfect organization; flat path; beautiful landscapes through the downtown and the country; rich loot and rich post-race refreshment.

Bad Things. The heat (33° C - 92° F in the shadow) with 10 km totally under the sun; because of the tootache sunday was my 7th day of antibiotics and the 3rd of aninflammatory so I was very very weak; for staying on the running schedule I did a 18 km (11,2 ml) and a 10 km workout on thursday and friday: it means no tapering at all before the race; only 257 runners at the start with the risk to finish last.

Finishing Time. 1h57'13" my personal worst on the distance!!!!!! Average: 5'33"/km - 8'56"/ml.

Final Stats. 207/257 overall, 190/233 men, 12/17 age group.

Question: Do you do any race as training run for another more important event?

60 years of rugby

2011-09-23T16:36:00.004+02:00

60 years of rugby. The local rugby team Civitavecchia Rugby Centumcellae (so called the Saracens) this year won the championship and was promoted in the second division. To celebrate the victory the President invited all the players from 1950 until now for a dinner. As you know the Black Knight was the wing in the 70s. It was a great emotion to meet the old friends and to remember who now plays in heaven. How many hugs, how many memories and yes, some drops. In the first 2 pictures the Black Knight is the first on the right, near the head coach and in the middle, the elder with glasses, the greatest and most charismatic player: the Pirate (Milvio Mondelli). When he came the journalists said: "Mondelli, Mondelli, please come here". He replied "Who is Mondelli? I am the Pirate"! My dear old friend Pirate, you were my best teacher on the rugby ground, my second father.

Here you can see the present and the first President of the Civitavecchia Rugby Centumcellae (the B.K. is hidden beyond the first President):

We are all the rugby players from 1950 until now. Avanti Saraceni means "Go Saracens". Click to enlarge.

Running. I beg your pardon but after the emotion of this event I prefer not to write about running. I can only say that despite the injury and the teeth pain I am following my scheduled plan for the marathon.

The scheduled plan

2011-09-17T09:02:00.003+02:00

This is the second week of my marathon training. During the first one I had to rest from wednesday to saturday because of a deep pain into the knee and the neck. Now I feel better, but I need the help of the PT again: a weekly treatment on monday after the long distance run. Moreover every wednesday I have a thermal bath to relax my muscles. Here is the scheduled plan (L means monday and D sunday). In these 3 months I have included 4 races that I will do as training runs. The distances are in km; 1 mile = 1,610 km.

Here are 2 pictures of my lady cat Gioconda:

Do you like the ice cream?

Have a good running, swimming, biking, hiking week end.

Ladispoli - Trofeo Todaro

2011-09-08T12:34:00.003+02:00

Todaro Trophy. Last sunday the Black Knight Army (the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and his squire Massimo) went to Ladispoli to run the Todaro Trophy 6 km (indeed 6.06). It was a bad surprise: everything wrong! We didn't get the promised swag, tha path was different (3 laps with only uphill and downhill) and water at the end; nothing more. Moreover we were only 75 runners at the start. As I was following the training for the marathon, I took the decision to do a relaxing race without pushing but, after 1 km, I realized to be the last (a lady with her dog and a walker don't count). To save my honour I began to run faster even if I was late and still tired for the long workout of friday. The score: finishing time: 29'44" (4'55"/km - 7'55"/ml); 59° of 75. Sir Giorgio and his squire did a very good race.

Injured. Because of the stupid race I am injured now. This is my 4th day off. I have pain inside the knee and on the neck.

Good memories. Here are 2 pictures of the period when the Black Knight (in both the photos the second from left) was in the Navy. The first in the Taranto Naval Base (1990) and the second in Leghorn (1977):

Le Orme

2011-08-31T12:44:00.004+02:00

August in numbers. 200,8 km (124,7 ml) in 17 workouts, 4850 meters swimming in the sea (low mileage because in summer the pool is closed in early morning) and 1 race.

The road to Florence. On monday I will begin the 3 months training for the Florence marathon. Indeed with Giorgio, Massimo and Gianni we have already did 3 long distance runs in august to be ready for the more demanding workouts. Anyway on friday we run 20 km and on sunday we will enter a 6 km race in Ladispoli to get a very rich loot.

Le Orme. The last summer concert was held in Tarquinia by Le Orme a progressive rock italian band. Their songs were the sound-track of my youth when I was a teen-ager. We enjoyed 2 hours of great rock in a wonderful summer night. Question: do you like the "old" rock groups (sacred cow)?

Below you can see the sunset on the beach near the arena and Le Orme. The last photo is a gift of a professional photographer, my friend Angelo Bonarelli:

Here you can listen 2 famous songs of this group:

Umbria

2011-08-23T19:33:00.007+02:00

Umbria. I spent one week in Umbria (green region in the heart of Italy) with my wife Daniela. We visited many beautiful places but the heat was a problem (40° C - 104 F). In the pictures (click to enlarge) you can see Preci (n°1), Sibillini Mountains Park (n° 2 - with Daniela - and 7), Collescille (n° 3), Spoleto (n° 4 and 5), Cascia (n° 6), Acquaro (n° 8), Visso (n° 9 and 10) and Todi (n° 11 and 12). In the photos n° 1 and 3 the Black Knight wears with pride the t-shirt of the italian rugby team (Azzurri). It was impossible to make workouts, too hot, but we had an accommodation in a hotel with pool and treadmill where I could swim and run.

Training. I keep on running and swimming to be ready to start on sept. 5th the scheduled program for the Florence Marathon. In the meantime every week I also make a long distance run with the help of my friends Giorgio, his squire Massimo and Gianni.

Question. Do you find the time for your workouts when you are in vacation or when you travel for business?

....and as Jill wrote: run strong, my friends!!!

Montefiascone race

2011-08-13T08:58:00.007+02:00

Prologue. Last thursday I went with my friend Massimo to Montefiascone to run the 8 km. race. We understood, just arrived, that we had made a mistake because the beautiful town was built on a steep hill (see the photo) and the route was 4 laps up and down that hill through narrow streets mostly in the dark. The second surprise occurred when we took the race number: we got an used bib (see the photo)!!!! It is not hygienic to wear a dirty bib!!!!

The race. Nothing to say. Few runners at the start (less than 100) and a route where it could be possible to get injured. We decided to run slowly, very very slowly without racing. It is pointless to risk the health only to finish a good race. We saw runners suffering with the hand on the liver and others retreated but the worst was the fall of 3 runners at the start because of the narrow street. Moreover the garmin said 7.4 km (and not 8). Finishing time: 41'18" at the pace of 5'35" (9'00"/ml). As you can see it was only a good slow workout in the night.

After the race we had dinner in a typical little restaurant where we ate a good pasta, vegetables and an ice cream.

On the left Massimo and on the right the Black Knight

Question: What is your favorite post-race dish?

Bryan Ferry

2011-08-05T07:17:00.004+02:00

Training. On sept. 5 I will start the specific training for the Florence Marathon (nov. 27) so I have to increase the mileage till august, also doing a weekly long distance run despite the heat. In this way I will be ready to follow the appropriate program next month. Unfortunately I have problems with the pool because it opens in late morning so I can only swim, when possible, in the sea.

July in numbers. 181 km. (103.5 ml) in 16 workouts, 6000 meters swimming (4 sessions) and 2 races. Indeed poor numbers.

Bryan Ferry. Last week I went to Bolgheri (Tuscany), a beautiful town in the country, to see the Bryan Ferry's concert. As you know he is the front-man of the Roxy Music. 1h 45' of wonderful music under a sky full of stars. This was the only date in Italy this year. Great atmosphere, great band and unforgettable songs.

Question. Do you like Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music? If so, in your opinion, what is his/their best song?

Black Knight Air Force

2011-07-29T21:37:00.003+02:00

Black Knight Air Force. Last night I found outside my window a little bat fallen from the bat-box that I put under the roof 2 years ago (see the pictures). Immediately I prepared a provisional refuge where I fed him with milk. After a couple of hours he was ready to come back to patrol the skies of the Black Knight Kingdom. Now he is a proud member of the Black Knight Air Force.

Running. I am following the usual summer training schedule, alternating swimming and running while waiting for the start of the marathon program (late august). On tuesday I will enter a 5 km in Marina S. Nicola, a city on the sea with an ancient roman villa on the beach. I had many doubts to do it because part of the route is on the sidewalks where I think we will get into the troubles for the crowded pack. Here is a pic of my last race in S.Marinella where I am chatting with Sir Giorgio, hidden by the grey lady, few meters after the start.

Question. What do you think of the bats?

S. Marinella - Perla del Tirreno Trophy (km. 9.5)

2011-07-22T10:16:00.002+02:00

Prologue. Saturday night the Black Knight Army - Sir Giorgio, his insolent squire Massimo and the Black Knight - went to S.Marinella, a beautiful city on the sea, to run the 9.5 km. race. Here you can see the Odescalchi Castle in S.Marinella:

The Report. We thought to race near the sea on the flat promenade but we were wrong, the path ran at the borders of the city and was tough and hilly. All things considered (hills, poor age-groups prizes, heat, fast pack) I took the decision to make only a tempo-run, slowing down my usual racing pace.

Finishing time 48'09" at the pace of 5'04"/km (8'09"/ml); 223° of 324 overall and 18 of 22 in my age group (!!!!!!).

Question. Have you ever changed your plans few minutes before the start? Was it a wise decision?

The Tribute: Chicago & Elton John

2011-07-15T17:31:00.002+02:00

The Tribute. As I wrote 2 posts ago, when the press announced that the Black Knight would have run the Florence Marathon, the Chicago, Elton John and Bryan Ferry decided to pay homage with a concert. Here are the pictures (sorry but I don't have a professional camera) of the Chicago (July 7th) and Elton John (July 13rd). A couple of unforgettable performances, more than 2 hours of music at the Rome Auditorium:

Running. It's hot and it is difficult to follow a specific program. I try not to lose speed making cross training (swimming and running) but it is an impossible mission. Summer is not the right season to push. However we don't surrender and the Black Knight Army is always on the battlefield: tomorrow we (the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and his insolent squire Massimo) will enter the Santa Marinella 10 km.
Here is a pic of my last race in Orbetello: a shot in the dark. The Black Knight is the n° 16.
Question: Do you like to go to the concerts? What was the last one?

Orbetello Night Run

2011-07-09T18:04:00.003+02:00

Prologue. Yesterday the Black Knight Army - Sir Giorgio, his squire Massimo and the Black Knight - went to Orbetello, a nice town in Tuscany famous for its lagoon, to run the 6,3 km (3,9 ml) night run. This is a race with 3 laps into the historical center, full of tourists, through very very narrow streets on a difficult ground (big stones).

