Anniversary week - settimana di anniversari

ITALIAN version at the bottom

This week marks a series of important anniversaries:

- 1 YEAR AGO:Our son Marco was born...today is his first birthday. He is a lovely boy and a perfect baby, can not ask for better. He smiles 24/7 and his big eyes are an easy catch to everybody.

- 1 YEAR AGO: my last run. Well, I do not know how to elaborate this , but it is already 366 days that I can not run and I also do not know when and especially if I would ever run again. The ankle is pretty much ok, but there is always a painful spot on the tendons and it does not go away. I have a picture which can remind me at any moment of my very last steps, right before the finish line, right before I collapsed to the ground in total pain because my Achilles were killing me. (well, not that my face does not show it...)

- 10 YEARS AGO: I moved to China. I can not believe it, but it is already 10 years that I am here... I was supposed to come, fix the situation and go back, but working here has a magic feeling of "getting the things done" which keeps me here...

In 10 years I did have probably more experiences that in the previous 30 years of my life and the time has simply flown away.

I came here as a young manager with all my stuff which could fit in a couple of suitcases and a girlfriend left back in Europe. Now 2 apartment are not enough to fit in all the belongings, that girlfriend is now my wife and we also goes around with 2 screaming kids... I would say 10 years not wasted

Questa settimana segna una serie di importanti anniversari:

- 1 ANNO FA: nasceva nostro figlio Marco che compie oggi il suo primo compleanno. È un bellissimo e dolcissimo bambino, non può chiedere di meglio. Sorride 24 / 7 e i suoi occhi grandi sono una calamita per tutti.

- 1 ANNO FA: la mia ultima corsam. Beh, nons o piu' cosa dire, ma sono già 366 giorni che non riesco a correre e nemmeno so quando e se potro mai riprendere.La caviglia è in generale a posto, ma c'è sempre un punto dolente al tatto su entrambe i tendini e non molla...

A ricordo "perenne", ho una foto proprio dei miei ultimi passi di corsa... giusto prima delle linea del traguardo di Singapore e giusto prima di accasciarmi a terra dal dolore, con i tendini che erano completamente andati.

- 10 ANNI FA: mi sono trasferita in Cina. Non riesco a crederci, ma sono già 10 anni che sono qui ...Dovevo venire, sistemare la situazione della societa' e tornare indietro, ma il lavoro qui da una sensazione incredibile di "poter fare le cose", che ancora mi tiene qui ...
In 10 anni ho avuto piu' esperienze che nei 30 anni precedenti della mia vita e il tempo è semplicemente volato via.
Sono venuto qui come un giovane manager con un paio di valigie e una fidanzata rimasta in Europa. Ora, 2 appartamenti non sono sufficienti per farci stare tutto, quella ragazza è mia moglie e andiamo anche in giro con 2 marmocchi... Direi che 10 anni di vita non sprecati !!

Long Climb with Cycle-cross bike

In a moment of depression/weakness some weeks ago I forked out some notes and bought a Cycle-cross bike...a Kona

The bike was a total bargain because an HK distributor got stuck with the bike in his inventory and he was more than happy to find the actually there was a crazy guy willing to pay it even at rock bottom price and even assembly it by himself...

I bought it and carried to Dongguan because I found quite interesting the idea to have a bike which could face the badly paved secondary roads in China and also some light gravel roads, etc... So I could enjoy riding both off-road and in-road with the same bike here and also avoid dragging around the MTB.

But probably the main reason was sentimental: when I was young, I was crazy about cycle-cross and it was my total cycling love... in Summer I was just dragging around on road or MTB races or only to wait end October when the Cross season kicked off.

I avoid being too nostalgic and posting tons of photos of that era, but at least one is deserved

Italian Senior Open Champs 7/1/1988 (basically the Elite race).. I had just turned Senior by 7 days and I was training mainly on fast and flat courses for 40' races...

... I can still remember that course: on the slopes of a mountain resort, the climbs looked like walls (as you can see from my face in total agony) , so steep that the front wheel would touch the ground when I was carrying it on the shoulder...

So jump ahead 22 years and today I forked my new bike for the first time and headed straight on the long climb here in Dongguan: I was a bit beaten up from yesterday's workout and it was quite daring to attempt the climb with the smallest gear of 36x26, while on MTB I was usually cruising up with the 24x20 or 32x30...

It happens that the climbs had really hard spots and with the 36x26 I was really struggling, so I really had to take it easy on the less demanding sections...

luckily the road is being gradually improved, so it is no more the bumby road of few months ago, but a very smooth gravel with concrete sections.

Anyway, here the result:

2/Dec: 6.6km in 38'18"- HR avg:171 - max 186 (cycle-cross bike, click for Garmin details)

12/Nov: 41'55" - HR avg: 168 - max 181 (MTB bike, road was in worse conditions)

2/Sept: 44'09" - HR avg: 168 - max 181 (MTB, totally dirt road, no paved sections yet)

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that going down a steep gravel road with a cycle-cross bike may reserve some emotions, since the brakes are more suited for easy stops in a muddy field

che sprint !! - what a sprint !!

ENGLISH VERSION AT THE BOTTOM

dopo aver testato le acque al criterium di 15k, sabato scorso mi sono gettato in una "vera" corsa, al Shenzhen Cycling Festival, una kermesse con gare ciclistiche di ogni tipo, fiera, etc..

Premetto che in 10 anni di vita in Cina, non ho MAI (proprio MAI) visto/incontrato un ciclista su strada... so che ormai da qualche anno ci sono anche molte gare, ma in pratica personalmente

non avevo mai visto nessuno (mentre la MTB e' gia' molto piu' popolare e comune).

Per cui non avevo alcuna idea di cosa aspettarmi e del livello della gara: un branco di principianti oppure una legione di professionisti ...

tra le varie gare in programma avevo scelto la 40km, perche' la gara principale di 80km mi sembrava ancora troppo lunga peril mio livello di allenamento, visto che di solito non faccio mai piu' di 50km alla volta.

