Fabulous holiday, no running!

I am back from a fabulous and very intense 9 days in Siena.  Naturally it was all too short!  It was baking every day, with the average temperature around 35°C.  Of course, it would have been ideal to get up early and go for a run, but when you have been up until 4am every night, it is a bit challenging.  By the time we had breakfast etc, the sun was high and hot in the sky.
I'm afraid there was no time to do anything exercise related, except talk about it!  I saw my friends, ate good food, drank good wine, and just generally felt back in my skin again.  I felt the old me and it was wonderful.  Everyone was curious about the US, and could not believe how easy it is to do a triathlon, duathlon etc.  These things are not difficult in and of themselves in Siena, there are perhaps just fewer events - especially triathlons, which are mainly olympic distances in Italy.
Still, I did have a sign, and reconnect to my old running life:  I met an old team mate at a concert.  Gabsi was a professional athlete, and could run like the wind.  He told me that he was getting on a bit, but "is still amongst the first" in races.  His idea of 'getting on a bit' is running a marathon in 2:18!  Gabsi and I have made an appointment to run another race together.  In Siena, I used to see him at the starting line.  By the time I finished, he had already collected his medal, his bags of pasta and bottles of wine and oil, and gone home.  But next time I go back, we will do a race together again.

                                                 Gabsi and I at the Marco Mengoni concert.

Well, I could on on and on, but I've posted a link below, with more pics of my trip, and since I got back, I have done a couple of short runs, and also some stair climbing.  My training for the Philly marathon starts at the end of July, and I am looking forward to starting with the right foot!

My other home - SI...e' Siena

Things have been moving along slowly since my last post. I have slowly been doing more decent runs in the mornings. It has been enjoyable and I keep asking myself, why do I allow myself to be overcome by laziness, lack of motivation and general malaise? True, there is no one answer, but then along came this week, and I have not run at all.
I am no wallflower of timid mind, and yet, there is no clear reason why I cannot overcome the mental barriers that seem to be haunting every footstep this year! Decisive action is being called for, so I am going off to my other home - Siena, to try and re-enervate my joy and passion for running.
OK, truth be told, I have a few bits and bobs to sort out in Geneva first, but then I am going off to Siena. I am looking forward to running in the Tuscan hills, but I am also so looking forward to seeing my friends again, having the aperitifs and walking up and down the main drag decked out to the nines! Now whilst this might sound a bit superficial and provincial, it is not. It is a really quick and easy way to greet old acquaintances and see those one only knew in passing. It is also the opportunity to meet a whole lot of new people too.
I am still trying to find a race in or near Siena. I know there is a 8K on Monday night in Florence, called "Corri lungo le rive del'Arno" or Running along the banks of the Arno. That would be a lovely race, but in reality I do not think I can make it. See, Monday night is the first "prova" or test of the horses participating in the Palio That happens around 7pm, and then the contradas who have been drawn to participate in this running of the Palio will start with dinner immediately thereafter. One of my friends belongs to the contrada of the Torre, so I will be there Monday night. Considering that Florence is at least 1 hour away, I think it will be slightly challenging to do the race! I have seen different websites advertising different days, so I am going to have to ring them.
Still, all hope is not abandoned (to paraphrase Dante really badly). My second option would be the night time run in Sinalunga. Sinalunga is a tiny town on the edge of the province of Siena. This race is being hosted at the Festa' de l'Unita'. My friends seem game to go down to the festa, so that would be very good indeed. Night time races are quite fun. I have only done a few, but running under the newly dark Summer sky is fabulous, and then going on to a hearty meal of pici or strozzapreti pasta with cinghiale (wild boar), is just the best. I do not care much for the frogs legs, which are a must and yes they do taste like chicken, but the pastas and the other courses are amazing. Not to mention the atmosphere.... ah yes, I do miss my second home - especially during the Summer. An important distinction is that pici are Sienese, whilst strozzapreti (priest chokers) are Tuscan. Both are equally yummy.
Anyway, I am just looking forward to finding my running mojo for real, and I am hoping that being in the place where I first started running, will awaken some long forgotten muscle and other memories. This trip was an unexpected gift, and I am so thankful that I get to do all the things I most love, with my second families in Siena. Ciao, and I will try and give an update next week on whether the magic is working! By the way, if anyone knows of any races in Tuscany, please let me know.