The Report. It was a surprise because we found a pack of fast runners. I decided not to push too much because I understood that it was impossible to enter in the first 3 of my age group. Finishing time 29'40" at the pace of 4'43"/km (7'35"/ml).; 152° of 196 overall and 15° of 17 in my age group!!!!!! Yes I am a humble member of the last pack!
After the race we had a drink to recover: beer for Sir Giorgio and his Squire and tea for the Black Knight.
Question: How do you spend your post race time?

July.

2011-07-01T13:01:00.004+02:00

Concerts. When the press announced that the Black Knight will run the Florence Marathon many artists decided to pay homage to the invincible warrior. In July the Chicago (July 7th), Elton John (July 13rd - not my favorite but this is a my wife's desire) and Bryan Ferry (July 28th - in my opinion the main event) will make the concerts in honor to the Black Knight's decision.

Umberto. I received many comments on my daughter's cat Umberto, a sphinx. Here is his last photo. He is again in Switzerland with his breeder; we will take him at the end of this month.
Training. This was another good week of cross training: swim and run. The heat doesn't allow long distance runs but I don't complain, I have plenty of time before starting the marathon program. On saturday I will run the Orbetello Night Run (start at 09.00 p.m.) with Sir Giorgio.

I prefer to run in the morning and I don't know if I will be slower because of the "late" hour.

Have you ever run in the night? How was your performance?

Here is the picture of the famous mill of Orbetello:

Marathon?

2011-06-24T16:25:00.002+02:00

Marathon? Everyday I ask to myself: "what about another marathon"? The incident 4 years ago was terrible and I don't know if my leg can stand a marathon and the training with all those long distance runs. The goal would be the Florence Marathon, in 3h 59'59", on nov. 27th. Last february I finished the Roma-Ostia half marathon in 1h 46'12" and for the first time I thought: "I can do it again". I have the whole month of July to take a decision. Who knows? This is the photo of the last meters of the Rome Marathon 20 years ago: 3h 34' 09".

Training. It's really hot and the workouts are not easy. This is the training of the last week: running sun 10.2 k; tue 12.2 k and thu 11.5 k - swimming mon and today 1500 meters.

Cat. My daughter Elisa has bought a Sphynx cat, his name is Umberto. He is the first on the right.

Plants. An insect, the red weevil, has destroyed all the palms of our city. I had to cut 2 wonderful high palms in my garden. On the left of the sunflower you can see an ill palm. This is a very sad situation.
Question: What is your favorite plant or flower?

Summer plan

2011-06-17T13:42:00.005+02:00

Summer. This is a city on the sea and it’s time to go to the beach, often I go there running, because the distance it’s only 10,5 km. With the heat the weekly long distance runs become shorter (15 km. more or less) and there are more chances to swim (the sea besides the pool). Here are 3 summer pictures: 3 little cruise ships in the port, a sunflower on my balcony and my tired/lazy lady cat Gioconda (devon rex breed).

Training. I noticed that in the latest races I have lost some positions on the uphill so I decided to include more hilly workouts. No speedworks but a weekly tempo-run. This is the training of the last week: sat. 15.4 km, tue 10.6 km and today 15 km.; mon and wed swimming 1400 and 1350 meters.

Races. This is not a good period because the races are organized in little towns where there are terrible uphill/downhill and I don’t want to risk my legs. In Rome there are only crowded events with thousands runners and a very poor swag (a t-shirt in cotton for the first 400/500 and, if you are lucky, you receive a "s" or "xxl" size because it is impossible to get a normal “medium”). The ultimate decision is: the Black Knight Army, waiting for September, will only enter 1 race for month.

Question: Do you change your running/swimming/biking schedule in summer?

Run for the Acorp

2011-06-10T12:32:00.003+02:00

Prologue. Last Saturday (June 4) the Black Knight (n° 7) and Sir Giorgio (n° 8) went to Rome to run, through the beautiful park of Villa Pamphili, the Corri per l’Acorp (6 km – 3,7 ml) an event to help the children in Brasil. There we met the blogger GIAN CARLO (n° 108) and we took a photo all together. We ran in a hot afternoon (30° C - 86°F) on a dirty patch full of dust.

The report. It was a total failure, I don’t know what happened but after 4 km I was already tired. The last 2 km were a real ordeal, a nightmare. Sir Giorgio ran all the race near me because he noticed that I didn’t feel good. Finishing time 30’02” at the pace of 5’00”/km. (8’03”/ml), 102° of 170 overall and 18° of 25 a.g. Here is the photo of the final “rush”:

Question: In case you don’t feel good: is it better to finish the race or to withdraw? Have you ever had a similar experience?

Rome again

2011-06-03T19:58:00.003+02:00

Training. This was a good week because I could swim and make some good tempo-runs. I cannot run 2 days in a row but the cross training helps. Hard time to run under this hot summer sun.

Run for the Acorp. Tomorrow with Sir Giorgio I will go to Rome to run through the beautiful Villa Pamphili the Acorp race to help the children in Brasil. It is a cross 6 km. long inside the park. I hope to finish in 28'00"/28'30".

Rome again. Here are some pictures that I took 2 weeks ago in Rome after the Race for the Cure. The place is Pantheon Square.

Question: Will you go to the beach this summer?

Race for the Cure

2011-05-26T13:59:00.005+02:00

Race for the Cure. Last Sunday I entered with my son Paolo the “Race for the Cure”, a 5 km to help the breast cancer research. The route runs through the heart of ancient Rome: the Circus Maximus, Caracalla Thermal Baths, Piazza Venezia, the Imperial Forums, the Colosseum and Via S. Gregorio. Under a hot sun (32° C – 90° F) we ran with other 40.000 persons: only 1900 in the competitive race. To have an idea of the crowd, you have to know that when I arrived at the finishing line many people had to start again. However the organization was perfect. For a mistake we got the bibs of the no-competitive race but the mighty Black Knight (and his son) threatening and scaring the security entered into the competitive corral. It is impossible and dangerous to stop the members of the Black Knight Army!!!! Before the event we met at the blogpoint some members of the ItalianBlogTrotters: GIAN CARLO, Karim, Francescarun (in her blog you can see the picture of the group), er Moro, Maxrun and others.

The Report. The path was undulate and on the ground there were the uncomfortable “sanpietrini”, ancient and typical little cubes of porphyry, instead of the asphalt. I was not ready to race because of the long stop (the injury + the bronchitis) and the few and slow workouts; it was very tough for me. The split explains very well what happened: 4’49” (very very crowded) – 4’40” - 4’44” – 4’50” and 4’54”. As you can see every km was slower than the previous. After the effort I needed a brick of gel and a big coca cola to recover the strength. Finishing time 23’57” (4’48”/km – 7’43”/ml): the personal worst (the first 5km few months after the operation in 2008 doesn't count). And this personal worst deserves my worst pictures during a race (the Black Knight is the n° 26721):

If I had entered the competitive I would have arrived 825° of 1900 overall. My son Paolo (26720) made a good race with a finishing time of 25’55” (5’11”/km – 8’20”/ml).

The Next Future. To avoid other injures I decided not to run anymore 2 races in a row so I will not enter a beautiful 10 km on the next Sunday.

Question: If you are not ready for a race, what do you do? Are you able to take it easy and to race only for fun?

Brussels

2011-05-20T17:06:00.006+02:00

Brussels. I spent monday and tuesday in Brussels to attend a meeting among european ports about the sustainable development. I didn't have the time for a workout so I could not enjoy the city by running. Here are some pictures I took; the last is into a local with french atmosphere.

Running. I only made 3 easy and short workouts (9 km.) to test myself and the runs, fortunately, were painless. On sunday I will enter with my son the "Race for the Cure" (to help the breast cancer research) but it will only be the occasion to run 5 km in the most beautiful and ancient part of Rome taking many pictures. Is there in your city (or near) an event like this?

Cats

2011-05-12T19:19:00.000+02:00

Troubles. The things go wrong, after the injury, now the bronchitis with high fever. I am off from last saturday, today is the 5th day that I spend ill at home. I will come back to work tomorrow. I think I will take other 3 or 4 days off to recover completely.

Bruxelles. Monday and tuesday I will be in Bruxelles to attend an ESPO (european sea ports organization) meeting about the sustainable development. In this moment the environment is a priority in Europe. If you are interested on this topic feel free to e-mail me for more information and documents. I hope to make a workout through the city and, of course, I will take a lot of pictures.

Cats. They are very good friends. In this period Gioconda spends all the whole days at home with me. Here are some pics of my home cats (Gioconda and Benedetta) and some friends I met in Tuscany during the last trip.

Do you have a cat at home? What is his/her name?

Friends

2011-05-06T16:48:00.007+02:00

Healing. After 15 days of total break I have begun again to run and at the moment I don't feel pain into my groin. Unfortunately I cannot swim because I have a light cold with sore throat. From monday I make 3 workouts under a warm sun: 8 km to feel again the smell of the road, 10,2 slow km and yesterday a hilly tempo run 10,6 km long. Now I have to slow down with the races: at the most 2 in one month but with not less than 15 days between the first and the second.

The Rescue. As every spring my garden fills of nice lizards and for the cats this becomes their favorite hunting time. Yesterday one feline captured this little creature and I had to fight to free her/him by those "horrible jaws". After the change of business cards and the usual polite talks, I brought the lizard to a high wall impossible to reach for the cats. Now I have a new friend.

Sir Theyogi. Sir Theyogi is a running friend who I knew by our respective blogs. We met in person for the first time last january and we ran a race of 14 km shoulder to shoulder. He was so kind to slow his pace to run with me. Yesterday he sent to me this picture where you can see both of us:

Question: How many running bloggers have you met in person?

Tuscany

2011-04-29T11:27:00.004+02:00

Tuscany. I spent 5 days in Tuscany with my wife in an ancient villa, now hotel, built in the late XVI century. It is located in the green country near Florence and situated upon the hills overlooking the upper Arno Valley. Here you can see part of the pool and the wood:

We had relax, we ate good tuscan food and we came back to visit Florence (photos: David in Piazza della Signoria; the Dome and a window outside the Certosa)

and Siena: here is the Black Knight in Piazza del Campo. As you can see all the people were seated on the ground not to disturb the Black Knight during his walk around the square.

The Injury. This is my second week off to recover. Tomorrow I will try to run again. Keeping the fingers crossed.

Did you eat special food for Easter?

The gift and 15 days off

2011-04-21T20:02:00.015+02:00

Thank you Jenny. Jenny Davidson was so kind to send me a wonderful gift: her book "The Explosionist" a novel set in Edinburgh. Thank you again Jenny.