Alla partenza, noto che in effetti ci sono un sacco di corridori da Hong Kong (per forza, la gara era a 1km dal confine...) e anche molti ragazzi locali che sembravano abbastanza agguerriti e con equipaggiamento non male...

Ovviamente, essendo in Cina, l'organizzazione della gara aveva qualche punto debole: in pratica il percorso era un rettangolo molto scorrevole, ma l'arrivo era stato posto proprio dopo una rientranza della strada, con una doppia curva a 90gradi e una sezione di asflato in condizioni terribili, addirittura con un "taglio" di sterrato perche' stavano facendo dei lavori...pazzesco.

Di sicuro se fossimo arrivati ad uno sprint di gruppo, sarebbe stato un massacro, perche' era impossibile rimanere in strada sul fondo sconnesso durante lo sprint...

In ogni caso, a questo punto la mia tattica di gara era di fare la corsa dura dall'inizio per evitare di portarsi appresso troppa gente. La gara in effetti e' stata molto combattuta con attacchi a ripetizione. Per fortuna ho evitato le varie cadute e vedevo pian piano il gruppo di testa assottigliarsi. Alla fine eravamo rimasti in una ventina e mi sentivo ancora abbastanza bene, per cui ho tentato piu' volte di partire in fuga, ma cercando di andare fuori in 2 o 3 perche' il vento era abbastanza intenso e di sicuro non ho la condizione per fare 5km da solo a 45kmh...

Cosi' come accade in una gara, tenti 100 volte senza successo e poi invece di vedi sfilare sotto il naso la fuga buona... in questo caso a 5k dall'arrivo un corridore se ne va solo e noi del gruppo ci fermiamo... perdendo quei 200m che ci saranno fatali.

Nel gruppo di testa c'erano svarie squadre con piu' di un corridore, quindi non mi sembrava realmente il caso di fare io una sparata per coprire il buco... in pratica ben presto ci siamo ormair rassegnati a sprintare per il secondo posto...

E qui, succede l'incredibile per me...

A circa 2km dall'arrivo iniziamo una brusca accelerazione e io saro' all'incirca in decima posizione; per fortuna il gruppo si e' assottigliato per cui non devo sgomitare molto per tenere la posizione e a 1km dall'arrivo giriamo a destra per il rettilineo finale (controvento...).

Con il vento in faccia, cerco di stare coperto e vedo che pian piano alcuni "saltano" e anche il corridore in fuga si fa sempre piu' vicino...

a 100m dalla doppia curva, sono ormai abbastanza davanti e vedo che si apre lo spiraglio buono... non so come, ma ci piazzo uno scatto "alla Cipollini" e riesco a infilare la doppia curva per primo... il corridore in testa e' solo 20 metri avanti a me e ho una velocita' nettamente superiore...

pero' non era destino e proprio sul tratto di strada con asfalto danneggiato, mi cade la catena dal 53 al 39... (azzz....) e' stata una questione di attimi, ma ho deciso che invece che continuare lo sprint con il 39x14, forse era meglio tentare di recuperare la catenza.. aziono il manettino e per fortuna la catena risale sul 53 e posso continuare lo sprint, anche se ho perso velocita' e di sicuro non riusciro' a riprendere il primo...

alla fine della doppia curva, do una sbirciata dietro e vedo che, nonostante tutto, ho ancora 3 bici di vantaggio sul gruppo e posso quindi sprintare ancora in tranquillita' per un incredibile secondo posto...

anche a 3 giorni di distanza non mi posso capacitare di come sono riuscito a prendere 3 macchine di vantaggio in 200m...

In ogni caso, per me e' una soddisfazione enorme di essere cosi' competitivo in una gara ciclistica, anche dopo tanti anni... e di sicuro non mi ricordavo di avere uno sprint cosi'

A chiudere bene la giornata, vado a casa con 150EUR+una bici di premio...

Ecco una bella foto mentre taglio il traguardo...dove sono rimasti gli altri ??

after testing the waters at the criterium of 15k, last Saturday I dived into a "real" race at the Shenzhen Cycling Festival, a huge kermesse with races of any sort, exhibitions, etc

I must admit that in 10 years of life in mainland China, I never (really never) seen / met a cyclist on the road ... I know that for some years there have been road race races, but in practice I never met a road cyclist (while the MTB and 'already' much more 'popular and common).

So I had no idea what to expect and the level of competition: a bunch of beginner or a legion of professionals ??...
among the various races on the program I chose the 40km, because the main 80km race seemed far too long for my level of training, because usually I never train more than 50km at a time.

At the start, I notice that in fact there are a lot of runners from Hong Kong (not difficult, since the race was 1km from the border ...) and many local youngsters who seemed quite competitive, and with also good equipment ...

Obviously, being in China, the race organization had some weak point: the course was a rectangle, but the arrival was placed just after a double-S tight turn with damaged tarmac and even a roadwork.... really crazy.
Surely if we came to a bunch sprint, it would have been a carnage, because it was impossible to avoid a fall if you sprint in a turn with damaged surface...

In any case, at this point my race tactic was to make the race hard from the beginning to avoid too many people tagging along. The race was in fact hard fought with repeated attacks. Luckily I avoided the various falls and saw the lead group gradually thinning out. In the final laps we are only 20 left and I felt still good, so I tried to attack several times carrying along some other riders, because the wind was quite intense and certainly I would could not sustain a solo attack...

So as common in a cycle race, you try 100 times without success and then you see the winning strike passing under your nose... in this case a guys attack solo with 5k to go and we let him, losing a fatal 200m .

Nobody reacted strongly enough and so we had to settle for a sprint for the 2nd place...

And here, the unbelievable happens...

At about 2km from the finish, we kicked in a sharp acceleration and I am around the 10th position; fortunately, the group has thinned a lot, so I do not need too much elbowing to keep the position.