The meaning of early morning running

There are many tales of those who get up at the crack of dawn and open their day with a run. I was never amongst those. On Saturdays and Sundays when we were living in Italy, I would get up and meet Francesco (my running partner) at Pian del Lago. Pian del Lago is a huge expanse of green just outside of Siena, with the old Francigena way running through it - this was the road the pilgrims would take from Rome, on their way to Compostela in Spain. Pian del Lago is home to many horse riding clubs, and agritourismo ventures, but more importantly, it is the meeting point for all runners from Siena. This is where everyone meets up and go off on their long runs. Running in Siena itself is unusual. Given the long narrow streets it would seem perfect, but it would be inappropriate - the only area 'designated' for running inside the city, would be the Fortezza Medicea (as I mentioned in a previous post).

I would meet up with Francesco, but before 9am. Siena lies quite low to the sea, so in winter there was always thick fog which never really lifted before 11am. I used to have quite mixed feelings about these runs as I was always quite sleepy, and because improvements were slow to come, I always set off with a feeling of dread.
Perhaps at this point I can finally be honest and talk about what the real issues were.   I was quite friendly with someone called Leonardo, who used to own a sports shop in Siena, aimed mainly at runners ("Il Maratoneta" kind of gives it away), but he also used to sell swim stuff. At the time I was learning to swim and used to buy my stuff there. Soon, I started buying a magazine from the shop called 'Correre' which is the Italian equivalent to Runner's World, and there I read about Paavo Nurmi. And that is how I started running.
I used to run at Pian del Lago and was approached by a few clubs to become a member, but I resisted. When I started doing speed workouts at the track, people still used to approach me, and in the end I joined a club, which unfortunately had some very fast people. In an effort to keep up and score points for the club in the regional table, I would run a lot, but skipped out on the fartlek and speed work. Since I did not acquire a 'base' of miles, running suddenly became hard work and I no longer enjoyed it. I continued though since I could not let the club down, but I had long stopped enjoying it. This went on for years, and when we left Siena, I stopped running. And almost 8 years later, to the day, I started running again.
During my final year of PhD at Oxford, my room was right next door to the University Parks, alongside the Cherwell River. With such a stunning view, I could not resist, and went out for a walk one day, and the next and the next.

Soon, I started running, very short, very slow runs, with lots of walking in between.  I could not believe how unfit I had become and even worse, that I could no longer 'run'.  However, the University Parks consist of 70 acres of beautiful woodlands...from carefully tended gardens, to the most breathtaking cultivated wilderness.  Most of the 'proper' runners used to run either early morning or early evening, so I tended to avoid those times, and would go out shortly before lunch.  Those runs seemed to go on forever, and yet, I was not doing any great distances.  I did not time myself, I had no idea of distances, I merely went (photos Celia Sawyer)
out and ran.  It took a long time and I spent many hours thinking about why I wanted to run, and why I

was running.  I also had mixed feelings about my running time in Siena.  Although it had been stressful, I had enjoyed it in a funny sort of a way.  I enjoyed running with Francesco through the Tuscan hills, both in summer and winter.  I enjoyed the competitions, and most of all, I enjoyed the social activities and the schwag from our sponsors.

