Sweatman Run

I woke up at 5.30 this morning. Sunday morning. Yes, I know, too late. But the race started at 7.30 this morning. Always Sunday morning.

(to embed Sunday Morning here was too easy)

Races in Singapore usually start at 7. Sometimes even at 5.15. The reason is clear for anyone who's ever just passed by Singapore. Heat. Always. And when it's heat plus sun, you'd better stay in a mall or in a house with on going air conditioned.

This race started at 7.30. They decided to do so. This race is the Mizuno Passion Wave Run. 16k, all around Mount Faber, highest Singapore hill.

This race was all the time under the sun. Plus heat.

We gathered 15 minutes before the start. By "we" I mean the guys who decided to wake up at 5.30 and gather at 7.15, 15 minutes before the start of the race. Bad choice. In 15 minutes I lost all the liquids I had been saving since the night before. All. Soy-milk, litres of water, isotonic drink. All moved from the inside to the outside.

The speaker shouts "start" and we start. As usual I start fast. But less fast than usual. Legs and arms are still stiff for the Friday work out. Never work out on the fridays before the race, unless you want to become a Strong Man. (Here's how: "To Be a Strong Man").

After 5k my pace slows down. Down down down. I start thinking to keep AT LEAST a pace of 4m10s per k. Then 4m15s per k. Then 4m20s per k. Then 4m25s per k. Then 4m30s per k. Then I close a k in 4m40s. And I decide not to bother anymore about the pace.

Around 10k I stop. Suddenly. A policeman makes me stop. "You need to wait for the traffic light". What?!?!? "It's Unbelievable! Never Happened in a Race!! Outrageous!!!". I think. To waste liquids by speaking isn't a good idea. Not to mention the time I would waste by going to jail. 50 seconds later we can start again.

Around 13k another traffic light. I start shouting 100m before. The policeman hears and stops the cars. "Thanks". I've been in a terrific shape. The guy I've tried to chase for 13k is so close. I cannot risk to loose him by waiting for the traffic light!

I pay that shout. The throat is dry. The same cannot be said about the clothes. And the shoes. A sweatman running.

1,5k left. I don't know where, but I find enough energy to push. I pass the guy 500m before the end. Retro-running. Arrival. Food. Water. Isotonic drink.

16k in 1 hour 8 minutes 48 seconds. 4m21s per k, considering also the time I stood still.

No traffic light can stop us!! (more than required)

(the smile of a rehydrated man)

To Be a Strong Man

How do you become a strong man? That's a question I was asked many times.

The first thing is eating. A strong man needs a lot of energy. Eat at least four raw eggs in the morning, 1kg meatball spaghetti  for lunch, and a steak for dinner (better is beefsteak Florentine style). Every day. If you don't like eggs you can have a steak also for breakfast.

If you want to be a strong man you need to train hard. There's no easier way to get there. Two to four hours of daily work out are required. A strong man needs to suffer and suffer and suffer and suffer. You don't like the atmosphere of gyms? Cut logs, push carts, lift people, try to chase a chicken. Better if you do it in Philadelphia. Or in Russia.

If you want to be a strong man you need to look like a strong man. Shave your legs, arms and chest. Use a mirror and train until you reach the perfect fierce dumb look. Never forget to oil up your body.

(a little more oil would help)

You don't want to become a strong man? you may always consider to become a Strongman Runner.

You run as usual, you do some work out from time to time. You go to the Fisherman's Friend Strongman Run and leave with fun, bruises and stories to tell. There's one in Italy, today 29 September. A lot of friends of Piovono Runners are going. 18k run with 24 obstacles.

There's one in Germany, one in France, one in Switzerland, one in Belgium, one in The Netherlands. If you are in Europe you can easily be a Strongman Runner. If you are in Singapore, well, you can just be a Strong Man. Where's my oil?

(Once we were Strongman Runners)

Back to the Future

Back in 1992: "kid, one day you'll wait for a bus in Singapore at 3.30 a.m. in order to run 21k" "Sure, why not?"