The tragedy. I was imprudent, I asked myself too much. Last year I ran 9 races at the pace/km of (in chronological order) 5'03" - 5'05" - 4'55" - 4'51" - 5'06" - 4'46" - 5'07" - 5'31" (half marathon) and 4'49". This year I have already run 6 races improving my speed: 4'59" - 5'02" (half marathon) - 4'46" - 4'38" - 4'52" and 4'40". To achieve this goal I made more workouts at a faster pace and I pushed in every race except the first one. For this reason now I feel a deep pain into my groin and the doctor diagnosed a groin pull. The radiologist said that it is pointless to investigate because all the part could be inflamed and the bone covered by an oedema. To make a note of both the doctors are runners. The cure: 15 days off (not even swimming) and pills for 7 days.
The future. The radiologist, a very good friend, went to check by himself all my x-rays and exams from the date of my incident and he said that I must not anymore run 2 days in a row, I must not anymore push during the races (no more than the 80/85% of my possibilities) and I can only enter one race per month (no marathons). My injured leg has permanent damages: bone broken in more parts and ligaments and muscles cut during the first operation. On the other hand 4 years ago the medical college established that I am disable at 16% and this is the reason.
Another gift. Few days ago a friend of mine gave me this picture (click to enlarge) where you can see the Black Knight (first on the left) and Sir Giorgio (third from left) both in black, of course. The fair-haired woman is the president of our official running team Anna Baby (she is Anna, the owner of a shop for babies and kids).

Easter. Have a very good Easter full of happiness and .... chocolate. I will spend the holidays in the green country of Tuscany with my wife. Do you have any plan for Easter?

Montalto 10 km - Near the podium.

2011-04-14T12:37:00.010+02:00

The Legend. Last Sunday the Black Knight Army invaded and conquered the medieval town of Montalto (see the picture):

The platoon was the same of the last year: the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio (9° in his age group) and his squire Massimo. The Giorgio's running mate Paola (4^ in her age group) arrived by herself to close the enemy into a bloody tongs. We didn't accept to take prisoners but we didn't destroy the ancient castle.

The Report. Another tough route because the town was built on a hill but the organization succeeded in finding an acceptable lap. The results: 9.6 km (5.96 ml) in 44'50" at the pace of 4'40"/km (7'31"/ml). 83° of 136 overall and 4° in my age group. the split: 4'42" - 4'40" - 4'26" - 4'40" - 4'37" - 4'33" - 4'30" - 5'12" - 4'56" - 2'33"(600 meters)
At the start I saw that we were few runners and, as usual, the others are fast so I decided to push from the start but I had to slow down during the 8° and the 9° km to recover and to be ready for the final rush.

The Loot. The loot was very rich, there were awards for the first 10 in every age group. I got a big medal, a bag with wine, coffee and pasta and a wooden box with special wine (lambrusco), cheese, fine chocolate and famous cookies (cantuccini of Siena). Even if I am teetotal I am curious to know what is your favorite wine.

The Injury. Now I need a week off from running (but not from swimming) because I have pain into my groin. For this reason I will not enter the Appia Run on sunday.

Vivicittà 12 km.

2011-04-08T17:01:00.012+02:00

The Black List. Last Sunday the Black Knight Army (The Black Knight, his son Paolo, the grandson Leonardo, Sir Giorgio and his running mate Paola) ran the Vivicittà 12 km (7,45 ml). This race now is in the black list. It is very tough: 4 laps with a terrible uphill to run 4 times. We live in a city where it is easy to find a better path but the organization perseveres with this one, so we took the decision to say no more!!!!! Other reasons to say "no": we run into the traffic (see the pictures), no swag and many other races around here. How it is possible, in a city of 65.000 people, to gather only 135 runners? I hope that a bell rings in the hears of the organization.

My son Paolo and grandson Leonardo before the race:

The Score. More than a score this is the report of a bloody defeat. Finishing time 58'31" at the pace of 4'52"/km (7'50"/ml). 117° of 135 overall and 107° of 119 men!!!! The women were only 16. Last year I was 122° of 135 with 1h 00'38". My PB in this race is 51'34".

The Mistake. Trying to follow my plan (5'00"/km) I became immediately the last and I had only the ambulance at my back. Because of my stupid pride I pushed and now I have pain into my groin. Have you ever made a similar mistake? The first photo below is a gift of a friend of mine, you can see his works on Album di Angelo Bonarelli.

Here the Black Knight is the last

Here the Black Knight is not anymore the last

The doubt

2011-04-01T12:56:00.004+02:00

Training. Last week I wrote that the things go well and I can also run 2 days in a row but I must learn to shut up. Since monday I feel pain on the back, into the neck and in the operated leg, for this reason I have only made 2 slow workouts (11.9 km and 12.1 km) and 1400 meters in the pool. To heal I am following a series of physiotherapy and thermal baths.

Memories. When I changed house I lost all the cups, the trophies, the plaques and a lot of medals. Yesterday I took this photo of the "survivors" and, as you can see, I received the unexpected visit of an alien.

The races and the doubt. From may to june, every sunday there are many events and I have to choose carefully the best. On sunday the Vivicittà (12 k) in my city, on april 10 the City of Montalto (10 k) and on april 17 the Appia Run (13 k). The first (Vivicittà) is a question of honour because it is in my city; the second (Montalto) is the main event because I can enter in the top 10 of my age group; the third (Appia) is a wonderful lap through the most ancient road of Rome, near roman monuments and through a beautiful park. My plan could be to save energy in the Vivicittà (goal 5'00"/k - 8'03"/ml); to push "over the limits" in Montalto (goal 4'43"/k - 7'35"/ml) and to enjoy the sunny morning in Rome (goal 5'05"/k - 8'11"/ml).

What would you do? Is this a good plan or do I have to push in every race?

Hell's bells

2011-03-27T12:59:00.007+02:00

Scotland again. One week ago I was in Scotland with my son and here are other photos of the trip:

Edinburgh:

Rosslyn Chapel:

The Crypta of the Rosslyn Chapel:

St. Andrew:

Flowers of... Scotland in St. Andrew

My son Paolo outside the Castle of Edinburgh:

The Black Knight at Murrayfield:

Training and races. The things go better and sometimes I can carefully run 2 days in a row so, now, my schedule can include more workouts and less swim. This week I have run 3 times (15.1 km - 10 km and 16.9 km; in miles 9.4 - 6.2 and 10.5) and only one training in the swimming pool (1400 meters). April and May are months full of race events: the first will be the Vivicittà 12 km. next sunday. Sir Giorgio and I live 5 minutes walking from the start.

Hell's bells. Yesterday night I received a call from a friend of mine, proud member of the Black Knight Army roman legion. He said: "I have just found the appropriate hymn for our Army: it is the AC DC Hell's Bells, because when we are on the battlefield the other runners must hear the hell's bells"!!!! Laughing I agreed.

The worst race. Until now I have ran 187 races and I remember again the penultimate (Ladispoli 10 k - 13/03/2011) how one of the worst (see the report below) because of the 1500 runners and the narrow path. Here is the picture of the start: see the narrow start, the parked cars and the queue.

Question: What is the worst race you have ever run?

Edinburgh Park Run 5 km.

2011-03-22T11:02:00.006+01:00

The Place. A well organised race by volunteers on Cramond. We (my son Paolo and I) arrived 30 minutes before the start and we could not believe how beautiful is the place: it is a seaside village located in the north west corner of the city of Edinburgh at the mouth of the river Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. We didn't bring the cameras because the runners had to leave the bags unattended on the road.

The Report. It was a flat lap 5 km. long, near the river and through a wonderful green country. The finishing time was 23'13" (4'38"/km - 7'27"/ml), 104° of 252 overall. I was included in the wrong age group 5 year younger (8° of 16), in my a.g. I would have arrived 5° of 22. My son Paolo ran a good race with a finishing time of 27'02" (5'24"/km - 8'42"/ml), 166° of 252 overall.

In my opinion the 5km is the toughest distance to run because we have to push from the first to the last step.

Pics from Scotland. The first in the medieval burgh of Anstruther, the second in St. Andrew, the third and the fourth (crazy!!!!) in Anstruther again.

Rugby: Scotland - Italy 21 - 8. We made this long trip to see a shameful defeat against the brave Scottish. I think we have an inappropriate head coach. However Murrayfield is a glamorous stadium with a special atmosphere and friendly home-supporters (see the photo before the match):Question: What is for you the toughest distance to run?

Ladispoli 10 km. - The Anger

2011-03-15T19:56:00.007+01:00

The Prologue. A nightmare, a very bad organization on a rainy and windy morning. The list is long: too many runners (1500) for a race through narrow trails and narrow streets with cars parked on both the sides. The last passage in the country was a gate so narrow that only one runner at a time could pass. But the "cherry on the cake" was the chip-time that worked only at the end to record only the finishing time and not the start. After the run it was impossible to get a warm drink because there was only one little crowded desk for the 1500 runners!!!!!

The Report. I began the race in the last pack because I trusted (what a big mistake) the chip. It took me 68" before starting to run but .... I must run the first km. through the gardens and the flower-beds to overtake the slower runners confined in a very narrow street full of parked cars. The finishing real time was 47'41" (4'46"/km - 7'40"/ml), official time 48'49", 800 of 1479 overall and 63 of 132 a.g. The wiser Sir Giorgio ran a fast race starting with the first pack.

In the first picture the Black Knight is on the left with the n° 413, in the second on the background (the last). Both were taken in the last km.

Italia!!!! Last sunday, in a sold out Flaminio stadium (Rome), the italian rugby team defeated France 23-22. It was an unforgettable afternoon and the Black Knight was there!!!! On Friday I will leave for Edinburgh with my son to run the Edinburgh Parkrun and to watch the rugby match Scotland -Italia: come on Azzurri!!!!!! In the last 2 pictures you can see french supporters outside the stadium before the game.

Which is your favorite sport? Of course running doesn't count.

See you next week. Ciaoooooo

Random

2011-03-12T07:54:00.006+01:00

Thank you Lady Angie Bee. I found in my mail box this wonderful gift from Lady Angie Bee I won the "Real Men Wear Kilts t-shirt giveaway". It arrived just in time because next week I go to Scotland with my son, so I will be able to wear this shirt with proud.

Virtual 5k. Detroit Runner(Jeff) organized the "I just felt like running virtual 5k". I have ran that distance yesterday as second part of my 10k workout. The route was easy, flat and with a perfect weather: sunny and warm morning. The finishing time was 24'10". Thank you Jeff.

Training. This week I could not swim because I got a little surgery to remove 2 dangerous moles, however I made 4 workouts: a 20 km. long run with Sir Giorgio and his group, a 12,2 km. tempo run, a 13.4 km. slow run and a 10 km. run including the virtual 5 km.

Ladispoli 10k. Tomorrow the Black Knight Army (Sir Giorgio, the Black Knight and their squires Massimo and Francesco) will march to Ladispoli to subject the rebel people. The invincible Army will meet the regiment led by Sir theyogi coming from south. It will be a deadly tongs: we don't take prisoners. The race is crowded but easy, totally flat with part inside the beautiful natural park of Palo. I think that this time the loot is poor, we will see.