With 1k to go, we turn right for the final stretch and we meet the strong headwind.

With the headwind, I try to draft as much as possible and I can slowly see that those ahead are "Coming back" and also the runaway rider is getting closer and closer ...
100 m from the double turn, I seize the right moment and place a huge acceleration which let me enter the turns in first place and in full speed... I have the front rider in sight and I am significantly faster..

... so for a moment I also focused and getting him and try to win the race...

but was not destiny: and on damaged tarmac, my chain felt from the 53 to 39 ... (fuxxxx. ...) was a matter of moments, but I decided that rather than continue the sprint with the 39x14, maybe it was better to regain the right gear .. I pulled the handlebar shift and luckily the chain pulled back on 53 and I could continue the sprint, even though I lost speed and certainly would not be able anymore to catch the first...

the end of the double turn, I peeked back and see that, despite everything, I am still 3 bikes lenghts ahead of the group and I can still relaxed sprint further for a stunning second place ...

even today, 3 days away, I can not understand how I managed to get 30 meter advantage in 200m...

In any case, for me was an enormous satisfaction. I have been away from any road race for ages and I started again this cycling "stage" only to take care of my tendons... so it is all beyond my expectations. And never ever I would have imagined to have such a sprint...

As a side, I also won 1500 RMB (200USD) and a bike...

Up there a nice photo crossing the finish line ... where were the others?

Bike race...again

So, it did come the day.
I had promised to myself that I would have never ever made a cycling road race again (promised done in 1994 and 2005), but today I was on the starting line again....

Weather was crappy, with showers and quite chilly for our standards. Because the Transport Department did not show up to close the road, we had 1 hour delay and they had to rearrange the different races and cut short to only 15km ! So we were grouped M30 and M40 together, which in HK means probably the most competitive batch of cyclists apart from the very few full time Elites.

Before the race I had a series of progressive objectives:

1. Essential: do not crash or fall
2. Basic: do not get dropped by the peloton
3. Expected: at least "do the race", race in front and do not simply hang up on the back
4. Optimal: get into the Prizes (top 5)
5. Dream: win, if I was really lucky

Well, a 22 min race goes quite fast. The 2 race favourites got away quite easily and I was surprised that any of the largest team did not react. It was really a pity that we left them go and I tried to create some gap but there was really poor initiative from the others. At the last lap we slowed down to 30kmh so it come down to a huge bunch sprint for the podium places and it was really bad that going so slow we were all fighting for places. I norroly avoided a crash and, all of the sudden, after a turn, with 1k to go we started to sprint. I was really too far behind (maybe around 15th-20th), so I had to immedialty sprint hard to catch the train. I felt good, but I was scared to blow up too far from the line, so I did not really sprint hard until 300m to go, which is definitely too late to catch up those ahead. I closed in 7-8th and 4th Master, not even feeling exhausted.

So I can declare myself satisfied. Now I am clear with my cycling potential and I just to need to be more careful at the sprint.

Also the PT has eventually taken the right path and I feel the tendons less sore. The PT found my calves "a total mess" (her own words). She says that the tendon will be never be the same as before becuase is permanently degenerated, so if I want to resume running I will need to be hugely attentive (streching, shoes, soft surfaces, etc) because the tendons will not be able anymore to forgive me anything...
Anyway let's see...I will not give up running so easily

update November

I have been very lethargic recently with this blog, but unless I change subject or start to talk about what is to work in Dongguan, there was nothing to report on the running front.

Now I am treated by a very good PT and I feel that she is tackling the problem in the right way.

She told me that there is a lot of adesion between the tendon and the sheat and she was "horrified" by the state of my calves: a lot of micro-trauma and adesions among the fibres. So the muscles did not flex efficiently and there was too much stress on the tendons (obviously compounded by my bow-legs, etc).

It may take still several months of therapy, so I presume that I will not race anymore until the season 2010-11 (jeeezzz...)

Cycling is going well and I am not quite satisfied of my fitness. I train in a much more spontaneous way than as a runner, so no intervals or specified efforts.

I train to have fun, ride with other guys and do as many climbs as possible (I love climbs...).

Yesterday night I showed up at the Science Park: on Thursday evening, there are ALL the competitive cyclists of Hong Kong looping around at a crazy pace...

it is a great group training, well, basically it is like a race with even a final sprint. We clocked 44km @ 42kmh average, but in the final sprint I really did a beginner's mistake and got myself exposed too early... (anyway... it is only a training)

All said, I made enrolled the HK cycling Association and I will make my cycling "debut"

as a Master in a criterium race next Sunday 15th. It is a bit crazy and I do not think to really be in "competitive" shape, but I want to feel the thrill of competition again (well, a cycling criterium is a LOT of thrill)...

I will let you know how It goes. If everything goes well, there is another race in Shenzhen (just beyond the border) the following Saturday

40yo / 40 e sentirli...

Writing while above the clouds headed to Shanghai... Yesterday I turned 40, so officially starts my "career" of Master runner.
Sincere thanks to all those who sent messages in any way.
It feels like yesterday when I was a 19yo stud and the idea of enrolling a race as M40 would have been unimaginable...

My original plan for the event was to run the Berlin Marathon as my last race as a "young" and double with the next available marathon 2 weeks later as Master. It has not gone to plans and I had to content myself with an easy bike ride, eccentric stretching and self massage to the tendons. The rate of recovery is slow and still I just try to keep the morale and keep myself in the groove of waking up early to make bike rides to keep fit...



ITALIANO:
In volo per Shanghai...
Ieri ne ho fatti 40 e onestamente posso dire "40 e sentirli tutti"...
Zoppicando appena alzato dal letto ha dato subito un concreto elemento del perche' comunque 20 e' sempre meglio di 40...
I'll mio piano di celebrazioni prevedeva di correre 2 maratone a cavallo della data fatidica per fare un ultima gara da "giovane" e poi lanciarmi in una gara da "master". Non e' andata come sperato e mi sono dovuto accontentare di un giretto in bici attorno a casa.