Funny thing is, here in the US you get a race t-shirt, energy drinks, shot bloks etc, and sometimes even a medal for your troubles.  In Italy you seldom get a t-shirt or medal (I do not know if that has changed now), but you do get a box of goodies containing pasta, Chianti wine, snacks, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and other goodies in that vein.  So those were the things I missed, and the

 

(photo Simon Ho, Linacre College)   

genuine cameraderie, but I did not miss the stress of accumulating points for the club, doing badly in a race and thereby letting the club down.  During the remainder of my time at Oxford, I could think of no good reason why I should run, so I put it out of my mind and just ran.
When I went back home to Geneva, I continued running outdoors, around Lake Geneva.  Indeed, I would go out at night.  Ah yes, I had forgotten about that!  Yes, I have run in the night.  Geneva is an extremely safe city, and I had no issues running at night - reason being, that there were no other runners out at 9pm! I still had no reason why I was  running, but felt that I wanted to recapture something of that running feeling that I had experienced in Siena.  I had not quite thought it through yet, when we moved to Boston.
Boston, the perfect city for runners.  I was excited and overwhelmed by the number of runners here, but it seemed that no matter what time of the day or night, there were always people running!  For 7 months I ran indoors on a treadmill, and then finally on World Run Day in 2008, I ran outside, and the sky did not fall on my head.  Although I had run alone previously, it was always 'alone' - there were very few other runners about.  Running alone here was challenging, because I hate running slow.  I could not accept that of myself in Siena, and I think that was what I was struggling with here.  Francesco was a strong runner and he would set a good pace that I would force myself to keep to - I had no Francesco here, and to be quite honest, I do not want that kind of stress again (well not just yet).  I am not a particularly fast runner, but on good days I can hold my own.  However, I cannot run to a blistering pace without a little help, but what to do without Francesco?
Then it finally dawned on me, why I run: for myself.  I run to please myself.  No one else but myself.  I know it sounds a little weird and totally obvious, but it was not obvious to me.  There was a delicious freedom in discovering that, and suddenly running became a complete joy, not just that partial one that I had previously experienced.  That said, I think my true test came this week past, when I went running at 6:30am - yes, with all the other runners.  It was delightful, and I am looking forward to this week.
I have mentioned what a delight it is to run here in the US, and I truly feel that 2010 is going to be the year of my Great Leap Forward, so stay tuned!

Hills and more....

I enjoy running up hills, but am a disaster downhill. When I was living in Siena, one of the joys of being outdoors was running through the Tuscan countryside.  Naturally it was hilly and running up these hills in 40 degree heat (100 degrees farenheit) was mind-numbing!  Running in the evenings was delightful, as the sun would be setting, the sheep would be wandering across the road, and I would meet my friends along the way.  Admittedly they would be on horseback, as they never quite managed the running thing. Still, it was nice to see everyone and sometimes we would go for an aperitivo afterwards.
The issue with hills are, once you get out of the habit of running up them, it is quite hard to get back into it.  This past winter during my little races, there were some steep bits, but no real hills.  And yet these 'steep bits' felt like Kilimanjaro at times.  Huffing and puffing I would get over them, and just as I started enjoying them, the downhill started.  Herein lies the rub:  I manage to pass loads of people on the hills (even though I might be struggling myself).  Then once the downhill starts, my legs refuse to move and all these people (and more) pass me in turn.
The last straw came with the Witch City Triathlon.  On the run I came up behind a very fit looking chap.  He was going fast, but I knew I could go faster.  The thing with guys is that when you pass them, they feel the necessity to chase you down and then you have to run flat out (or at least that is the case for me). I passed him on the hill, held it together, but then he started chasing and yes, he passed me.
So, I have started doing a 40 minute run once a week that is only uphill. I have been doing it as part of my programme, and thus far I can cope with 40 minutes. When I started it was agony, but now it seems almost enjoyable. I know I should do some intervals, but I am curious to see how much faster I can go uphill.
I do this particular run on a treadmill which is set on a 1.5 incline, and run at 5.8 mph. My initial speed was 5.7, but I am trying to go a bit faster. Today was good, as I ran 3 miles uphill and then did half a mile on the flat which also included the warm down (I had to go to my Buddhist meeting and was a bit short on time). What would I not give for a long end of summer run in the hilly countryside of Tuscany! I think I would appreciate those hills a lot more now!