Rugby. I am leaving for Rome to watch the rugby match Italy-France and, as usual, with no chances because we don't have a specialist kicker. Before going to the stadium we will eat this pizza (pictures taken the last time we went to that restaurant near the Pantheon).

Spring. Here it is already spring as you can see looking at the trees of my garden. I am a bit allergic so for me this is not the best period to run. Which is your favorite season?

Roma-Ostia Half Marathon

2011-03-04T17:15:00.002+01:00

Prologue. This was my second half after the surgeries (the first one was a 1h56'16" in november 2010) and my goal for the Roma/Ostia was 1h49'49". I followed exactly the scheduled program and on sunday morning I was in Rome, with my new squire Francesco, ready to race. Unfortunately I had to wait in the last corral because that 1h56'16" was not considered sufficient to get a bib to be included among the "real runners"; this meant to begin my run 20 minutes later than the top runners (and 15, 10 and 5 later than the other ones).

Report. Finishing time 1h46'12" at the pace of 5'02"/km (8'06"ml); 5238 of 9486 overall and 363 of 781 a.g. The route was not flat and the pack always crowded. Thanks to this finishing time for all the 2012 I will start my halves in better corrals. As you can see the loot was rich and I also got a k-way. The sunglasses (on the right over the 2 bottles in the picture) are the prize for the business run included into the Roma-Ostia (special category for manager).

The Treadmill. It is a rainy period in this part of Italy. Monday I took a day off to recover after the race, tuesday I went to swim because of the stormy weather, wednesday always storm and thursday heavy rain again, so I prepared my treadmill for the training. Very sad and bored I ran for a long minute on it but immediately I decided to go out and to run under the storm: it was a nice tempo-run 12.2 km long!!!!! I hate the "dreadmill"!!!!! At last today there is the sun so I could run a slow 10 km.

Which was your best "loot" after a race?

Venice

2011-02-26T07:31:00.003+01:00

Before the battle. This week I have only made 2 slow workouts - pace of 5'40"/km (9'07"/ml) 10.2 km long - to be ready tomorrow for the Roma-Ostia half marathon. During the first workout, in a dark, windy and cold evening, near the stormy sea, I met Sir Giorgio with his 2 squires; it was an epic meeting, worthy to be told to the posterity.

Rugby. Now I am leaving for Rome to watch with my son Paolo the rugby match Italy-Wales. I think we don't have any chance.

Venice. After the work meeting I had a whole morning for myself to walk around Venice. It was impossible for me to run because the narrow streets, with many bridges, were full of tourists. The city is amazing and all the people were looking for the celebrations of the picturesque and famous carnival. Below some pictures of Venice:

In your opinion which is the most beautiful city in the world?

Good week-end to everyone

Rain or treadmill?

2011-02-19T07:13:00.003+01:00

Tapering. The last week before the Roma-Ostia half marathon begins. I was lucky because I succeeded in following the scheduled program and now I can say the magic word: tapering.

I decided to enter this half because it is a classic and the most participated in Italy but I must wait in the last gate for the reason that my only result in 2010 is 1h 56' 16": it means that I will begin to run 20 minutes later than the official start.

My goal is 1h49"59" and the dream 1h45'59" (far from my PB of 1h31'58" 20 years ago).

Wednesday was a dark rainy morning and I had to take a decision: a wet workout or the "dreadmill"? No doubts, a run under the rain. The drivers looked at me as a crazy man but I was happy despite the weather and I ran one hour without any problem before going to my office.

This gentleman is the last of the Black Knights, my grandson Leonardo:

Venice. On tuesday and wednesday I will be in Venice for a work meeting about the environment in the ports. I hope to make a touristic run through the city. I will take a lot of pictures!!!

Question: do you prefer the treadmill or the rain?

Have a good week end

Another dog attack!

2011-02-12T11:52:00.004+01:00

Dog attack. Last monday the Black Knight called an old friend to run together in the dark around the city. Our friendship began when we were in the same junior high school classroom. After 35 minutes, on a downhill, I was running a couple of steps forward him when a dog came out from a garden barking furiously and trying to bite my leg. I stopped my run to give a kick on his muzzle but Piero (this is my friend's name) didn't succeed in slowing down and hit my back with his little finger. It was a painful situation because he got a bad dislocation of that finger, the phalanx had an angle of 45°!!!! A kind driver drove us to the emergency room for the cures. The dog's owner, an ugly witch, said that her dog is sweet and doesn't attack anyone(???). Here are 2 pictures with Piero and I some years ago.

Training. The training for the Roma-Ostia half marathon goes on, following the scheduled program alternating running and swimming not to overstress my left leg. This morning I made a good long distance run of 22.6 km (14 ml) near the sea and through the country. Tomorrow the swimming pool.

Scheduled races. I have planned to run at least one race every month included 2 half marathons.

How many races have you planned?

Rugby. Today England - Italy, keeping the fingers crossed. Here is the short movie of the penalty during Italy - Ireland last saturday:

Happy running, swimming and biking

Dogs against runners

2011-02-06T13:06:00.008+01:00

Thank you Lady Molly. I received another beautiful gift from USA, a bumper sticker with the Lady Molly's training mantra: "you are capable of more than you realize". Thank you again.

Rugby. At last the 6 Nations tournament began and yesterday the Black Knight and his son Paolo went to the Flaminio stadium in Rome to watch the match Italy - Ireland. What a pity the Irish, with a last minute drop, defeated a brave Italy 13 - 11. Indeed at the end of the first half, the italian head coach begged the Black Knight to play part of the second half (as you can imagine this was the only chance to win for sure) but, despite the insitence, he could not accept because he cannot change his training program for the Roma-Ostia half marathon. Here you can see some pictures.

Dogs against Runners. Last friday the Black Knight planned to run the same distance of the half marathon on a hilly route but, in a narrow solitary street in the country, he met a threatening huge shepherd dog. Immediately the dog, growling, pointed the Black Knight so there were only 2 possibilities: to come back or to kick the ass of the dog. The stupid animal was lucky because the Black Knight decided to come back not to humiliate the dog in front of his sheeps. For this inconvenience the run was 23.6 km (14,6 ml) long.

Have you ever met a threatening dog while running?

Thank you Lady Christina

2011-01-28T12:39:00.012+01:00

The Gift. 3 days ago I received a nice surprise, in my mailbox I found an envelope from Lady Christina, the 21th Annual Midnight Madness 3 mile run/walk beautiful long sleeves shirt: thanks, you are very kind, I will wear it with proud! Training. Despite the rain and the cold I don't use the "dreadmill", I prefer the workouts. My weekly schedule includes 1 or 2 easy runs (10-12 km), 1 tempo run (10-13 km) and 1 long distance run (20-23km). This afternoon I ran a l.d.r. with Sir Giorgio: 22.5 km. (14 ml). The pool is useful to strengthen the upper body and to stretch neck and back.

Towards Ostia. As I wrote in my last post, the next race will be the Roma-Ostia half marathon. Around here in January and February there are not many events so we cannot use other races to prepare the half. Indeed every Sunday in Rome we can find 2/3 races but the traffic inside the city is a deterrent; no matter about the fee and the poor loot because we run for fun. Moreover very often we have to go there (50 miles far) the day before to get the bibs.

Edinburgh. In march I will spend some days in Edinburgh (Scotland) with my son Paolo to watch the rugby match Scotland-Italy. I hope to find there a race during the week end (March 18-19).

What was your more distant race from home?

Have a wonderful week-end

Towards Ostia

2011-01-23T11:12:00.006+01:00

It's time to plan the new year and the first important event is the Roma-Ostia half marathon feb. 27th): the second italian race, the most followed by italian athletes. If you like have a look on http://www.romaostia.it/ (the english version is available).

In the same race I can enter 2 different competitions: the open one and the business run (only manager) so the loot will be bigger. The 14 km of the Trofeo Lidense, run last Sunday (see some pictures below), was a good test before starting the last month of training. Now I am more confident with the long distance runs and I think I can run faster than my first half after the incident (1.56.16 nov. 2010), the new goal is 1.50.00.

The scheduled plan is based on the cross training not to stress the operated leg. One week 2 times in the pool and 3 workouts, the week after 1 time in the pool and 4 workouts. I had only a problem, I could not swim for 10 days because some criminals set fire to the pool.

What is your first important running event of the year?

Have a good week

Ostia - Trofeo Lidense - 14 Km.

2011-01-16T20:41:00.006+01:00

Prologue. On a sunny sunday the Black Knight and Sir Giorgio went to Ostia to help their allied theyogi to defeat 1259 cruel barbarians coming from everywhere to sack his beautiful hometown on the sea of Rome. The battle was bloody and we had to apply an appropriate strategy to win once and for all the invaders: Sir Giorgio had the task to ago ahead to throw into disorder the enemy army while the Black Knight and Theyogi provided to destroy the confused soldiers. As usual we didn't take prisoners.

theyogi began the war campaign as Black Knight's squire but for his valour he was appointed "Sir" directly on the battlefield. This is his comment on his blog (translated in english): "Black Knight I was very very glad to have been your squire, if I had run alone I wouldn't have had the same fun, Sir it was a real pleasure to support you. See you next ordeal".

Serious report. It was a flat and easy path near the sea and through a wonderful pine-wood. The start was crowded and the first streets to pass through were narrow but I don't complain because the rest of the race didn't give any problem. Sir Giorgio arrived 1 minute ahead while Sir theyogi decided to run all the race with the Black Knight even if he could do better.

My goal was to finish the 14 km in 1h 10' (5'/km - 8'03"/ml) and it was: real (chip) time 1h 09'47" (4'59"/km - 8'01"/ml), official time 1h 10'19" (5'01"/km - 8'04"/ml).

Results: 746° of 1259 overall, 678° of 1008 men and 55° of 110 age group.

The loot doesn't deserve any picture: only a poor t-shirt and one bottle of wine.

As soon as possible I will post other pictures of the race.

Thank you lady Natalia. Last friday I received this wonderful present from Lady Natalia, thanks, you are very kind!!!!

Have a wonderful running-biking-swimming week

2010: one year in pictures.

2011-01-08T11:29:00.008+01:00

January. In January a terrible crocodile wandered about the city frightening the people. He was my grandson Leonardo.

No races.

February. I went to Stockholm (Sweden) to attend the ESPO (European Sea Port Organization) - Sustainable Development Committee meeting. I found ice and snow.
No races

March. This was another traveling month. Before to Paris (in the photo the Black Knight is under the Arc of Triumph) to watch the rugby match France - Italy when the Blues destroyed the Azzurri with a shocking 46 -20 and after to Brussels to discuss with the European Transport Network Agency (Ten-t) about a new project of Motorways of the Seas between Italy and France.
No races.