Back in 1995: "kid, one day you'll catch a bus at 3.45 a.m. in Singapore, and it will be full of people dressed like you" "Come on!"

Back in 1999: "boy, one day you'll publicly spread vaseline on your genitals without any shame" "Man, you're gross!"

Back in 2002: "boy, one day you'll start and complete a half marathon before the cock crows" "Why should I do such a stupid thing?!"

Back in 2005: "man, one day you'll run the Singaporean Army half marathon, where each squad organizes refreshment and collateral events" "Peace and love, bro"

Back in 2008: "man, one day you'll hear a woman screaming to cheer you during the race, but that is a soldier of the Singaporean Army" "What did you smoke bro?"

Back in 2010: "man, one day you'll turn a corner, 5.50 a.m. in Singapore, and you'll see Indian dancers and fire-eaters" "And where are the elves?"

Back in 2011: "man, one day you'll finish a half marathon in Singapore as the top 30 over 10,000 participants" "Has someone cut their legs?"

Back in March 2012: "man, this year you'll run a half marathon over 1h30m" "Are you kidding? I'm faster than that!!"

Back in May 2012: "man, this year you'll run a half marathon in Singapore under 1h35m" "Shut up and pass the booze!"

Anytime after 2010: "man, one day you'll finish a half marathon in retro-running and waving a flag" "That I believe"

True story.

(in the picture: sunrise in Singapore)

First Training for First Trial

Back again to "First Times".

I applied for a trial.

Maybe someone still doesn't know that, but I came back to study. I'm a graduate student, in Singapore. To be specific: National University of Singapore, aka NUS.

As a student in Trento (my undergraduate university) I used to do a lot of extracurricular activities. Mainly in university politics, associations and moot courts. Here I tried with sport.

Football?
The first people I meet are from the football (soccer) team of the faculty of law. Nice guys, but the team is full. They're all friends and all come from the same batch. No wonder they loose every game...

They are nice, though, and give me the number of a guy from the cross country team of the university. Yes, the running team.

Running!
The captain of the team (yes, there is a captain), is one of the nicest Singaporeans I've met so far. "Sure you can come". "Yeah take it easy". "Give me your mail and I'll update you on any event".

So I go to the training, today. My first "serious" training ever. It's done in the track field of the main university campus (yes, there is a track field in the main campus. And yes, there is more than one track field).

We warm up. We stretch. We talk ("ah, you're from Sicily, the godfather, ahahah"). Then the captain tells us the exercises we are supposed to do. The easy ones are 200m x 16 with recovery of 1 minute. The medium ones are 800m x 6 with recovery of one minute. The tough ones are 1600m x 3 with recovery of 1 minute.

The pace is that of a 5k race. Which means that everybody has his or her own pace (yes, there are girls). The good thing, though, is that there are enough people so that everybody who wants, can train with someone else, at a common pace.

Someone may wonder, is this the NUS Cross Country Team? Isn't there a selection? How can you have a team like that, were everybody may go at the pace he or she is good at? How can you choose who participates to the races (yes, there are races)?

That's what trials are for. You can just go to the track and run, with people who cheer during your training. But then comes the selection. Next tuesday, there is a 5k run, in the track. Anyone who wants may join it. Anyone who wants is individually timed. The first six runners will participate to next cross-country competition, wearing the colours of NUS. Before every competition there is a trial, so that everybody has the chance to run for NUS.

I will go to the trials. But I know I can't make it. Last time, the minimum time to qualify was 17 minutes and 10 seconds, 3m25s per k. They're good, they've been training for 2 years. I will try to run 5k in 18 minutes and 20 seconds, 3m40s per k. I won't run next cross-country competition. But this is only my first trial...

Ah, I almost forgot to talk about the first training for my first trial. Of course I chose the 1600m x 3. Of course I trained with two of the the fastest guys. Of course I died.