In questo periodo e' realmente difficile non mollare la presa, I'll recupero e' veramente lento e mi devo sforzare per mantenere I'll ritmo di alzarmi presto ogni mattina per fare almeno un po' di bici..prima o poi arriveranno tempi podisticamente migliori

Amazing MTB

Well, this morning I took a bold move and went for a real MTB ride in Dongguan... we have mountains back here but it not really evident if there are tracks/road or whatsoever.. the usual situation is to take some dirt road and after 100m you meet a cluster of barking dogs guarding some farms or else...
Also the name Dongguan (world's factory city) does not really resound with ideas of dirt tracks and mountains. Mostly is a endless stretch of factories and dusty industrial towns...

So to my amazement, I really got the right way and found an amazing climb of 6,5km, mixed dirt and some concrete stretch. I guess that they will add more and more concrete on the road to make it a kind of park or else, but for the time being it is amazing. It was a good 50 minutes climb and my HR was well above 165/170bpm for most of the time... from the top, wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and all the town.
Now I am looking forward to do it again tomorrow!!...

for those with time, here the link to the GPS tracking

Photo 1: view from the top

Photo 2: only in China... a cement mixer did try his way on the dirt road and end up like that...

(photos are awful quality because the phone was wet)

a dark Recession

the Recession is striking hard on Dongguan... for a city whose economy is 90% depending on export and with export going down by 25%, well, you can make the math yourselves..

our town government is clearly getting less income from taxes, etc and is out of money.

First they cut on new projects and new road contruction, but now seems also operating costs... in short, no more money to keeps the lights on in the evening for all the roads.

So this is how it looks like at 7pm for the north boulevard.

I went there for a ride and as soon as it got dark, I expected the street light to be on... but no way. So I just went back home. I have to figure out who to manage the situation, even putting lights on the bike would not be a solution...

for reference, this is how it looked like before at the same hour:

C degrees !!! (NOTE: I had to change the title of this post because it attracted huge spam)

ENG: just back from a 4 hours ride with friends. We climbed the TaiMoShan, the highest peak in HK, 990m high, straight from sea level in 10km...

The heat and humidity are devastating and I felt like I could have thrown myself in the sea at any moment to cool down. At home I gave a look at the temperaure and Accuweather proclaims that the "real feel" is like 51C (124F). Yes, I agree !!!

I got even headache from the sun/heat/humidity

ITA: pedalata di 4 ore con amici. Ci siamo lanciati alla scalata del TaiMoShan, la montagna piu' alta di HK (990m), scalata che parte direttamente dal livello del mare in 10km...

La percezione del caldo puo' essere molto soggettiva, ma c'era un caldo ed un umidita' devastanti...quando sono tornato a casa, il sito di Accuweather dava una "temperatura equivalente" (effetto combinato di umidita' e temperatura) di 51C gradi !!! Le estati a HK sono realmente disumane, ho la testa che mi fa perfino male dal sole e caldo

8 months - 8 mesi

ENGLISH:

I know I have been very lazy in blogging and I must thank the comment from William who woke me up from my numbness..

Well, thanks William for the compliments on my charts with the Polar HRM and I hope to start again with a "comeback charth"...

By the way, some of the charts will be used somehow also in this soon-to-be-published book by Matt Fitzgerald, who also read this blog and got interested in my charts...

So I exhort all of you to pre-order the book and give it a read (the title is captivating and the author is one of my favourite read for running-related books..)

(disclaimer: I would not get a penny from the book)

As it is, I could summarize that after 2 months from my last post, the situation with the tendons is gradually improving but they are still painful when I pinch them (especially the right one).

I do not make any previsions for wearing the running shoes: some days seems that it could be over in a week, somes days are simply a "no no".

I just enjoy my time as a biker and try to make the most of my bikes rides now that I have a discrete endurance: last week-end I joined a group of racers for a long training ride all around HK: we hammered down 100km and I am pretty proud to have survived to the end (we started in 30 and finished in 9)

On thursday I joined the crazy "thursday night" workout at Science Park: there are mybe 100+ competive riders who gathers at 8pm for a VERY FAST ride looping around the Park. It is more or less like a race: last night we averaged 42kmh (!!) for 50km (it is 4 km loop and there are 2 U-turns every lap). At the end I was totally spent, but very happy to hang out for the whole time with the lead group.

It really fueled my competitve juices and especially it was really a nice memory of my juvenile years as competive cyclists. Riding in a group, elbow to elbow with kids half my age was a real fun and I want to join the ride more often.

I alternate easy rides to climbs, interval, sprints, almost like a real training for a race...but

I have in a drawer a coaching certificate for up to "Amateur elite", so I know what is the real training in cycling and it is really too demanding and tiring. I really believe that training for a bike race is incredibly more demanding than any training for a Marathon, so I do not plan any come-back to competitive cycling whatever will happen with my tendons...

Lastly, since my bike was becoming a vintage model (I got it as a gift from a frame builder in 1992!!!), I caught an opportunity and bought 2nd hand this splendid Fuji (see above): carbon-frame , Campy Chorus set 10 speed, Mavic wheels and it is really cut on my size.

ITALIANO

So che sono stati molto pigro a bloggare e devo ringraziare il commento di William che mi ha svegliato dal mio torpore ..

grazie William per i complimenti sui miei grafici con POLAR e spero di lanciare un "grafico del riscatto".