April. Another business trip to meet the Authorities of Lyanyungang and Guannan (China) and the italian Ambassador in Beijing.
1 Race: Civitavecchia-Vivicittà 12 km. in 1.00.38 (5'03"/km - 8'03"/ml). Here you can see the Black Knight before the race:

May. I had the pleasure to receive from USA the visit of Dori, her husband and a couple of their friends.

1 Race: Roma - Corri nel Campus 9.7 km. in 49'22" (5'05"/km - 8'04"/ml). Here you can see the B.K. wearing his shining black armor before the bloody battle:

June. Sad news, Wendy left on 19 after completing (and winning her age group) the Flower Sea Swim in the Caymans Island. Now she is swimming in heaven. We will never forget her.

Here it was already time for a lazy relax on the beach, always the same by the time I was 16 (Stone Age!!!).

1 Race: Montalto - Centrale Aperta 10 km. in 49.06 (4'55"/km - 7'55" ml).

July. I suffered for a lumbago and as Mark Knopfler (former Dire Strait's front-man) knew of my injury decided to come to Rome for a tribute to the sad Black Knight who kindly accepted the little homage, receiving this famous minstrel and his band at the Auditorium of Rome.
No races.

August. The Black Knight and his wife made a cruise across the Mediterranean Sea. The ports of calls were: Civitavecchia, Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona, Tunis, Malta and Messina.
1 Race: Ladispoli - Trofeo Todaro 6 Km. in 29'08" (4'51"/km - 7'46"/ml).

September. The Black Knight Army decided to race in Tuscany because of the perfect organization, the beautiful places and the rich loots. The decision involves both the years 2010 and 2011. The races are also an occasion to spend a different day with the families and to eat healthy typical local food.
1 Race: Grosseto - Forti e Veloci 12 km. in 1h01'14" (5'06"/km. - 8'12"/ml). The Black Knight is the n° 36:

October. A month with lumbago problems again appeared after the first race.

2 Races:

- Montalto - Maratonina 9.6 km. in 45'49" (4'46"/km - 7'40"/ml). The fastest race of the year.

- Grosseto - Barbanella 12 km. in 1h 01'30" (5'07"/km - 8'14"/ml). The B.K. is the n° 6.

November. After 4 years the Black Knight came back to run a half marathon. The main goal: to finish, the second goal under the 2 hours. I am sure that the next, thanks to this experience will be between 1h 50' and 1h 55'.
1 race - Fiumicino Half Marathon in 1h56'16" (5'31"/km - 8'53"/mg). Before the race:

December. Sad month because we lost my father in law so for the first time we celebrated Christmas without him. In the photo you can see "the last kid in town" the very young cat Angel taken from a shelter.
1 Race: Orbetello 10 km in 48'10" (4'49"/km - 7'44"/mg).

For my running this was the best year after the incident, the fastest pace in race was 4'46"/km (7'40"/ml) and the slowest 5'31"/km (8'53"/mg). Which was your fastest pace in race?

ALL THE BEST FOR A YEAR FULL OF PB

2010 & 2011

2011-01-01T19:37:00.005+01:00

2010. Another year has gone and I cannot complain. For the first time after the incident and the surgeries:

- I have run another half marathon;

- I have completed 4 races in a sub 5'00"/km (8'03"/ml) pace: 4'55" - 4'51" - 4'46" and 4'49"/km.

The numbers are: 9 races, 149 workouts, 1724 km (1070,8 ml) running and 93.300 meters swimming.

I made new wonderful friends via this blogs. Thanks to all of you!

As you can see on the list, the Black Knight Army is always more powerful despite all the troubles caused by the Sir Giorgio's humble servant; every kind of punishment is always too little for him!

Now two memories: 2 pictures, 20 years and 10 years old, waiting for a good photo of this year.

2011. Only 4 goals:
- A weekly post;
- Not less than a monthly race (see the race schedule above);
- A couple of half marathons around the 1h 50';
- A couple of 10 km in 45'.

Tagged again. Few days ago Char tagged me with some questions:

What are you most proud of accomplishing in 2010?
Coming back to the half marathon and running again under the 5’00”/km (8’03”/ml).

What are your running goals for 2011?
A couple of half marathons under the 1h55’ and a couple of 10k in 45’.

What is your favorite holiday guilty pleasure?
Reading the newspapers after lunch and a relaxing long nap.

What is your most embarrassing running moment?
Indeed it is a pre-race moment, when I need a rest-room and I don’t find it. Solution? A comfortable bush.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year

2010-12-26T12:35:00.003+01:00

2010. This is the last post for this year and I want to thank all my blogger friends for the support and the kind comments. We have run some virtual races together but one day it would be so nice to organize a real meeting somewhere: can the dreams come true? Indeed I had the pleasure to receive the visits of strewth, CJ, Dori (twice) and IHateToast; with Dori we also made a workout together!

Lady Jill. Lady Jill was my secret buddy for the blog gift exchange. I received a beautiful book about her wonderful Colorado and a nice gift for my grandson Leonardo. Thank you very much Lady Jill, you are always very kind.

The Squire. The squire Massimo was demoted to Sir Giorgio's humble servant, the last of the servants, because he came to Orbetello to take some running pictures and he didn't succeed in this easy task, so we came back home without any photos. However the Black Knight is famous and he found through the web this photo of his final glorious rush:
Tagged. I was tagged by Lady Natalia and ...here we go:

1) Do you prefer winter or summer running? Why?
I prefer winter running because this season here is not too cold so I can run at any time. On the contrary, in summer, the workouts are only possible in early morning or in late afternoon.

2) What's been your toughest race to date?
It happened on march 17, 1996 when I was member of the Italian Navy Cross Country Team. We had an important meeting in Caprera (Sardinia) but it was delayed 2 hours because of a rain storm. I made the mistake to eat something and I ran the whole race with a terrible stomach pain. At the end I was only 80° of 90.

3) Running goals for 2011?
Recovering again step by step and coming back to race at 4'30"/km and to finish 2 or 3 half marathons under the 1h 50'.

4) Do you have any other passions in life?
My family and to travel.

5) If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
If abroad in Scotland, if Italy in the country near Siena (Tuscany).

Your choice if you want to be tagged!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES

Orbetello 10k

2010-12-20T08:30:00.005+01:00

Prologue. The last race of this year was held in Orbetello (Tuscany), a beautiful city built in the middle of a spectacular lagoon. All the path, totally flat, ran throught the ancient streets and near the sea, where we had the possibility to see many species of protected birds as herons and cormorants. The Black Knight Army was there on a cold morning strong of the 2 brave knights, the Black Knight and Sir Giorgio (have a look to his report) escorted by his squire Massimo who had the task to take many pictures. But this humble man made a series of terrible mistakes so we don't have any running photos; you cannot image the anger of Sir Giorgio who immediately fired the squire, demoting him to servant.

(the B.K. and Sir Giorgio)

The Report. Because of the necessary warm up, at the start we were the last runners of the last pack, so we lost some seconds but never mind. I ran the 10 km. at a regular pace with a finishing time of 48'10" (only a "little bit far" from my p.b. of 39'30" established in 1990, yes 20 years ago!!!!); it means 4'49"/km or 7'44" /ml. In Tuscany the pack is fast so I was 130° of 169 overall and 15° of 22 in my age group. The split km per km: 4'44"-4'46"-4'50"-4'48"-4'52"-4'54"-4'55"-4'46"-4'45" and 4'45".

Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends and your families.

The new challenge

2010-12-12T17:56:00.008+01:00

Hi to all, thank you very much for the kind and very appreciated comments on my last post.

Training. Winter time here and the weather is always rainy so we have to make our workouts between a cloud-burst and another. This last period was not so bad and I succeeded in making many tempo runs and a weekly long distance run. The RW training log is a good help to plan and compare my trainings; thanks to it and an appropriate schedule (every week 3-4 runs and 1-2 swims) now my pace is 15-20"/km faster.

The Next Battle. The next battlefield will be Orbetello again. They don't succeed in understanding that they must not challenge the Black Knight Army! Sir Giorgio, his squire Massimo and the Black Knight will conquer the city on Dec. 19th. As usual we don't take prisoners but if the loot will be rich we could have mercy for women and children.

Races. This year it will be the 9th and last race. I don't complain because for the first time after the 2 surgeries I have been able to plan a running program even if modest. To preserve my leg I cannot run 2 days in a row and I cannot make the repeats but I am equally happy because I am "on the road again". How many races have you run in 2010?

Always this year I learned to race listening music; do you use the i-pod during the races?

Have a good running-biking-swimming week.

Short Post

2010-12-10T10:57:00.002+01:00

I know that I have not posted lately and I have not been able to comment, but we had a loss in the family; my wifes'd dad left.

I will be posting and commenting (+ sending the shirts to the winners) on monday.

Of course the Black Knight Army didn't go to race in Orbetello.

Have a good week end.

Black Knight Army Virtual Race: the winner is....

2010-11-30T12:56:00.016+01:00

The Warriors. Thanks to the 19 runners who entered the 10k. Black Knight Army Virtual Race:
01. Lady Karen: No finishing time, she ran without a watch. In black pants during the 10 k Glenelg Classic Road Race. Knowing how powerful she is, the race marshalls made some pointless tricks to deceive the invincible Lady. See her smile while showing the certificate.
02. Johann: 1.14'00" in black shorts and pack during a 18 km. trail with climb. See him running with the personal photographer, future long distance runner, Rohann.
03. Lady Molly: 60'01" all in black fighting against the terrible Hammy. Very funny the self-shot before the race.

04. Lady Katie: 46'47" all in black except shoes and socks (forgiven!!!!). 5 beautiful pictures to show the black shining armor and the finishing time.

05. Patrick Mahoney: 52'13"all in black, part of a 12,5 km. windy and muddy trail run. Great pics "full of mud".

06. Allison: all in black. During her run she met a dreadful extraterrestrial who was walking (she took a picture).

07. Angie Bee: 60'00" all in black, part of the Living History Farms Race where she "ran trough the woods like a barbarian". See the crazy costumes of many runners.

08. Amy: 59'24" on the treadmill because outside the temperature was -23C (-9 F). During the long and bloody battle she destroyed other 2 competitors.

09. Lady Caratunk Girl. No details or did I miss anything? However she did it!

10. Lady Kate: 58'00" all in black, part of the River Road 10 Mile Run. See what her brother wore to run and her supporter along the path.

11. Pretend this is real: not totally black because windy and cold (forgiven!!!) See the nice pictures with exhaustive justifications. For this occasion she invented a new kind of cross training (running + gardening).

