sunday brick

Sunday 7/11

65 km ride in a fierce wind and 9km run along the beach.
felt terrible, heart rate very high, strong fatigue in keeping tommaso's pace, boring road all straight with thousands of traffic lights, sunny but coldish wind. after a fast transition (?) went for a run on a scenic path along the beach, many joggers some runners. tommaso put a 4'15 pace from the beginning, my leg was hhurting but I kept the pace hoping for the pain to disappear when leg got warm but it stayed there the wole run after 4km I slowed down the pace heart was too high and feeling was no good. a bit demoralised as I really feel heavy and slow. cant believe in 5 days there is the world championship I dont feel ready. I feel heavy.
in the afternoon we went with Tommaso and Paolo shopping at adventure mall, boy that was a big mall. was nice to stroll around the many shops spent some money and had a good pasta and lots of laughs.

tomorrow rest day.

(in the pictures: south beach at night and the aquarium in the hotel)

Saturday 6/11

finally we got an internet connection........ trip went well, very long flight, very little space for the legs.... we got to Miami on saturday in the evening and got the car and went to the Lowes hotel in miami beaach, a very nice place, (see sunset from room). Weather is not very nice, coldish and windyMet Tommaso and Paolo on oceandrive after dinner and planned a bike+run training for sunday. left leg still in pain with the tendinitis and a global feeling of tireness (which I think is normal) let's hope tomorrow the feeling is better.

Re-opening of the blog

RACE DAY -9

With the occasion of the Ironman 70.3 world championship in clearwater Florida I'll keep a blog on my partecipation to the race starting from Satuday 6/11/2010 stay tuned!!!

In occasione del Campionato del Mondo di Ironman 70.3 a Clearwater in Florida ricomincerò a scrivere il blog sulla mia partecipazione a cominciare dal 6 Novembre ci sentiamo....

Triathlon Internazionale 1/2 Iron di Barzanò

Tempo da veri Iron ieri a Barzanò, sotto un acqua pazzesca e con temperature più da mese di febbraio che fine aprile ero li a difendere i colori del Varese Triathlon in questo appuntamento d'inizio stagione.