A proposito, alcuni grafici saranno utilizzati in qualche modo anche nel prossimo libro scritto da Matt Fitzgerald, che ha letto questo blog e si e' interessato ai miei grafici.
Così esorto tutti a pre-ordinare il libro e dare poi una lettura (il titolo è accattivante e l'autore è uno dei miei preferiti per i libri sul running)
(Nota: non ricavo un $ dal libro)

potrei riassumere che dopo 2 mesi dal mio ultimo post, la situazione con i tendini è in graduale miglioramento, ma sono ancora dolorosi al tatto (soprattutto il destro).
Non faccio previsioni su quando indossero' ancora le scarpette: a volte sempra tutto gia' OK, ed il giorno dopo invece un disastro

Per il momento mi diverto a fare il ciclista e sfrutto la mia resistenza migliorata: nel week-end mi sono unito un gruppo di corridori seri per una galoppata a manetta di 100km tutto attorno HK: ho penato tanto ma sono molto orgoglioso di aver resistito fino alla fine (dai 30 iniziali abbiamo finito in 9)


Giovedi' mi sono buttato con il gruppo del "giovedi notte": circa 100+ ciclisti "seri" si trovano alle 20.00 per girare a ritmo folle a Science Park: 50km a 42kmh di media, su un giro di 4km con 2 inversioni ogni giro... alla fine ero veramente spento, ma sono rimasto aggancito al treno di testa.

Trovarmi in un gruppo cosi' competitivo, con ragazzini che potevano essere i mei figli mi ha fatto realmente riassaporare i miei anni giovanili, quando correvo nei "Dilettanti". Non vedo l'ora che arrivi il prossimo giovedi'!!

Di sicuro allenarsi in bici e' incredibilemente faticoso e duro: ho una licenza per allenatore Elite e se penso a cosa e' un vero allenamento in bici, l'allenamento per la Maratona diventa una passeggiata. Solo al pensarci, ogni velleita' anche remota di tornare al ciclismo competitivo si blocca completamente (per fortuna...).

Infine, dal momento che la mia bici era diventare un modello d'epoca (l'ho ricevuto in dono da una costruttore nel 1992 !!!), ho colto un occasione e ho comprato (di seconda mano) questa splendida Fuji (vedi sopra): telaio in carbonio, Gruppo Campagnolo Chorus 10v ed la bici mi calza a pennello...

6 months - 6 mesi

well, the title is self-explainatory. Now reached the 6 months of no-running.

In the typical psycological cycle of reacting to a set-back, I eventually landed in the "resignation and acceptance" phase...
I do my cycling almost every day, with no real scope. I do my excercises, etc, etc, etc. I gave up going to the physioterapist because it was really too much time-consuming for my job. I gave up any illusion to be able to run a marathon in 2009, so maybe something at spring 2010... but honestly I say this more for give myself a tangible purpose to my bike rides (very boring, always the same loop..).
So overall I do my cross-training like an honest factory worker, just do the job without thinking too much.

The tendons are actually improving, but very slowly.

chinese speed...

EN: It is quite remarkable how the pace of China's development exceed our usual expectations:

here is a map of my yesterday's ride, a gorgeous 45km loop all around my town.

It was already hot at 5.30am (maybe 26C/80F), but roads were empty.

Anyway... most of the route does "not exist" yet on Google Earth's maps. The roads were built very recently and more to come in near future

NOTE: the crisis is biting hard also here. Many construction works had to be stopped for lack of funds. Many factories had to close and populaton has dropped by 30% because most of the workers went back to their hometown. Skies are clean as I had never seen before: the drop in power consumption has removed the need to use diesel power generators to support the power grid. For Dongguan, whose economy is totally export dependant, we are at direct drive with the state of US, Europe and Japan consumption. Hope better time to come.

I do not know if any reader is interested... but I could dwell for hours on my personal view of the state of affairs in China..

Lastly, the tendons are improving

IT: ecco il tracciato di una fantastica pedalata di ieri mattina, 45km. Faceva gia' un caldo boia (26C), ma le strade erano deserte.

In ogni caso, la strada "non esiste" ancora in Google Earth... e' stata costruita di recente e altre si aggiungeranno presto.

NOTA: la crisi sta colpendo duro anche da queste parti: molte fabbriche sono state chiuse e la popolazione della citta' e' calata del 30% perche' gli  operati sono tornati alle zone di provenienza. L'aria e' incredibilmente pulita come non ho mai visto, grazie alla riduzione dei consumi elettrici sostentati da generatori diesel ed al calo del numero di camion.

Per Dongguan, la cui economia dipende totalmente dalle esportazioni, il sistema lavora a presa diretta con il livello dei consumi in USA, Europa e Giappone. Speriamo bene...

Tendini in miglioramento.

5 months - 5 mesi

EN: today marks 5 months from my last run. Tendons still painful.

I am becoming a "theoretical runner"... just brownsing running blogs and forums and formulating hypotetical training plans for future marathons...

Cycling almost every day. I wish to take part in a road race to see what I would be capable to do, but at the same time I think that I would be now scared to take all the risks involved in a bike race... (road cycling is dangerous... all the scars on my body agree)

IT: oggi fanno 5 mesi senza correre, sembra un eternita'. Tendini ancora doloranti.

Ormai sono diventato solo un teorico della corsa, a leggere forums a blog senza muovere poi in piede.

Quasi tutti i giorni mi faccio 30/40km di bici e mi piacerebbe parteciapre ad una gare per vedere di cosa sarei capace a quasi 20 anni dalla mia ultima gara. Ma francamente ho la sensazione che sarei spaventato nel correre in un gruppo con tutti i rischi relativi (la bici e' uno sport indubbiamente pericolo e le cicatrici sul mio corpo sono li' a ricordarmelo)

17.4.2009

ENGLISH:

• myself: slow progress on the tendons. Biking daily. Today I went for a Time Trial to use as yardstick (well, obviously on the bike...). 15km at "medium effort" (I would say like marathon effort) in 25' (it is around 35kmh). Let's see how I will develop from here.
  