12. Lady Christina: 60'00" all in black. See the nice pre-race puzzle (including Sundae the cat) got with the self timer. That was a terrible battle into the desert.

13. Jason: all in black. Part of the YMCA Dallas Turkey Troat. See the picture with his friends.

14. Lady Anne RunDmz: because of an enemy's dirty trick she ran 200 meters less but the Black Knight High Court accepted her entry.

15. Lady RunKathyRun: 49'23" all in black. She defended the honour of the Black Knight Army running 2 different races. In the Winter Wonderland she got the 3rd place in the women's masters ctg.

16. Lady Natalia: 1.13'00" all in black. This was her first event after the Philadelphia Marathon.

17. Jarrett @ "PaddlePedalPlod: 56'41" all in black (also the accessories). An adventure under the snow on a hilly battlefield.

18. Lady Anne: 1.08'17" in black tights, gloves and headband but with ... a white dog (Mr. Flocon). See them before the battle.

19. Lady Julie : 57'00" all in black. The battlefield was full of snow and ice (see the beautiful pictures) but the fearless Amazon won her battle. In the meantime she also defended her friend Joe (all in black too).

20. The Black Knight: 54'19" all in black (did you have any doubt?), part of the Fiumicino Half Marathon.

The war was epic and was fought all over the world: USA, Canada, Italy, Australia and South Africa. As you can see the battles were different: part of longer distances, trail runs, races or part of races, on the "dreadmill", hilly, under the snow ecc. This means that the Black Knight Army never surrenders!

The Winners. The random number generator said: 18 and 13, so the winners are Lady Anne and Jason. Johann wins the less fast award with his 1.14'00". Of course he is not the slowest of the pack and this virtual race is only a way "to stay together", to have fun and not to push. Please e-mail me to more_than_this2@yahoo.com to let me know the address where I have to mail the shirts.

New Entries. The new Ladies are: Lady runningwithababyonboard, Lady Natalia, Lady RunKathyRun, Lady Christina and Lady Kate. Further new entries (Ladies and Sirs) are welcome and appreciated.

The Next Battle. On dec. 8th the Black Knight Army will move to Tuscany to conquer the beautiful Orbetello lagoon. It will be a 10k cross country.

The Premier

2010-11-28T09:19:00.009+01:00

The Premier. The War Council of the Black Knight Army planned the december campaign and decided to conquer another part of the beautiful Tuscany: the Orbetello lagoon. This event will take place on dec. 8 (10 km. country-cross) and dec. 19 (10 km.). Many runners has already announced their participation but an unbelievable fact happened, our Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, knowing how dangerous to challenge the Black Knight can be, said to his colleagues and the press: "Those runners are crazy, nobody can challenge with impunity the glorious Black Knight"! (see the picture).Training. This is a rainy season and it is difficult to follow the schedule. The rain is heavy and I hate the "dreadmill" so I run when I can and sometimes I swim instead of running. However this week I swam and ran twice: 1400 meters + 1400 meters swimming and 17,2 km + 10,2 km running. I made the last workout on friday with the group usually led by Sir Giorgio (8 runners), it was a loop in the dark under a light rain through the suburbs and along the local marina: this is always a good chance to improve the speed. This morning I would like to run but today is a rainy sunday...I am waiting for a hour of better weather to go out.

New Entry. Examined the application and valued the curriculum, the Black Knight appointed Lady the kind runner Fran from The Netherlands. Congrats to Lady Fran. Further new entries (Ladies and Sirs) are appreciated, let me know and I will convene the War Council to discuss about the application.

Black Knight Army Virtual Race. So far Lady Karen, Johann, Lady Molly, Lady Katie, Patrick Mahoney, Allison, Angie Bee, Amy, Lady Caratunk Girl, Kate, Pretend this is real, Christina and Jason have already run the virtual race. Thank you, all the details and the winners in the dedicated post on Dec. 3rd. The Black Knight, of course, is perfect and never makes a mistake, but please let me know if I forgot someone.

Christmas Time. It's Christmas time and I will spend the holidays at home with my family. The next week I will go with my wife to Rome (1 hour driving far from here) for a little of shopping in the streets around Piazza Navona and Spanish Steps: Via del Corso, Via Condotti, Via Margutta, Via Frattina ecc. Here are 2 pictures which I took in early october.

Last but not least. Come on Italia!!!! Italia - Fiji= 24 -16

Have a wonderful week-end!!!!

New Entries

2010-11-21T12:09:00.008+01:00

Black Knight Army Virtual Race. So far Lady Karen (Australia), Johann (South Africa), Lady Molly (USA) and Lady Katie (USA) have already run the virtual race: thank you, all the details in the dedicated post.

New Entries. Examined the applications and valued the impressive curricula, the Black Knight appointed Ladies the kind runners Jill and Katie ! Congrats Lady Jill and Lady Katie. Further new entries (Sirs and Ladies) are appreciated.

After the Fiumicino Half Marathon. The race left some problems, the operated leg hurts along all the external part but the physio said that this is not a big problem and I can run without pushing. For this reason I took it easy; this week I swam twice (1400 and 1500 meters) and I made 3 slow workouts: 10.3 km, 11.5 km and 12.4 km. I have all the time to prepare the 2 or 3 races in december. Here are other photos of the race.

Weather. Here the weather is rainy, this is the second week with all this rain but nothing can stop the Black Knight Army! Even if I have to admit that the good temperature (never too cold) permits to avoid the "dreadmill". How is the weather there? Do you succeed in making good workouts outside?

Half Marathon Again!

2010-11-15T15:17:00.005+01:00

The Secret. The Black Knight had a plan: to enter an half marathon again after 4 years. He was not sure to finish because he didn’t try the distance before and he didn’t know if the twice operated leg could support the effort. However, as Julius Caesar said while passing the Rubicone river, “alea iacta est” (the dice is cast) and the Black Knight, escorted by the faithful esquire Massimo, yesterday entered the Fiumicino Half Marathon with the modest goal to finish under the 2 hours. Personal Worse but Happy. During his "career", the Black Knight ran 27 half marathons between 1.31.58 and 1.51.18 (this last was totally uphill) and he didn’t hope to run again at that pace: too many doubts, too many years and too many troubles. That distance, at the moment, was “a jump in the dark”. The report: finishing time 1.56.16 (5’31” km. – 8’53” ml) – 1194 of 1604 overall and 161 of 214 in the age group. I held a regular pace for all the race with a stop at the km. 18 to drink water and warm tea; the last 3 km were painful because my body was not well trained and forgot what a long distance race means. The split: 5.15 – 5.11 – 5.18 – 5.27 – 5.27 – 5.33 – 5.29 – 5.32 – 5.31 – 5.26 – 5.29 – 5.32 – 5.32 – 5.28 – 5.31 – 5.31 - 5.27 – 5.33 – 6.14 (the stop to drink) – 5.32 – 5.35 and 0.31 the last 97 metres. This half marathon, for me, includes the Black Knight Army virtual race ran in 54’19” (the first 10 km.). Lady Karen (Australia) and Johann (South Africa) have already ran the virtual race: thank you!!! All the details in the dedicated post
The Esquire. He was very kind and faithful, he came even if he suffered for a bad lumbago. He tried to escort the Black Knight but after 2 km he had to stop the run for the deep pain. So this time in Fiumicino there was only the Black Knight to defend the honour of the glorious Army.
The Legend. The enemy this time was not put to flight because a single knight cannot fight against an army of 1194 soldiers, the struggle was violent and even if alone the Black Knight didn’t yield but didn’t win, either. After 2 hours of battle the enemy decided to ask for an armistice and the Black Knight came back home receiving the military honours.

Have a good running, biking and swimming week.

Virtual Race and Thank You Lady Karen

2010-11-07T18:12:00.009+01:00

Thank you Lady Karen. The kind Lady Karen from “Down Under” sent to me this wonderful t-shirt which I will wear with pride. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Virtual race. The Black Knight Army, italian legion, would like to organize a virtual race in this month.
Rules:
1. Wear something black (shoes, socks, pants, shirt or whetever you want);
2. Run 10 km in the period Nov. 8 – Nov. 28 (the 10 km can be part of a longer distance);
3. Let me know within Nov. 29th if you ran and if you wore something of black or if you mentioned it on your blog;
I will announce the winners in my Friday post (December 3rd) and will mail the gifts as soon as possible. The awards are 2 black long sleeves shirts random and 1 shirt for the less fast time.

Training. This week 1300 metres swimming and 3 runs: 10.8 km, 20,6 km. and 10 km today for the World Run Day (see the Natalia’s blog); my donation went to a dog shelter
The Black Knight needs you, find your role and join the glorious Army!

November

2010-11-01T08:33:00.004+01:00

(before the last race: too sunny!!!)

(stormy weather on sunday)

Virtual race? November is a month without interesting races around our city, so the Black Knight Army's members planned a "think tank" to decide the possible organization of a virtual race among all the bloggers friends. The distance could be 10k and we have already 3 prizes: black running shirts long sleeves. What do you think? Any idea? Rules?

Workouts. I spent the last week (after the race) making physiotherapy and having thermal baths but the back hurts again. Luckily, despite that pain, I was able to run 4 workouts: 2 easy (10.3 and 10.1 km), 1 "long" (17 km) and 1 negative split - on sunday - under the rain (11 km). Tomorrow I hope to come back to the swimming pool for the cross training.

Have a good week and a wonderful november.

Grosseto-Barbanella 12 K

2010-10-25T09:31:00.006+02:00

(the Black Knight is on the left with the n° 6)

The Legend. The Black Knight Army overcame Grosseto's resistance after a long difficult battle. Escorted by the squire Massimo and without the help of sir Giorgio, busy to conquer another region, the venture was more difficult. For this reason, after the umpteenth victory, the Black Knight decided to destroy forever the rebel city. But his anger was calmed down when the defeated enemy king submitted to the winner's authorithy handing the loot (see the pic) over to him personally with meekness.

The Report (serious). As I told, I was not able to be competitive because of the insufficient training and all the heavy cures for the lumbago, so I entered the Grosseto 12k only to make a faster workout. The field was a surprise, I only met real runners: the pace of the last was 6'/km (9'40/mg)!!! The route was flat but we had to run through streets open to the traffic and this was bothering even if not dangerous because there were many volunteers to check the situation. The results: 12 km. (7,45 ml) in 1.01.30 at the pace of 5'07"/km (8'14/ml). 135 of 170 overall and 16 of 20 in my age group. Of course the lack of appropriate training left me without strenght after 7 km (4,35 ml) as you can see in the following split: 5'04" - 4'56" - 5'00" - 5'05" - 4'58" - 4'54" - 5'26" - 5'07" - 5'22" - 5'24" and 5'20".

Have a good running, swimming, biking week!!!!

