The endless war

All my life, the Middle East has been synonymous with the war between Israelis and Arabs. This tiny area is a festering wound that has poisoned the entire world, with a now permanent world-wide threat of terrorism that finds its roots in this senseless dispute over a strip of land.

There's no unmaking Israel. Whether Jews had a right to be given a country or not, now it's there, and all its residents have a right to live like anyone else who finds themselves in this world through the accident of birth. It's not their fault that they were born and raised in Israel.

So do Palestinians have a right to live in dignity. So why don't both sides just let each other get on with their lives, and stop boring all the rest of us silly.

Here's my cliche for the outgoing year of good riddance, which they should write down in bold Hebrew and Arabic lettering on their respective flags: "Live and let live". Amen.

Sheer xenophobia

Yet another 139 black people, screamed today's l-Orizzont headline. They didn't say "black people" but it was implied very clearly by means of the picture accompanying the title. It's headlines like this that contribute to the rising tide of xenophobia in Malta. The TV Malta report about the day's newspapers gave prominent exposure to the title, but no comment whatsoever on the xenophobic undertone. In fact, the reporter went along with the tone adopted by this "left-wing" (hah!) daily.

BAN ALL ARMS AND WEAPONS!

I promised I would shut up during the merry-making of Christmas and the new year. But I cannot shut up. Not while Israel and Hamas are pounding each other with rockets. Not when a madman dressed up as Santa Claus opened fire and killed nine in California. Not while, literally on top of such horrible news items, a Sunday paper wishes "a happy new year to all".

It would be so nice if it really turned out to be a happy year for everyone. But, apart from ill health and natural disasters, which can only be partially mitigated, people are inflicting untold hardship on each other through maniacal violence, aided in no small way by the weapons industry.

I've said it before, and I'll never stop saying it, unless the evil implements are eradicated from the face of the earth: there's no place in a civilised world for arms and weapons. Their only purpose is to kill people, and are therefore intrinsically immoral. The only justifiable possession of a weapon I can think of would be an immobiliser to be used in extreme and dangerous situations by the forces of law and order.

This should be one of the main aims of the world for the twenty-first century. Along with the eradication of hunger, disease, poverty and ignorance, we need to stamp out violence, and the instruments of violence. Disputes need to be reasoned, not fought. All weapons should be collected or handed in and destroyed. Possession of a weapon should be considered a serious crime. An international pact should be signed by all the nations of the world, that bans production, storage and use of all weapons. PEOPLE SHOULD FOR NO REASON NEED TO KILL EACH OTHER!

There. That's my wish for the new year. I know. I'm a hopeless idealist.

'Tis the season to be jolly

taralalala tara lala. Unfortunately, being jolly is not really my forte, so I'd best shut up for a while, lie low, and wait for January to resume my merry commentary, which will probably be much more in tune with that time...

By the way, my better half and dear lifetime partner has pointed out that there are such things as gas-fuelled fireplaces. So the fireplaces behind both the President and the Prime Minister were not magical or computer simulations after all. Although, I still feel that a gas fuelled fireplace is not really the 100% genuine article.

But, as long as it serves its function of providing warmth and a pleasant backdrop... Yes, I should definitely shut up.

Christmas platitudes

It's not that Malta's Prime Minister is the only source of platitudes. Far from it. But he's a potentially rich source, and I look forward to compiling a good collection of gems from him... spiced up by great quotes from other personalities that make this world such an interesting place.

I have to admit that during the televised Christmas messages by the Maltese nation's symbolic and actual rulers, namely the President, the Prime Minister and the Archbishop, I could only hear occasional snippets consisting of single words amid the din of the jolly Christmas eve celebrations. Not surprisingly, the only words I remember hearing were "familja" and "solidarjeta' ".

I also remember thinking:

1. How do these persons manage the impressive feat of producing different 20-minute long platitudes each Christmas?

2. That the fireplace on one side behind the Prime Minister was either:

• a miraculous fire that keeps exactly the same volume and intensity without being fed any wood at all; or
• a computer simulation.

Mdina - Spinola 2008 - 1h15:38

Just a few hours after landing in Malta, I put on my running gear and took a lift from Spinola Place to Mdina, to take part in the race that I have done most of all, the 10.8 mile Mdina - Spinola. This was my 14th participation in the event, that I had done for twelve successive editions, with a three-year interruption due to my move to Belgium, to be resumed in 2007 - who knows, maybe for another run of twelve successive editions... ...

It was the first time I raced since 2 May, and the result was quite evident as I ran just like a beginner - way too fast in the first half, fading away to a jog in the last part. At least I did manage to overcome the urge to stop running. That would have been too awful. I also managed to recover part of my strength to resume competing with my rivals in the last kilometre, for a finishing time that is not too bad, and which I know can be improved next time by adopting a more cautious approach.