• running world: next sunday is very juicy... several friends and several "blogger runners" of my interest will run in a bunch of marathons around the world... my best wishes to all of them !! (list is below)
  

ITALIANO

• io: progresso lento. Bicicletta tutti i giorni. Oggi ho fatto un test a sforzo medio sui 15km, in 25' (sopra i 35kmh). Vediamo cosa riusciro' a fare in futuro (una ventina di anni fa potevo tenere forse attorno ai 42kmh...)
• altri corridori: domenica e' veramente affollata di corse attorno al mondo e dovro' seguire (spiritualmente) tutti i miei amici e corridori bloggers impegnati in maratona attorno al mondo. Ecco la lista

- Boston: my protege' Suet-fei (she goes for a big PB...) , Pauline + others from HK, Thomas (I hope a sub-3 for him), Michael (from Canada), Ryan (a very fast guy)

- Vienna: the fastest sumo-runner in the world, Simone

- Nagano:  fellow HK runner KaHo and HoKi...

hope I did not forgot anyone. In bocca al lupo... good luck...

Update / aggiornamento

ENGLISH:
From now on, I will try to add also a Italian version of the posts because more and more running friends from Italy are keen to read this blog in native language.
Then in short:
- tendons: not any remarkable improvement. Out of bed, I walk crippled around like a old grandpa. Also a small walk lets me painful. I do make eccentric stretching daily.
- biking: 6 times/week... Around 30km each time. Shall I think about racing again ?....
- morale: stationary and resigned to the fate....
- weight: slight increase. The trip to Italy did not help... But I have some great restaurant to recommend around Treviso.
I also come home with 30lbs of italian delicacies stored in the suitcase (Parma Ham, Parmesan, etc), so now I must eat..

ITALIANO
Per accontentare I lettori italiani che mi hanno chiesto di bloggare in Italiano, d'ora in poi cerchero' anche di "postare" in Italiano (Oddio, dopo 10 anni all'estero Il mio lessico sta precipitando..)
- tendini: nessun miglioramento significativo. La mattina appena alzato sembro un nonnetto zoppicante. Anche dopo una camminata, I'll dolore si fa persistente. Faccio esercizi di streching eccentrico.
- bici: 6 volte alla settimana, 30km alla volta.
- morale: cosa posso dire... Ormai I'll termine piu' adatto e' rassegnato..

Polar oriented training log

I copy/paste a message from a reader. Message which may be useful for other runner who use Polar HRM.
The web-based training log looks interesting.

..........................................
You may be interested to test training calendar I've developed for Polar HRM :
http://polartrainer.free.fr
(my own training: jp75018).
You can create your account or download (open source) from
http://www.php-endurance.org
Note: works only in Metric Units
.........................................

News?

Well, not much. Same routine cycling, stretching, treatment and no running.
Maybe is going better, but was enough to go for a walk with my daughter to have more pain for few days later...
I am now boarding the plane HK-Helsinki-Milan for a business trip and I am somehow emotional to land in Italy after more than a year.
(The drawback is a week with no cycling and no treatment, but it should not make huge difference at this poiny)

Travel tips: if you need spare parts/accessories for your Suunto o Polar, the duty-free of Helsinki's airport carries a huge selection... Probably the most well supplied shop of Polar stuff I have ever seen (I guess that downtown Helsinki might offer maybe even more..)

always on wheels

a short update...

the tendons are recovering slowly, but in the right direction. I found a very good physioterapist and maybe once it is all over I would make a more detailed report on the therapies that I am following.

I now cycle almost every day, around 25/30k. For a former full time cyclist is a bit "painful" to feel the pedals so "heavy" but I enjoy my rides (both in Dongguan and Hong Kong).

Unfortunately I am stuck to the usual short loops, but the area does not offer better.

Sunday I found myself in the new role as "ice breaker",  escorting by bike the leaders at the local Shatin 10K race. More than 1500 runners lined up for this classic race which usually mark the last chance for a fast time... the incoming spring will put everybody in slow gear.

In 2008 I end up in 2nd place, but I must honestly say that this year level was amazingly higher: at the start the usual Kenyan T.K. + a fast Ethiopian (no idea on who he is, but reported as 28' 10k runner !!) + all the fastest local runners...

Since the race is hold in a cycle path open to the public, my role was basically to open the way for the runners, shouting to all walkers, dog strollers, cyclist to get out of the way.

Police in HK does not care a shit about sport events, so the organizer is on his own to ensure the safety of the partecipants...

We (me and the top runners) risked several collisions and the most scaring part was when (in the out-and-back course) we begun to share the narrow path with the stream of runners still going in the other direction... I was barely able to open the way, shouting in multi-language to get out of the way and keep the left side... 

All said, it was pretty exciting to see from that close T. the Kenyan and Stefano battle all the way to the 7k mark, where T. pulled away to close with a 20" lead. Big applause to Stefano, for crushing his PB by 20"/25" !! His level now (31'20" on a slow course) is amazing for an amateur runner !!.

The Ethiopian DNF for some injury and many other friends scored impressive times.

Here below a pic of the start. Please note the trees and pillars right in the middle of the path... that's a HK style fast course...

New Race... old winner...

Zhuhai (a coastal city in Guangdong, nearby Macao) launched a new Half Marathon.

When I heard about the new race, I was a bit wary, because organization of events in China can be either perfect with a huge deployment of resources or a total disaster, without too much of a middle way.

It turned out that, because of the support of the local government and the savy involvement of an experienced race organizer, it was a huge success.

Even more pleasant was that my fellow Stefano did win the race, in a relaxed (for him) 1h11' (it was only 2 weeks after the marathon, I recommended him to take it easy).

2nd place for an Australian, just moved in the area and then a score of runners from HK.

Some good pictures of the event, so you may have an half idea to come for a race to China...

(fast and flat course, running along the sea promenade of Zhuhai, it was a misty day)

(some familiar faces in the lead group... hope we could train again together, guys...)

(it is not the usual post race entertainment....)

(the setting for the finish lines looks really world class !!)

(race announcer, chinese way...)