The Rescue

2010-10-22T10:09:00.002+02:00

The Rescue. On a cloudy morning, the tranquillity of the Black Knight's kingdom was shaken by fear. Four devilish dragons (indeed 4 cats) captured in the garden a pacific wall-lizard. The reaction of the Black Knight was immediate and after an epic battle Liza(rd) was rescued. In the pic (click to enlarge) you can see Liza after the ordeal.
Injury-Training. After 7 days off I made 2 workouts: 10,1 km and 12,4 km at a slow pace. During that period of rest I took anti-inflammatori, made physiotherapy and had 2 thermal baths. The doctor said: no swimming pool for another week.
Log-book. By october 1st I began to use the Runnersworld training log, instead of my dear old running bloc notes, and I find it very fun. Which kind of logbook do you use?
Next Race. Despite the stop and the insufficient training, the Black Knight will be present at the start of the Grosseto 12 km escorted by Massimo, the Sir Giorgio's squire. No goals, it has only to be a workout, no matter the finishing time and the position overall.
Have a great racing, running, biking, swimming week end.

Injured

2010-10-15T13:05:00.003+02:00

Injured. The things go wrong, after a very good period with fruitful workouts and acceptable finishing times in race, a boring and painful problem has come. On sunday I ran the Montalto 9.6 km and, after a day of rest to recover, I swam 1500 metres but, in the afternoon, while making a normal effort at home, I felt a deep pain; the response is lumbago. So now I am taking strong pills and making physiotherapy. The doctor sentenced one week of rest.
Next Programs. I think I will be ready for new moderate workouts on monday to be able to enter the Grosseto 12 km the next sunday. Of course I will go there not to leave the Black Knight Army without its fearless leader, the enemy must not suspect that the invincible warrior is wounded. Seriously, more than a race it will only be a slow workouts, no matter the finishing time and the position overall.

The Tribute. When the U2 knew about the Black Knight's performance in Montalto, decided to homage the Army with a concert in Rome (see the photo - click to enlarge).

China. I just received a nice pic from a professional photographer who followed us during the business trip in China last april. The Black Knight is the 3rd from left (that is the Forbidden City in Beijing - click to enlarge).

Have a great week end.

Montalto 9,6 km.

2010-10-10T18:21:00.006+02:00

The Black Knight (n° 327) and the Sir Giorgio's squire

Sir Giorgio (left) and the Black Knight with a candidate to join the Black Knight Army (see the gun on the left)

The scared Chatelain hidden inside her castle before the battle

The loot

The Legend. Montalto was conquered this morning after few minutes of fighting. Listening to our friends' requests, the Black Knight Army had mercy and didn't destroy the ancient castle. The heroic platoon was composed by the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio (other pictures are available on his blog) and his squire Massimo. The 3 warriors were more than sufficient to defeat the enemy.
The Report. A strange and tough route, indeed not very hilly but never flat. The results: 9.6 km. (5,96 ml) in 45'49" at the pace of 4'46"/km. (7'40"/ml). It was my fastest pace after the incident. 65 of 91 overall and 7 of 9 age group!!! To finish 65° and 7° is terribly embarrassing but this happens when we race in little towns where we find few but fast runners. The split: 4'26, 4'46", 4'52", 4'52", 4'45", 4'46", 5'09", 4'54", 4'59" and the last 600 metres in 2'20" (the first half was easier than the second one).

The Podium. I think you can be interested to know the podium. Men: 32'42", 32'44", 33'00". Women: 41'22", 42'15", 43'18".

The Loot. There were awards for the first 10 in every age group so I conquered the beautiful loot that you can see in the picture above.

The Diet. This time I tried to follow a regular diet before the race. 2 days before proteins and vegetables; the day before carbohidrates and vegetables. What a pity, no pepsi at all! It worked. Do you follow a special diet any days before the event?

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Have a good running week!!!!

Running women

2010-10-04T10:03:00.007+02:00

Running women. Always sailing across internet I found another Black Knight's photo (in black shining armour with the n° 36) during the last race in Grosseto (sept. 19) where you can also see 2 ladies. It is interesting to consider the following data: 195 participants including 32 women subdivided in 3 age groups. About the ladies, the podium on the distance of 12 km. (7.45 ml), was: 1^ 43'51", 2^ 49'37" and 3^ 54'13". The age groups' winners: 18/34 y.o. 43'51" - 35/49 y.o. 49'37" - over 50 54'13".

Workouts. After long long time I joined the sir Giorgio's running group to improve my speed. In the past I preferred to run alone for 2 reasons: to preserve my operated left leg and run in early morning before going to work to get all the evening free. In the past week I made 4 workouts: 10 km tempo run, 10.6 km. (relaxing slow run), 10.6 hill km. (with the group - 9 people) and 15 km. (with the group - 5 people). I hope to come back to the swimming pool on next monday.

The Next Battle. The battlefield will be again the medieval city of Montalto di Castro, already stormed and sacked many times, where the Black Knight Army - the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and his squire Massimo (no promotion at all), enforced by Umberto - will destroy once and for all the enemy in a 9.5 km race. On the pic above you can see the Montalto castle for the last time because on sunday the Black Knight Army will leave behind only ruins. As usual we don't take prisoners.
Have a good running, swimming, biking ecc. ecc. week!!!!!

The War Declaration

2010-09-27T16:49:00.008+02:00

The War Declaration. Considering the perfect organization, the beautiful landscapes in the country and the plenty of loots (see my last post), the Black Knight Army Council decided to plan the conquest of Tuscany. We took this decision because some cities inside the Province of Grosseto signed an agreement to organize the trophy "Corri nella Maremma" (Run through the Maremma) considering all the results of the single races of the year. The Maremma is, more or less, one hour driving far from here.

Workouts. The last week I made only 2 workouts: tuesday 12 km and sunday 15 km. Unfortunately I had 4 days off because on tuesday afternoon I went to the hospital to remove 4 little seborrheic adenomas by my face.

Sailing. Sailing across internet I found this picture (click to enlarge) of the last race. The Black Knight is on the left with the n° 36 on his black shining armour.

Grosseto 12 km and thank you Lady Julie

2010-09-20T16:24:00.007+02:00

Thank you lady Julie. Thank you very much Lady Julie for the much appreciated gift: a wonderful Minnesota Twins t-shirt that has the n° 7 on the back. As she kindly explained, it is the Joe Maver’s number. This player, originally from St. Paul, is the catcher for the Minnesota Twins. Thank you again Julie and sorry if in the picture I look so serious!!!Prologue.Unfortunately more than a race report this is the report of a calvary. I was well trained to finish the 12 km (7,45 ml) under 60 minutes but on friday I began to feel pain for an inflammation of the bladder and this was not the only trouble, in fact I also spent all the night between saturday and sunday with a strong migraine. I decided not to take any medicine because I didn’t want to become weaker (the antibiotics for the inflammation) and to drop the blood pressure (anti-migraine pill). For this reason I was present at the start weak and with a terrible headache despite the advices of Sir Giorgio and his squire Massimo who told that I didn’t have to run. Moreover we could not take any picture and make a short warm up because we arrived late and had only 10 minutes to receive the bibs and wear the running clothes.

The Report. 12 km. (7,45 ml.) in 61’14” (5’06”/km – 8’12”/ml), with an embarrassing 162 of 195, on an easy and flat route. The split: 4’53”-4’54”-4’55”-5’00”-5’09”-05’03”-5’14”-5’26”-5’18”-5’18”-5’05”-5’00”. The crisis is evident, km. after km. I was always slower and once I thought to retire because the migraine was too painful (see that 05’26”); after few moments of stop I decided to keep on running and I arrived slowly at the end of the race. At last I spent all the afternoon and the evening in the bed after having taken a pill for the headache.
The Loot. But the people of Tuscany could not get off scot-free because they know that the Black Knight Army doesn’t take prisoners. To get mercy they gave to the invincible warriors the few poor things that you can see in the picture. We had mercy and left Grosseto between a crowd of applauding people.

The Question. The Sir Giorgio's squire, former page, is hoping to become a knight. Even if he was brave in these latest battles he doesn’t deserve this title. Which could his role be? Please remember that he is not a blogger and this is a big problem for his promotion.

Early Bird or Night Owl?

2010-09-14T18:32:00.002+02:00

Early Bird or Night Owl? When I began to run in the far 1985 I made all my workouts in late afternoon because it was very difficult for me to make quality works in early morning. Moreover my work-day began at 05.00 a.m. when the first ferry arrived into the port (I was in the Coast Guard) so it was impossibile to run at 03.00 a.m. When I got the present job, I didn’t change my habits and I kept on training at 06.00 p.m. and this also to run with other friends. However I noticed that the best performances happened at 10.00/11.00 a.m. (the workouts of the week-end); of course the races are not included in this statistic because we face them with a different competitive spirit. After the bad incident in 2007 I began to run in early morning at 07.00 before going to work and now this is my usual running-time. This is perfect because I have all the time to recover while I am in office and all the evening for my family or other important things. So a night owl became an early bird. And are you morning or night persons?
The Black Knight Army is everywhere. Talking about birds I must introduce you Pippo who defends the Black Knight Kingdom by the attacks from the sky and Silvietto who defends the Kingdom by the land attacks. Here you can see Silvietto (the black cat of course) while fights against a grey enemy.

Training. I cannot go to the pools again because closed during the week-end and open only while I am at work, so I have to wait for the next month. In the meanwhile I keep on running every other day increasing speed and mileage with the hope to run again a half marathon on oct. 31. Anyway on Sunday I will enter the Grosseto 12 km with sir Giorgio and his squire Massimo. My goal is to finish in less than a hour.
Cheers.

The Opinion Poll

2010-09-07T13:41:00.004+02:00

Opinion poll. After 5 years of posts I have a doubt: is it better to carry on the Black Knight's tradition with bloody battles and epic tales or this blog has to become a serious report of running/swimming topics? Please give me an answer, I would like to know your opinion.

Black Knight legend. In the meantime when I went to La Valletta I found many Black Knight's items and I bought one of them:Running-Swimming. Both the pools are closed again for maintenance so I only run. Because the weakness of my left leg I can run every other day but, thanks to the better temperature, I have increased the mileage (11-12 km. per workout). On Saturday I ran 15,5 km but I met 5 sheepdogs as you can read below.
The 5 sheepdogs. Last Saturday I planned a 15,5 km. run along the Giro d’Emilio route; after 5 km. I turned to pass through the country where I met 5 big white sheepdogs. I stopped my run to control the situation and a little bit later, after patting the dogs, they began to wag their tails. When the shepherd arrived said: “don’t worry they are very good animals”. All things considered, the Black Knight exchanged the business cards with those gentlemen of the sheepdogs and gave them a pass to walk freely through the Black Knight kingdom.The greatest Black Knight. This is Leonardo my grandson and the hat is a present from a friend of mine, thank you lady Donatella.

