New Project

Is some weeks that I am working on my new project and I think is time to go public ;-)

I decided that what I am looking for is not in races (altough I will continue do them) but in the whole mountain experience. So I decided to start doing "solo" projects. I have several ideas I am working on:

1. Run around beatiful mountains (Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Bernina, Val d'Herens, etc.)
2. Do famous and beatiful treks that are usually done in few days simply running alone (or with friends).

For next year I am considering doing a project end of May, it will be around 75 Km with 5000 D+, a challenging project in the Swiss alps




I am preparing a website where I want to post all informations and plans. Maybe other people could be interested in such projects? I will prepare also the Matterhorn round trip for next year probably, but this is gonna be more challenging since is more than 100 Km (Still to check how long) and probably 5-6000D+. But the experience will be otherwordly.

I will probably ask someone to pace some pieces to have company... I am also preparing a reasonable training with many help from experienced people from the Ultra List! They are very cool and nice people!

I will write more details as soon as I clarify them. I will be on holiday from this weekend and I will have time to work on the project and bring it to a more complete form.

One picture from the Florence marathon

Here is one photo of me running (and suffering ;-)) in the Florence marathon...

Training Plan

I am thinking of using this training plan (in Km) inspired by the one from Higdon.



I will need to run early in the morning for the long runs, since I don't want to stay away on weekends from my family and daugther! I am still considering it. The training would be for a 90 Km (www.ultratrail.it). Comments from more expert people are welcome.

Florence Marathon

I found finally time to write something about the Florence marathon. I finished it
(and for that I am very happy!) and with it my second marathon in one month. I am
proud for it. The short (for me) recovery period and the "no running" between the two marathons due to a small injury to my left quadricep have paid off ;-) I finished in 4:42, suffering a great deal in the last 10 Km. My wife had a great run, 4:18 with just one long run of 28 km in her training and no suffering afterwards. She was (and rightly so) very proud to have run a marathon! I am also very proud of her.

But let's go slowly.

The start is on top of a small hill (Piazzale Michelangelo) and to get there you have to way: you can walk 1.2 km uphill or take a bus (there were many available for all the runners). We got at the bus stop at around 7:20 and were at the start around 7:40 (a bit early I must admit).

A good suggestion is not to give any bag to pick up at the arrival, the pick up point is far from the arrival and there is always a big chaos. We went there with a very old pile jacket that we threw away minutes before the start. When you enter the gates you will have to wait a long time (we had to wait roughly 40 minutes) without moving, and when is ca. 7-8 degrees C is cold :-)

So at the start you can get hot tea, cake (yum) and water. We got at ca. 8:40 in the starting area for 4:00-4:30 time and waited. The race started at 9:20 instead of 9:00 due to television needs
(the national Tv has a special 3 hours long on the marathon). The start is downhill, so is an easy start.

The first 15 km went very very good. At the half point I told my wife to go ahead, since I was having knee problems. So she continued at her speed and I did my race.
The course is breath-taking. When you enter the historical part of the city you will want to cry, believe me. I did the first 30 Km in 3:03 (that is rather good), and then things started to deteriorate. The last 12 km were very difficult, but since I don't quit usually I continue, I walk a bit and I ran a bit, but in the end it was a very wonderful experience. My wife cried for the emotions at the arrival!
Very moving.

So now I have knee and ankle pain (oh well)... so a couple of weeks of rest and then I hope I can start training again. Next year I plan to run only on trails and I want to prepare an ultra. I will
post my training plan and links since I spent quite some time in searching and I hope this can help someone else!