(start)

(the winner mobbed by local press... funny to have 5 policemen and 5 security guards on the background, but is China..)

HK rank

the local HK Ahtletics published the 2008 athletes ranking.

MAN

WOMAN

unfortunately it is full of mistakes (for road races..) and some mis-spelling of the name of the athletes are "tragic"...

they (the HKA) attracts a huge dose of criticism for their management of the sport, so also this rank is in line with usual quality of their operations...

Personally I am glad to see that I am ranked (under 2 different spellings, sic):

5000m track: never run in 2008... not ranked

10000m track: 3rd (accurate)

10k road: 8th (maybe accurate)

15k road: not run any

Half Marathon: 10th (using a wrong timing, I should be 8th...)

Marathon: did I run any marathon in 2008?...(I want to forget)

Good to see that I can make the Top10 even in a season that was quite unfortunate...

New PB... (as blogger)

last week signed a "PB" for this blog

usually this blog has around 15 visits daily, but last Friday they skyrocketed to 87.

The reason is that my post on the Polar Running Index (which was really a good study..) got mentioned also in the website of the well-know running author Matt Fitzgerald, attracting a large numbers of click...

By the way, his website is a good read and his books are interesting.

Personally I have read by him: 

- Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to Be Your Own Best Coach (with Brad Hudson)

which is really a great book (a must read!!). I reccomend it to everybody and it also goes along very well with my own training philosophy.

- Brain Training For Runners: A Revolutionary New Training System to Improve Endurance, Speed, Health, andResults (Paperback): I honestly did not die for it... some good concepts but other parts of the book are quite reduntant (if you have read already many other running book)

pain

this morning in Hong Kong I went out for a bike ride and, while almost reaching home, a car did not respect a "Stop" sign and hit me. I almost avoided the crash but it was unavoidable to hit the car and fell on the asphalt.

Scratches and a contusion on hip and elbows, pain...

but you know what was the most amazing: I was laying on the road and the female driver who hit me come out from the car and almost insulted me: "why did not you let me go ? I was already coming out and you come very fast... you were going too fast... it was your fault"

Well, my immediate idea was to smash the pump on her face, but I refrained myself thinking that I would have done the things wrong... so I had to explain her that "if there is a STOP sign, she must stop and let me pass, regardless on her opinions on who was first... and about going too fast, the speed limit in the area is 50kmh so it was unlikely that I was going faster then that..."

worthless to dispute with such an asshole... we called the Police 999. Later she did change approach once she got her driving lesson from the Policemen....

I wonder why car driver can be so assholes... they do not realize that jumping a STOP could kill a cyclist, regardless of their ideas on the occupation of the road.

pacesetters can be expensive...

I already reported on the Marathon in HK...
but there is an incredible development.
One runner (running for the HK national team !!) gave his spare #4 bib to his coach, so that he could jump into the course to pacesetting another female runner, who was also running for the HK Team in the GROE challenge.

the female runner was bonking hard in the last miles and the coach run with her up to the finish line!!!

The end result is that the public outcry to such a "foolish" behavior led the organizer to disqualify both runners !! I say foolish because the "trio" did not respect the rules, but also managed the action in a silly way (using an elite bib, running with the girl until the finish line under the photographers, etc). Really a poor judgment and too much passion in his duty from the coach.

The collateral makes the story much more interesting:
- the coach is well know locally because he is the HK Marathon record holder (set in 1992 !!), and also in the ranks of HKA
- before pacing the girl for the last 10k, the coach also did take part in the 10k race (collateral to the marathon), in a very respectable time of 37'55" (well... he is 49 ). So a very good workout (10k at 3'50" + 10k at 4'15")
- sadly: the disqualification of one runner in the series of 4 races also cause the HK team to lose all their rankings in the race series. So the effort done by other runners in tough marathons like Singapore and Mumbai goes lost..
- the woman team loses also 30,000USD of prize money for series (aka 7,500$ per head). That is really a great buch of money for those amateur runners.

the morale of the story:

- A. do not give your own bib to anyone...
- B. this pacesetter was more expensive those deployed to beat the world record by Gebre... (the counts stands at 3000$/km..)
- C. the red singlet with the "Hong Kong China" mark is really cute, I am very proud to have mine in the closet as lifetime achievement.
- D. it is further confirmation that the number 4 brings bad luck (according to the local folklore, 4 sounds like "death", so it avoided in all ways)

A positive spin to Insanity

I did a very insane activity last evening: took my road bicycle for a ride in Dongguan, after dark...

Anybody who knows the condition of traffic in China (crazy drivers, pedestrial trying in any way to be smashed, undisciplined cyclists) may correctly believe that the abstinence from sport

 drove me insane.

But all together it went very very smooth: I have this outer ring of the town where I work that is still not yet fully connected to the highway, etc. It is therefore very quiet, well lit and especially far from any factory (as to avoid the workers strolling around the streets).

Hopefully the road contruction would not be completed too soon otherwise it will become the usual mess of trucks, car and motorcycle (with no lights...).

I was wearing a reflective jacket +lamps. The bicycle itself had not been touched for years, so I must need some tuning in near future.

All said, it was a very balmy weather, 22C and I managed 34km (2 loops) at 30kmh average.

Overall not bad for my first bike ride in centuries, but at every small hill I was "boucing back"... from 42/17 gear, I had desperately to reach the shift lever to go up to 42/21...

So, a good ride and an I will stick to this routine until I am back to running.

(a pic taken end workout, full moon in the sky...)

(map of the ride with my Garmin... the town "below" the course is where I stay and work during the week, 350.000 residents of which 90% are occupied in factories)

well done, Stefano

ENGLISH:

well, suppose that 18 months ago you were only a beginner "alsorun"... suppose that you choose to debut in the marathon in one of the most demanding courses around, and the temperature at the start is already 19C...

so it is an outstanding "Dream comes true"... that my fellow italian Stefano P did make his marathon debut with a time of 2h28'12" !!