Ladispoli 6km

2010-08-31T16:43:00.011+02:00

The Heroic Deeds. On Sunday the Black Knight and Sir Giorgio (with his obsequious page Massimo) marched to Ladispoli to free the people besieged by 94 barbarians who sacked the town with savageness and cruelty. The battle was engaged inside the industrial desert zone and in less than 30 minutes the enemy surrendered; no mercy, we didn't take prisoners. The 2 Knights fought heroically and the Sir Giorgio's obsequious page took the following pictures before and during the bloody battle:

(the Black Knight during the inspenction of the battlefield)

(Sir Giorgio and the Black Knight plan the right war strategy)
(The glorious arrival of the Black Knight)

The Report. The race took place onto an undulating path totally under the sun and part through the country where we had to slow down to avoid injuries. As Sir Giorgio wrote, the Garmin fixed the distance in 5,8 km (3.6 ml) instead of the official 6 km (3.73 ml). After a control on the official web-site and a call to the organization, we can say that the Garmin underestimated the distance, so the scores are:

Sir Giorgio: 26'03" - 4'21"/km - 50/94 over all and 14/22 age group;

The Black Knight: 29'08" - 4'51"/km - 67/94 over all and 7/12 age group.

Tagged. The kind Lady Anne tagged me with the "I'll take that with a Cherry on Top" award. The deal with this award is you gotta do these 3 things:
1) Answer this question: if you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
2) Pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the persons that they have got this award.
3) The third and the final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.
So here we go: I don't have many regrets but if I could change something it would be to come back on that september 18, 2007 when I badly broke my leg in many parts. Well, I would take my car instead of the motor-bike!

The tagged bloggers are: Lady Amy, Lady Caratunk Girl, Lady Fran, Lady Julie, Lady Molly and Sir Johann.

Crazy Pictures

2010-08-26T11:43:00.005+02:00

The Ultimate Battle. After 2 months the Black Knight and the loyal follower Sir Giorgio come back to the battlefield. The fight will take place on sunday in Ladispoli. It will be a short battle, only 6 km., but more than enough to terrorize and defeat the enemy. The Black Knight's son will also defend the honour of the invincible Army. The goal is an under 30 minutes race (before the incident it would have been an under 26 but I am happy because I can run again).

Training. This was a good week for the training: 3 runs (11.2, 10.8 and 10.2 km) at a relaxing pace without pushing and 2 fast swims into the sea (more or less 1200 meters each). By Sept. 1st the training for the Civitavecchia Half Marathon will begin (oct. 31st).

Crazy Pictures. Above there are some pictures (click to enlarge) I took during the cruise. 5 are crazy situations and 1 is a homage to Johann (see my white t-shirt).

The Ports of Call

2010-08-20T09:51:00.004+02:00

The War Trip Saga. Above are the pictures (click to enlarge) of the conquered ports of call during the mediterranean cruise (to be continued....).

Running. At last I run painless and I can plan a program to enter some races before the main event in november: the Civitavecchia Half Marathon (it would be the first after the incident). Now I have been able to increase the distance and the speed because the hot weather has gone. Yesterday, after 2 months, I could try a hilly tempo-run 10,6 km. long.

Swimming. Both the pools are closed for ordinary maintenance after the long season so it is only possible to swim into the sea when it is calm (not usual here).

The Program. After a war council the Black Knight Army decided to terrorize the enemy in the following races: Ladispoli 6 km (29.08) and Grosseto (12.09). In the first race 2 official photographers will follow the invincible Army to immortalize the heroic exploits.

The Cruise

2010-08-13T18:03:00.006+02:00

The War Trip. At last the Black Knight is back after a war trip of glory. He conquered day after day the fortresses of Genova, Marseille with a raid to Aix en Provence, Barcelona, Tunisi, Malta and Messina with another raid to Taormina. Now the local people are submitted to the Black Knight's power and justice.

The Battle Ship and the Training. The battle ship is the MSC Splendida, a wonderful cruise ship 333 meters long but with a big problem: there is not a jogging track so if we want to run we have to go to the gym where there are only 8 treadmills for 3.000 passengers! I could not to be stressed going there with the risk not to find an available treadmill, so I ran only one time for 50 minutes. However this rest gave me the possibility to get the full recover and at last i don't feel pain anymore.

The Next Programs. Now I began the usual scheduled weekly program: 3 runs and 2 swims. On August 29th I hope to run the Ladispoli 6 km with my son Paolo and Sir Giorgio.

Moments of Glory. Pic 1 from left a couple of friends, Daniela and Stefano; Pic 2 the Black Knight in suit to receive the homage of his new subjects; Pic 3 the Black Knight after the conquest of Taormina; Pic 4 Daniela, the queen of the Black Knight's kingdom; Pic 5 the Black Knight controls the Rambla in Barcelona; Pic 6 the Black Knight and a seal dog in Aix en Provence. To be continued ...

The War Trip

2010-08-01T09:05:00.009+02:00

Training. After 3 days of wind from north the heat is back and we have to run in early morning when the sun is not shining. Waiting for the race season (september) and the complete recover, the program is only a workout every other day (10-12 km) and a couple of easy sessions of swimming across the sea.

The secret. On my last post I wrote that the Black Knight is ready for a war-trip on a battle ship to conquer some mediterranean ports (period 6th - 13th august). Now it is time to reveal the secret plan. Here you can see the map and the ship.

Louis Vuitton. Yesterday my lady cat Allegra went to Via Condotti (Rome) for a bit of shopping. She came back home with this humble Louis Vuitton's bag.

Problem Solving

2010-07-26T16:21:00.004+02:00

The hot weather doesn't help to make good workouts. In summer I always run with a friend (Sir Gianni) who spends his vacations in this city where he has a nice house; sometimes we run until the beach (11 km) and sometimes we follow a route around the city (10 -12 km). We start at 07.00 a.m. but already on that time there are not less than 30° C., for this reason it is impossible to plan a quality work. However I think that it is important to stay in shape waiting for the better season: mileage instead of speed. From left: the Black Knight, Sir Giorgio and Sir Gianni:

The injury heals but swimming is not yet allowed (free-style fault) and I can only run every other day. In early august I will begin a period of phisiotherapy and thermal baths for a complete recover.

The time has (almost) came: the Black Knight is ready for a war-trip on a "battle-ship" to conquer many mediterranean ports. Very soon he will reveal this terrible secret!

In the meantime: happy running. and if you are tri-addicted also happy swimming and happy biking ........

The Tribute

2010-07-16T19:41:00.004+02:00

The tribute. As I announced on my last post, when Mark Knopfler (former Dire Straits' front-man) knew of my injury decided to come to Rome for a tribute to the injured Black Knight who kindly accepted the little homage receiving this famous minstrel and his band at the Auditorium of Rome. The fearless leader ordered to play the following songs: Border Reiver, What it is, Sailing to Philadelphia, Prairie Wedding, Hill Farmer’s Blues, Romeo & Juliet, Sultans of Swing, A Night in Summer Long Ago, Marbletown, Speedway at Nazareth, Telegraph Road, Brother in Arms, So Far Away and Piper to the End. After 2 hours of wonderful music the Black Knight said "see you again" to Mark Knopfler who was happy because the invincible warrior liked the concert very very much.

Lombago. Perhaps the problem is solved thanks to 3 days of rest and strong anti-inflammatory pills. The thermal baths helped too. However the doctor said that the cause was the swimming: too many metres of free-style and too "fast". Now I have to follow a different program including more relaxing works. It means 15 days far from the pool and running every other day until august 1st.
Happy running and enjoy this wonderful summertime.

Pain

2010-07-11T16:55:00.005+02:00

Summer in Civitavecchia means beach, swimming and running - yes working also and this is another boring story - but now the lombago doesn't allow to swim and run. Tomorrow I will come back to my doctor, he is a runner too, to understand what I can do. Last week I only ran 8,5 km and swam 15 minutes!!! Too much pain. In the meantime I am going to the ancient roman thermal baths and the hot sulphur water is a good medicine:

To forget this trouble my wife Daniela had a romantic dinner with me at the Sunbay Park Hotel where we could enjoy a beautiful sunset; the pic is not so good because it was taken by the mobile phone:

However july and august are not the best months to race here because all the events are organized in little hilly towns and the routes are full of downhill under a hot sun. After a war council, Sir Giorgio and I took the decision to begin the race season in september.

As Mark Knopfler knew of my injury decided to come to Rome for a concert. He was very kind and I accepted his homage. On tuesday the Black Knight will receive Mark at the Auditorium of Rome. The pics of the show will be available next sunday.

The fearless leader is injuried but he is sure that all of you are ready for a week of glory and victories.

Ciao Wendy

2010-07-05T08:47:00.004+02:00

Ciao Wendy. Now Wendy is swimming in heaven. She left on June 19th shortly after completing (and winning her age group) the Flower Sea Swim in the Caymans Island. Ciao Wendy we will never forget you.

Another failure. Following the program I made 3 relaxing workouts (km. 10, km. 11,2 and km. 11) to be ready for the race of yesterday. Moreover I swam for 1800 metres in the pool but on friday I felt a deep pain after the run and the doctor said: "lombago, 7 days off"! So no race and no trainings for one week.

New entries. The Black Knight Army day after day is always stronger and powerful. Welcome to lady Julie (Amazon), lady Karen (Aussie Rep.) and Sir Scott Keeps Running (Weatherman). But there are other important news: now we have the Black Knight Air Force: in the pics you can see the brave Aviators' barracks (bat boxes). To celebrate the new entries we organized a glorious pizza banquet (see the pics). The Black Knight Army, Navy and Air need you! Find your role and join them.

The Visitor

2010-06-27T17:29:00.004+02:00

The Visitor. On wednesday, before going to work, I had the pleasure to meet a baby geko during his exploration of my (his) garden. Immediately he was appointed Black Knight Army's scout to defend the kingdom by the boring mosquitos. Welcome home!

Summer. Summer has come and the weather is wonderful. Until my vacation time I can only spend on the beach (see the picture) the week end and friday afternoon. Often I run from home to the beach (almost 11 km) with Sir Gianni.

Training. A normal week of training following the scheduled program. 3 workouts (km. 11,2 - Km. 11 and km 11.6 tempo run) and twice in the pool (1650 metres and 2050 metres).
The future. In the future, saturday evening, there is the Bolsena 10km race with Sir Giorgio and other 2 brave Black Knights. Bolsena is a wonderful town near the lake, the route is part through the town and part lakeside. Here is a picture of the rock.

New Entries. The Black Knight Army is always stronger and powerful. Welcome to lady Amy and lady Molly. Waiting for other new brave warriors and amazons!!! The Black Knight Army needs you, find your role and join the Army!!!!