quello che segue è un riassuntino della mia prima gara in territorio Italiano

sveglia ore 5, la zona cambio chiude alle 6.30 e bisogna fare presto. le 76 vasche in piscina mi mettono un po d'ansia, mi guardo intorno e vedo mega atleti ovunque tra i quali Emilio D'Aquino e mi spiegano che il pareterre è di livello abbastanza alto, c'è anche Martina Dogana e altri atleti venuti da varie nazioni. si nuota 4 per corsia (bene) uno degli altri 3 della mia corsia annuncia di aver fatto 9h30 a Klagenfurt, gli dico di andare avanti che poi gli do il cambio. sono le 7 il mio corpo è ancora addormentato, ma 3 - 2 - 1 bum, partiti, l'ironman davanti a me prende un ritmo blando che stimo sull' 1'35 ai 100, ho deciso di nuotare tranquillo, spingere in bici e tenere a piedi, quindi lascio fare. alla virata del km però lo passo, mi sono scaldato e le braccia girano bene, penso al cazziatone che mi farà Nino se esco in più di mezz'ora e alle battute di Maurizio, prendo un ritmo sugli 1'30 ed esco in 30' fuori diluvia, ho nuotato in costume, quindi m'infilo nel gazebo, metto il body da gara la maglia a maniche lunghe calze fine, un paio di guanti lunghi ed esco veloce dalla zona transizione, le gambe sono infreddolite ma girano bene decidoo di dare tutto in bici e vedere che succede, nonostante il livello dei miei avversari comincio a superare un po di gente, piove forte e fa freddo, le discese sono tremende a causa del wind chill e dell'asfalto bagnato, si vede poco ma ho l'adrenalina a mille e tutto va bene. il percorso ha molta salita a tratti molto dura, dopo un ora di corsa le gambe girano ancora bene ma sono zuppo d'acqua, ho freddo ed il ricordo del w-end nizzardo è ancora vivo, ho paura che mi rivengano le convulsioni e che devo fermarmi, tengo duro, la strada sale ancora, e ancora, alla fine ci saranno 1.465 mt di dislivello, considerando che a Nizza ce ne sono 2000 mi sembrano un po tanti per un 1/2 Iron, comunque si va. Sull'ultima salita a pochi km dalla fine della parte in bici non ce la faccio più salgo in piedi sui pedali a 9km/h, sono un po svuotato, ho i piedi congelati, la mani peggio ancora e le gambe tetanizzate, penso alla corsa, sarà dura. finalmente mi butto nell'ultima discesa, chiudo in 2h47, alla media di 30km/h saprò dopo che ho fatto il 14° tempo assoluto in bici, non male considerando che il giorno prima ho fatto in buona compagnia 95 km: Entro in zona cambio, resto con il body, ho le mani gelate e non riesco a mettermi le scarpe, guardo i piedi, so che sono li perchè li vedo ma non li sento più, le calze sono zuppe, non c'è tempo per cambiarle, infilo come posso le scarpe e mi lancio sulla mezza, sono 4 giri su un percorso abbastanza ondulato, vado a sensazioni, non ho idea su che ritmo corro, guardo solo il cardio, ho le gambe dure dal freddo e dalla fatica ma poco a poco si riscaldano, i piedi invece no quando toccano per terra sento il rumore della scarpa sull'asfalto ma non sento niente, sono duri dal freddo e non è piacevole. stringo i denti, molti atleti mi superano anche se mi sembra di correre bene, ma quelli corrono meglio, D'Aquino mi doppia, è bellissimo vederlo correre, sembra volare sull'asfalto. Uno che mi sembra un M1 mi passa, so che posso dire ciao ciao al podio di categoria ma ha un ritmo diverso e non ho la forza di agganciarlo. Il secondo giro sto decisamente meglio, le gambe girano felici, vengo assalito dal buon'umore nonostante la pioggia e la fatica, penso che essere un triathleta è una cosa stupenda e che siamo fortunati a praticare uno sport cosi bello che unisce sport cosi diversi ma anche tanta trascendenza e misticismo, l'ultimo giro è duro, la fatica si fa sentire ed ho voglia di fermarmi per tirare i polpacci, stringo i denti non posso mollare adesso, penso che a Nizza sarà 2 volte più dura e a voi che andrete a controllare i tempi sul web, non esiste fermarsi. finalmente vedo la fine, tiro su la cerniera che si legga bene Varese Triathlon sul petto e taglio il traguardo in 4h56, sotto le 5h come speravo e con 1h38 sulla mezza (secondo me erano 20km) sono svuotato, bevo 4 the caldi e mi infilo sotto la doccia quando esco dagli spogliatoi, realizzo: finisco 23° e 4 di categoria (e soprattutto nessuno del Busto davanti per far conteno il presidente) un bell'inizio mi sembra....

triathletamente vostro

fabrizio

A Beautiful Run

I still can't believe I run the Paris Marathon..... I told to myself several times never run a marathon when preparing for an Ironman.... and....... never say never!


this was totally unespected as after my tendinitis I started running very progressively with a longest run of 18 km the same week of the marathon(!). yes the week of the marathon I run 18km on monday, swim for 1h and interval training on the bike on tuesday, run easy 1 hour and interval training swimming on wednsday, bike easy 1h and swim 1h on Thursday, bike 3h with a climb up to 900 mt on friday, not exactly a taper for a marathon on sunday.


That's because I only decided on Saturday I would run the marathon when my wife Katja asked me if I could run few miles of the marathon with our friend and "groupie" Maeve that was running her first marathon. I could not say no, and of course I could stop when I wanted, the plan was to run 25 km maximum 30 and then let Maeve go to the end as for me my IM training plan continued next monday.


I was totally unprepared, I did not carboload, or anything else the days before, the only thing I did was to buy and bake an energy cake for the sunday morning breakfast.

With Maeve we meet for the prerace on sunday, we start in the last group, it was a beautiful day with so many runners, the temperature is ideal for running, we are looking forward to start.

We decide to run on the basis of a 4h marathon and see how it goes.

Maeve had also a tendinitis the last 2 weeks before the race and she is worried, so I'm I as I think it will hurt a lot for her. but for the moment everything is great and as the first groups have started we are still walking towards the start line, there are so many people.