We ran the first 1600m at 3m19s per k. Exhausted, but we did it. One minute (yes, one minute) of recovery and then we started the second round. After 200m I lost the other guys. After 200m I decided I didn't want to pass away 28 year old, and slowed down. I closed at 3m49s per k (they did at 3m25s per k).

After 2 minutes (at least 2 minutes, come on!!) of recovery, we started the third round. One of the two guys was also "tired", and ran with me. We closed the last 1600m at 3m39s per k.

Then the "tired" guy cooled down for 5 minutes (yes, I know, it's impossible to cool down in Singapore), and went for some uphill interval training ("just" 50m x 5).

***

I know, my posts are going to become even more boring, with all such numbers. But for me, these numbers, make me feel like a happy little child.

(in the picture: Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, and Valerio, training for the trial)

Correre a Milano: Giardini di Porta Venezia

In questi giorni si torna in città, più o meno mesti, più o meno abbronzati, più o meno grassi. Per combattere mestizia, perdita dell'abbronzatura e adipe in eccesso, non c'è niente di meglio che (ri)cominciare a correre. Meglio se davanti agli occhi c'è l'obiettivo di partecipare ad una gara autunnale: 5k, 10k, mezza o maratona che sia.
O anche no, per il gusto di correre e basta, ascoltando per un'ultima volta negli auricolari il Pulcino Pio, prima di seppellirlo per sempre tra gli orrori/errori da dimenticare di questa estate.
Vi vogliamo bene in ogni caso.

Per questo, con il presente post, inauguriamo un nuovo filone, una serie di pezzi sul tema "Dove ci piace correre". Noi vi raccontiamo dove corriamo più volentieri, fornendovi una serie di informazioni che speriamo possano esservi anche di una qualche utilità, voi siete liberi (anzi, ci farebbe piacere se lo faceste) di raccontarci quali sono i vostri luoghi preferiti per evadere in scarpette e pantaloncini.

Cominciamo con i Giardini di Porta Venezia (o di Via Palestro o "Indro Montanelli"), uno dei luoghi elettivi del running milanese.
I Giardini, nomen omen, si trovano in Porta Venezia, a pochi passi dal centro di Milano, tra Via Palestro, Corso Venezia, i Bastioni, Via Manin e Piazza Cavour.
L'anello più largo che potete percorrere, rimanendo dentro il perimetro del parco, misura circa 1,7 km. In alternativa, si può correre costeggiandone l'esterno, in buona parte su pista ciclabile, e la lunghezza diventa di circa 2 km. Oppure ancora, ci si può perdere tra i vari sentieri che lo attraversano, che costeggiano il laghetto o le gabbie dell'ex zoo.
Questi gli orari d'apertura: gennaio e febbraio 6.30-20; marzo e aprile 6.30-21; maggio 6.30-22; da giugno a settembre 6.30-23.30; ott 6.30-21; nov-dic 6.30-20
Quando chiude, non vi avvisano. Parlo per esperienza. Un paio di volte ho dovuto girare tre quarti di parco per trovare l'ultima uscita lasciata libera dalle guardie (che, per la cronaca, era sempre quella su Via Palestro, quasi di fronte al Pac).
Il parco è ben ombreggiato, ideale per queste giornate di caldo, e il fondo è sterrato e quasi tutto in piano, se si eccettua il lato Bastioni.
Sul perimetro largo, quello da 1,7 km, è presente una sola fontanella (vicino al Planetario) ma sparse tra i sentieri interni potete trovarne altre. L'altro inconveniente del giro largo è la presenza di una rampa di scale in pietra, evitabile però, volendo, con uno zig zag tra i sentieri al'incrocio tra Bastioni e Via Manin.
Il parco è meta popolare tra i runner e, dalle 7 del mattino fino almeno alle 9 di sera, difficilmente vi sentirete soli.
Attenti nei weekend, perché viene spesso colonizzato da manifestazioni di vario tipo (giostre, tornei, happening di vario tipo, stand) che lo affollano soprattutto nella sua parte centrale: c'è di buono che il giro largo degli 1,7 km rimane sempre sgombro e percorribile (tranne quando c'è Orticola, ma la prossima è prevista nel maggio 2013, potete rilassarvi).

