When we were young runners

We didn't have a p.c. and our log-book was a simple checkered notebook:

To know the official results of a race we had to wait and buy the local newspaper or a running magazine:

The GPS watches were far in the next future and we used a normal watch with the chronometer:

We ran in the middle of the traffic and we wore paper bibs (dec. 1986):

The post race party was only with fresh local fruit (sept. 1990):

The t-shirts were in cotton and not tech:

The races were not crowded and often we ran alone for long distances:

What are the memories of your first races?

Week end by the lake

I spent last week end at the Bolsena lake with my wife and my daughter's family. Relax, good food and, of course, a workout by the lake where the only "noise" was the birdsong. Below you can see Gradoli and Bolsena:

Here is my grandson sitting after a walk by the lake. He will be a future rugby player (I hope):

This is Capodimonte the town where I made my workout 10 km long in one hour. A very scenic route:

On Sunday I will skip the scheduled race because my children want to spend the week end at the lake with us. Never mind it is a pleasure for me and my wife.
However on Sunday I will test the new running shoes that I have just bought:

May 2019

May 2019 - Stats: 121 km (10 workouts + 3 races) and 8 long walks.

In May I have mainly worked on more challenging paths and to recover a bit of speed.

I can say that this was a positive month because the last time that I entered 3 races in a single month was in october 2005.

Unfortunately I had to pay the price of the efforts and now I am off for a boring pharyngitis + tracheitis. For this reason tomorrow I will skip a race organized “last minute” in my city and maybe the next one on june 9th too.

However I don’t complain because I had the possibility to race in these 3 beautiful places:

Moreover, during my workouts, I met some “old good friends”:

I saw beautiful ships berthed in the port:

And some beautiful landscapes:

Old Memories – May 1988

On may 8, 1988 (31 years ago!!!!) I ran in Grosseto (Tuscany) my first half marathon with the finishing time of 1:33:51 and I was 98 of 148 overall (yes, only 148 runners). I am the first on the left.

Do you meet "old good friends" during your workouts? When did you run your first race?

Bolsena Lake and not only

Bolsena Lake: My usual training paths are in the city where I live and here I can choose every kind of routes: easy, hilly, ondulate, flat, trail ecc.

But sometimes, when I want to relax my mind and my body, I go to the Bolsena Lake, 1 hour driving far from here, where I run by the lake in a quiet atmosphere in the middle of the green country of the Viterbo province. The route is flat and scenic and there I find every kind of plants and animals including colonies of birds: it’s wonderful to meet and feed the canadians ducks during their migrations. 

That is the right place to spend some days (or hours) of total relax:

Lost and Found: I see that many blogger friends have a collection of hardwares earned in many competitions. Unfortunately I have lost most of them when I changed house . These are the only “memories” left after one life of sport:

But today I have found in internet 2 pictures of a race, named “30 km of Ostia”, that I (bib 331) have run with Giorgio (bib 438) on oct. 9th, 2011. Below the final rush:

Below are the 2 pics found:

Schedule change: I planned to run, on june 9th, the “Trail of the cherries” in Celleno but yesterday I have noticed that the race is an “urban trail”, 9 km. long, with many stairs to climb and descend. Immediately I changed my mind and I deleted that trail from my upcoming races list: I cannot risk an injury!

But, never mind, on the same day I will enter a flat 12.3 km race  in Ladispoli, a city on the sea, 45 minutes driving far from here.

Have you ever run an urban trail? If not, would you like to try such kind of event one day?

Race for the Cure Recap

May 19, 2019 at 10.00 - km. 5.

This morning with Giorgio I have run the Race for the Cure, 5 km in the heart of Rome, a route tough but amazing.

Before the start there was a rainstorm (below I am under the heavy rain) but during the race the weather was clement even if part of the roads were in wet cobblestone.

After the event we had lunch in a beautiful restaurant in the famous Parioli district and below you can see the well deserved prize.

Official stats: 5 km. in 26:57 - 706 of 1241 overall - 30 of 62 age group.

How was your running Sunday?

City of Corchiano - Race Recap

May 12, 2019 at 10:00 - Km. 11.

Corchiano is a beautiful little town in the country, with a population of 3800, in Lazio Region, Viterbo Province. Inside its territory there are many natural monuments, protected areas and WWF oasis.

The route of the race was challenging with the usual tough uphills, but very scenic, surrounded by woods and plantations of hazelnut trees. Below flowed characteristic creeks.

In these towns the participants are very competitive and not numerous because of the challenging routes, so it's difficult to meet runners who only come for fun.

Official stats: 11 km in 1:00:43 - 199 of 221 overall - The swag was very rich. Unfortunately there are no pics of the race.

Have you raced this week end?

Ostia - Per Antiqua Itinera Race recap

As I wrote on my last post, I planned to race in Vetralla but I changed my mind after I have seen the elevation profile. The problem was the downhill, where I could risk to injury my back and/or the knee, and not the uphill.

So I decided to go to Ostia, a district of Rome, near the sea, full of ancient roman ruins that now are touristic attractions.

I arrived to Ostia with Giorgio, the weather was terrible, with a wind from NW 90 km/h. See the short movie I took after the end of the race:

I didn't feel in good shape because I took a pill for allergy the night before without knowing the collateral effects. But never mind and no excuses. The path was scenic and completely flat, we lost a couple of minutes because we had to walk to pass a very very narrow passage in the city just after the start and a real lake formed by the rain in the night (km. 4).

Official stats: Finishing time: 53:34 - 350 of 551 overall. The swag was a beautiful technic t-shirt.