Finally we start and after 500mt down the champs elisèes we see Katja and Nina, Katja encourages us with a "go guys, looking great!!" good to know after 500 mt! she tells us they are going to be at km 30




We run well, keeping to our pace, the km go "fast"and I feel great I'm at 70% of my max, running at 10.5km/h in great company in a great city, I really enjoy the run, sometimes Maeve accellerates, I ask her to stay with me as the race is long, she keeps the pace, there are so many people that passing is pretty difficult. We pass the 20 km in 1h 56 min, Maeve just set her personal record as last year she run the 20km of brussels in a little more than 2h. we pass the 1/2 marathon mark in 2h01 very much in schedule.


we drink and eat bananas, gels, dry fruits, I feel great!





We finally get to the 30st km, I can see from our time at every km that we are getting slower, Maeve is in pain with her leg and started to have cramps, we meet Katja that encourages us like only her can encourage somebody she cares for, I start feeling my legs a bit but I cant quit now, I cant let Maeve continue alone, the marathon starts now.


the km start to get longer and longer and our pace goes down to 9.5 km/h Maeve is really in pain, but she is very strong in her mental and we dont walk. we just stop few times for her cramps. km 36-37- 38-39 are very tough for her but she keeps going, I'm feeling ok and try to encourage her to keep going and put positive thoughts in her mind, but at this point the only person that can finish the race for maeve is maeve. she show me some carachter when at the aid station of km 40 she let me take the drinks for both of us and keep running, I dont know how she did that as stopping few seconds for a last sip of teasty beverage and a piece of banana was so easy to do......


Finally the last mile, if we got there we can get to the end, I tell Maeve to enjoy these last minutes because they are the best ones, the ones where all the training, the sacrifices the things she missed or she could not do, came to a meaning. everybody has his own feeling when it comes to the end of a long endurance race, I don't know what Maeve was thinking but from her look I could see she was happy and proud. I was also proud of her, she run her first marathon in less than 4h30 with an injured ankle, she run through the whole marathon without walking and she showed some great and tough carachter when the legs dont want to run anymore and all the body is acking, she did not quit one second!
as far as I'm concerned I had a great running day, I enjoyed running with Maeve, I enjoyed running a marathon finally taking pleasure without suffering and overdoing, I was in my aerobic zone the whole time, burn a lot of fat, built up some endurance and understood a lot of this long distance running. it was also great as a triathlete (normally focused on MY training, on MY racing) to do this for a good friend and for Katja.
and on tuesday I was back on the bike for my IM training plan

4 weeks of stop....... sh.....t!!

Well well well

I dont know what caused it, may be a run longer than needes, maybe the old shoes, may be because I'm too old and my body needs a rest but the fact remains that this thing is bloody painful.

Fortunately doctor Varinelli is taking good care of me, he diagnosed an inflammation of the Nervo Peroniero in my right foot. X-rays excluded fracture de stress or pointe calcarienne, thanks god, but the pain is still there, I had a cortisone shot last thu. still 2 to go and according to the doc I'll be ready again to bike and run.....

my question is will this 1 month stop compromise my preparation for Ironman Nice?

It's a bit depressing but at least I can still swim

NY Marathon 2008: what a great day!!

It seems so long time ago when with my wife Katja we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary running a marathon, and what marathon to remember could we pick ? New york City Marathon!! it is important to note that not me not Katja ever run a marathon before, I run the marathon in Nice IM but, as I could easily notice during my run, this was a complete different kind of effort.

I followed a 12 weeks training plan, due to a twisted anckle and a bad flu I could not train the last 3 weeks. Katja did even better, due to lack of time and injuries she followed a 7 weeks programme (!)

We arrived in NY the wednsday night before the race. NY is so beautiful, incredible and full of things to see and do that we did not exaxtly "taper" the way we should had... In the morning we went for a jog in central park and during the rest of the day it was sightseeing and powershopping!!

on Saturday before the race we participated in the International frienship run, it was fun to see all this runners from around the world running together wearing their respective country colours, I decided that if I go there again I will bring the EU flag with me....