An amazing achievement for an amateur runner who picked-up running only at adult age!!

ITALIANO

Fantastico debutto in Maratona per il nostro Stefano, che conclude la Maratona di Hong Kong al 18 posto assoluto (primo dei corridori "locali"), con un tempo fantastico: 2h28'12".

Il tutto considerando che 18 mesi fa era un totale debuttante alla corsa... (e anche, crepi l'invidia, facilmente battibile da me anche solo 12 mesi orsono...)...

The course is really tough, see the declaration of the woman winner:

""It wasn't easy out there," Nyansikera said. "This is my first time in Hong Kong and I found the conditions not so comfortable. I struggled as I have never run a hilly course like this."

She was echoing the views of the majority. All the overseas runners in the showpiece men's and women's marathons said the course was among the most difficult they had faced.

Russia's Leonid Shvetsov believed that if Hong Kong had a flatter course, timings would improve.

"You could lop off at least three to four minutes if the course was flat. I'm not complaining, but this is not easy, especially with the weather conditions," Shvetsov said."

So I expect that Stefano could even get close to 2h21-23' in his next attempt on a easier course (and cooler weather)

See a good pic of him in action !!

Countdown...

A) I want to thank those who wrote comments and mails to support me during this injury time

I am not a depressive guy, but this time I feel really at loss

I begun competitive sports in 1982 and got through many injuries, accidents, downtime and so on...

but this time I feel very vulnerable because I am not only losing the fitness, but also the mental "grip" on making sacrifices, train, wake-up early and so on..  I do not feel even motivation or spirit to make some cross-training when it is possible.

My plan was to run competively for other 2/3 years and no more, but is it maybe the time to call it quit in advance ?

B) Sunday is big time in Hong Kong.... it is the day of the local marathon.

An "awful" total of 55000 people will take part in different events (from 10K, Half, Full Marathon) and overall I think it is the worst possible marathon on earth (course, weather, runner-friendliness, etc).

It will mark the marathon debut of my running "pupil" Stefano.

If everything goes well, he can make a big hit... and especially be the first local runner (behind the usual score of Kenyan and Japanese Professionals)

A running web-site also published his profile

Vai Stefano !!!

D_e_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n

in some moments I wonder whether I will run again.

Or better, if I will have the motivation to start again from zero after several months of stop.

I do not see myself going out of the door for the first time in April/May, with already 30C outside and completely out of shape.

It is really like sliding at the rock bottom of a hill that you had previously conquered.

This adds up to the care fo the newborn, advancing age and always increasing responsability at the work.

I really hope to find the strenght to fight back and be competitive again (I am of pure "competitive animal" breed: if not for competition, I might not even run at all...).

On a separate note, a local running website did consider interesting to have an interview with myself... the interview is HERE.

For even more uncomprehensible reasons, someone found interesting to translate the interview in Chinese to be published on another local website.

Orthotics (#3) - maybe I raise "white flag"

still no running, the healing takes ages... the progress is really slow. The orthopedic told me that maybe I can even need other 3 months before running.... (in any case, I am restoring my bicycle... after 4 years of total non-usage..)

around 1 year ago, I posted twice on the matter of the orthotics

Orthotics #1

Orthotics #2

having serious bow-shaped legs and leg length discrepancy, I have been always recommend

ed to use orthotics, but I honestly hate only the idea...

Now I can summarize my experience with orthotics in the past 2 years:

* January- August 2007: no orthotics, no injuries, but running load was lower (70-90km weekly)

* August 07 - January 08: With Orthotics, no Injuries, load around 100/110Km

* January 08 - March 08: no orthotics, run very well, but got injured of a muscle strain (well, that day I was wearing shoes with orthotics, still...)

* May 08 - December 08: no orthotics, running fast like never before, load around 100/120k. Got a serious bilateral achilles tendinitis

so now... I capitulate.

Both the physioterapist and the orthopedic that I consulted for the tendinitis are also runners and they both told me that only with orthotics I can at least reduce the load on the tendons.

with my bow legs, even if my running style is not bad, the load from the body weight is not transfered to the ground in straight line, but generates a huge lateral force that puts a lot of effort on the achilles.

So the shoe must be fitted with orthotics that could absorb somehow this lateral force.

It all makes sense and I know it very well... my chassis is of very poor quality and not really suited for heavy running.

Out of desperation, I will therefore try to run with orthotics again...

to do that, I also ordered a new pair of custom-made orthotics made in Canada by the company PARIS (the physio told me that is the best available on the Hong Kong market).

Now I got them and I just need to wait for the healing of the achilles to see how they are.

The aspect looks very "sophisticated" compared to those I used before (also custom made, but from a local

 podistrist).

so this is it for today...

Cadence in Running and Performance

the orthopedic told me yesterday that I may need several more weeks of stop (if not months) before resuming running... pretty depressing perspective...

I come up with another chart: how improving the cadence goes down to a benefit in the "bottom line" (racing performance).

So I charted the average cadence of my workouts since I have the Polar Rs800sd, together with the IAAF performance score of my races (across different distance).

(there are many tools over the web to calculate the IAAF points and compare performances on difference distance, eg HERE)

I had to depurate the IAAF scoring my many races held on hilly course or under scorching heat, otherwise it would be a wrong influence on the correlation.

Back in 2006 I soon realized that my cadence (in the low 80s) was far too low compared to what is considered ideal (high 80s, ideally 90). This is really a big contribution given by the Polar Rs800sd and the S3 sensor.

From then, I always worked to improve my 

stride cadence, trying to be light and quick, rather than stomping the feet on the ground. Jack Daniels mentions something like "running on eggs".

The average cadence has gradually gone up (mid 80s), and it matches closely also the trend of the IAAF score. It is a sure call to say that improving the cadence drives an improvement of performance (especially if you current cadence is far from optimal).