Per approfondire:
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardini_Pubblici_Indro_Montanelli

Se avete altro da aggiungere sull'argomento, info utili o suggerimenti, i commenti, la nostra pagina facebook e twitter (@PiovonnoRunners) sono a vostra disposizione.

Al prossimo giro!

Talent and Effort

Prologue: I have never run a 10k race under 40 minutes (i.e. 4 min per k). Though, I ran 21k under 4 min per k (best so far is 3m54s per k, 1h22m10s). The reason is that I'm never trained enough for 10k races. They are usually at the beginning of the running season in Milan: between September and October. Than, there are only half marathons, 30k and marathons. I wanted to run a 10k under 40 minutes in Singapore. I cannot train well for half marathons and marathons here, it's too hot for me. And there are a lot of 10k.
Today, Sunday 26 August, there was a 10k race. As I wrote in "Need for Speed" I lowered my expectations. The benchmark wasn't 40 minutes but 45 minutes (the time of last year's Deejay Ten). Well, here's the parable.

Talent and Effort
There was a young man in Singapore. Someone may object he was not young. He felt so, despite his appearance.

(in the picture: the young man, the flag of his running bunch, and Marina Bay Sands)

He had everything a runner may want: strong legs, dry physique, and aerodynamic head.

In the past he had proved himself that he "could run like the wind blows" (cit. F.G.). He had also proved himself that "shit happens" (cit. F.G.): i.e., when he didn't train as supposed to, he couldn't run as he wanted.

The day came when he put in practice this last valuable lesson. Again, this time in Singapore. It was a 10k race. He started very fast. His strong legs put him easily in a pace of 3m45s per k. After the 3rd k he lowered to 4m per k. 6th and 7th k came at 4m03s. Then it came the 8th k: 4m25s (translated from runner to human language: he started fast and then slowed down, too much).

What went wrong?

After the 4th k the young man was feeling a lot of pressure. The three beers he had the night before were drying out his mouth and his body. The heat made him hard to breathe. But most of all, his legs were becoming stiffer and stiffer. He didn't train enough. Human bodies may bear any condition on earth, even Singaporean unfriendly weather. Human bodies just need time to get adapted.

Adapting a European body to Singaporean weather is not an easy task. The young man knew he hadn't done the minimum required. He started slowing down. Down, down, down. He was finishing the 9th k in 4m20s. Out of the games. No 10k under 40 minutes.

Somehow he felt that was good. There was a lesson to learn: No money, no honey. [wrong lesson]: No pain, no gain [right lesson].

His motto is "dream it, plan it, be it". This time he just dreamed it.

Then something happened. Something unexpected. The sign of the 9th k arrived too soon. The organizers of the race counted the 9th k wrong. It was just 950m. Thanks organizers!!

He was back on track to finish the race under 40 minutes. He pushed and pushed. Then he started thinking. "What if I really need to learn a lesson?" "What's beyond this race?" "Why the average Singaporean runner is so slow?" "For what f***ing reason did I wake up at 4:50 this morning?" "What kind of drug took the guy who imagined Marina Bay Sands?"

While he was having all such thoughts, he suddenly realized he had slowed down again. He checked the time. It was too late. He smiled. He took out of his pants the flag, and started his usual final retro running.

Wiser and sleepier than ever, he arrived. In 40 minutes and 12 seconds.

(in the picture: 40 minutes and something later)

Lesson learned, fun had, let's go to eat.

(in the picture: the young man's breakfast, eggs with fried mushrooms; bread, butter and
jam; porridge; yoghurt with papaya; coffee and milk. No bacon: parva sed apta)

Epilogue: funny happy ending. The average Singaporean runner is unbelievably slow. I finished the race as 8th. I was in line to take a free picture when they mentioned my number as one of the top ten. Free picture and $50 check. It could be my profession in Singapore.

(click to enlarge)

Now I remember there was also a cup. After I got the check anything else was of few interest to me.