After struggling quite a bit to bake the energy cake (thanks to an italian restaurant not far from the hotel I could bake it in time) Saturday night we go early to bed as the big day is starting soon.

Sunday 2 November: Race day

we wake up at 3h30 and both eat some energy cake, we check that everything we need is in our bag and we go to the lobby were hundreds of runners are waiting to go to the national library to take the bus to Staten Island. there will be 50.000 runners starting the marathon and to take everybody there you need a great organisation. our bus is at 4.30, we all look like zombies when we board the bus and we are worried about those 4-5 hours we have to wait in the cold before the start.

with Katja we go to the orange start, we find a spot and start waiting, some fall asleep (see picture) even if the air is pretty cold! no matter how many clothes and blankets you bring with you, you are going to be cold anyway. everything is well organised, we meet other runners, everybody has a story to tell, and the time goes fast.

45min before my start we jog a little with Katja (she will start 45 min after me) then we say goodbye wishing each other a great race....... we are both mega excited and eager to start.

finally I get to the Varazzano bridge, we have waited for this moment so long and finally I'm there at the start of the NYC marathon, the speakers play the American national himn, it is a powerful moment and bang we are off for 42km195mt. the first miles on the bridge are amazing, you can feel the bridge coming to life with all those feet moving on it, on the left side you can see the skyline in manhattan and on the water many boats shoot water giving us incredible rainbows with the sun and the cold air it looks great. I feel good at the start, too god even, as I'm way to high with my heart, but I cannot care less, I'm running the NYC marathon I dont care about pace, heart rate and the 40 km in front of me (I'll pay this bold attitude later....). I look around, we are now off the Varazzano, cruising at 13km/h in brooklin, there are so many people encouraging and many bands playing all kind of music that you find yourself running on the beats of the notes. I pass the half marathon in 1h37, way to fast,! we are going up the Queensborough bridge, it is hard and so silent (no spectators allowed) I start feel strange, like my legs getting heavy. when we get out of the bridge there are so many people scxreeming and encouranging that you start realising how much of great people New yorkers are, they all tell you you look great, you look strong, you are going to make it, my legs are probably not listening as at km 25 is the total black out! the effort feels the same but the speed goes so much down that it's unbelievable. the legs are in pain as well. I start telling myself that I'm a healthy triathlete, that I competed in the Ironman and that I can handle pain, that it will pass but I still slow down although trying not to walk. at an aid station I walk a bit, than start runing again, we are running up 1st avenue, man it is so long and going so much in the opposit direction of the finish line that it is so hard for the mind, I start looking for metro station to go back to the hotel, dive on the bed and put my legs up, eat some pasta and watch TV...... it is now 10 km that I'm in this state of pain and willingness to quit. at km 35 it all comes back again, the pain is still there, but I feel like running again and start enjoing the course and the people around. We are in bronks tourning south again towards 5th avenue and central park, I start passing people again, the last miles in Central park are great, many people cheering (there were 2 million along the course!!) we turn columbus circle and head straight to the end, all my plans to finish in less than 3h30 are gone but I'm happy to finish, I think I did all possible mistakes one can do in a marathon but nobody will ever be albe to take away the emotion of crossing that finish line..... it was simply magic!

It took me 3h39minutes, a marathon is bloody long and bloody hard and it is such an accomplishment to finish. I only think about Katja now, if I suffered like that with all my triathlon training I can't imagine what she is going through,I know she has a strong mind and she will finish no matter what, but I'm still worried.

I collect my medal, my bag and put up some warm clothes, I then go to the finish line and wait for Katja. It is amzing to look at the people finishing the marathon I found myself clapping and encouraging people of all kind, all nationalities, finishing with a sprint of walking in pain, on a wheel chair or without legs running the whole marathon on crouches....

finally I see Katja coming, she is running, looking great, I screem her name she comes to hug me and we start crying I'm so happy to see her finishing and to celebrate our 10th anniversary in such a unique way.

We missed each other after the finish and it was hard to walk back to the hotel without her.

But when we meet again it is a whole evening of resting, eating, telling stories and emotions about the marathon it was like we lived it again sharing our race experiences

what a great day of sport till Paris in April!