AND I managed to put on a big smile as I saw my good friend Derek Moss, who had promised to lurk close to the finish with his camera to immortalise various participants' last few metres of this race. Thanks Derek!

It was good to meet so many of my old Maltese running friends :-)

Mdina - Spinola 21 December 2008: Official results

How to run a marathon - 9 - tempo runs

Week 11 of the beginner's schedule to running a marathon introduces the tempo run. I discovered the tempo run quite by accident. I wanted to run a regular 10k away from traffic, so I decided to use an athletics track. Up till then I was not very keen on using the track, because I used to be easily bored by the repetition involved. Still, I decided to try it out - 25 laps.

I started off at my normal training pace, setting off my stop watch. I noted the time after one lap, and again at the second. Timing each lap would be something to keep my mind occupied, so I decided to time each lap until completion. Then I noticed something surprising. The third lap was considerably faster than my usual 2 minutes per lap (equivalent to the 8-minute miling that I used to train at in those younger times). In fact, I had chipped exactly 10 seconds off 2 minutes in that third lap: 1m 50 seconds. It's easy to calculate - the seconds count was 10 seconds less than the previous. There's no need to involve the minutes to complicate the calculation.

This phenomenon repeated itself on all subsequent laps, and I ended up running the 10k considerably faster than my normal easy pace. So what had happened? Probably, the fact that I was timing each lap was a stimulus to maintain a solid pace. I attempted the same type of session one week later, with a similar result.

Months, if not years, later, I learned that this type of training is known as a tempo run. It's a form of speed training, where you train your body to keep up a sustained pace for a prolonged period. In fact, at a tempo run, you're running closer to the limit of your anaerobic threshold - the maximum possible oxygen intake and oxygen use at the same rate. Any much faster, and you'll get breathless, having crossed the limit into anaerobic activity, where you run into oxygen debt.

This type of session is very useful to enable you improve your times at races, i.e. by running faster without having to stop three-fourths of the way through exhaustion. You can carry it out at the same place as you do your interval training. Both types of session are quite similar, the difference being that a tempo run is like an averaged out interval session.

Again, you can have variations, the most obvious being the distance run. In fact, at the track I sometimes prefer to do 30 laps, using the first two laps for a warm-up, and mentally splitting the remaining 28 into 7 groups of 4 laps (one mile each). There's a lot of mind games involved in tempo running. To improve endurance at a faster pace, when I was really keen on running a good marathon, I used to do 40 laps - 10 miles - but I think that was a bit too much. Nowadays I'm quite happy to limit my tempo run to 10 km, and I would suggest that a beginner shouldn't exert him or herself more than this.

As for interval training, the same principle of hard day/easy day should apply. We have basically two types of speed training: intervals and tempo running. You may alternate between one and the other on successive weeks. Or within each week (rest, tempo, easy, intervals, easy, rest, long run). Alternation will give you the benefit of both types of training, while the hard day/easy day principle is essential to avoid the risk of overtraining or injury. Rest is necessary to enable regeneration of your muscle tissues.

There. That wasn't bad for a short entry to cover the Christmas period...

Week 11 - Monday to Sunday:
rest - 10k easy - 10k tempo - rest - 10k easy - rest - 80 minutes easy

Week 12 - Monday to Sunday:
rest - 10k easy - 10k intevals - rest - 10k easy - rest - 80 minutes easy

Enjoy your running!

Platitude of the week

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS SHOULD BE GIVEN MORE IMPORTANCE - PM

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=80165

A disastrous day for Maltese workers...

... it will no longer be possible for Maltese workers to be exploited by their employers, to be pressured to work "on a voluntary basis" for more than 48 hours per week:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081218/local/meps-vote-to-restrict-overtime

But it seems Maltese workers don't care about enjoying time with their families after work. They don't care about having time for leisure, to improve their life-work balance, to do some sport, to take up an artistic activity, to enjoy nature, to read, go to the theatre, play with their children. No! All they care about is to work, work, work, long hours of overtime.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Just look at them...

Trade unions all over Europe are rejoicing at the decision by the European Parliament that forbids EU member states from opting out of a ceiling of 48 hours working time per week. But not Maltese trade unions, who want their members to work, work and work themselves silly. They don't campaign for decent wages. No, they want to make up for miserable salaries by working for indecently long hours. This is sheer exploitation, supported and requested by the exploited themselves!

By the way, 48 hours means 8 hours per weekday, plus another 8 hours on Saturday. So, it's not as if overtime is being banned at all.

Malta's "socialist" MEPs have shown the world their truly progressive outlook, by voting against the motion to limit the working week to a maximum of 48 hours. I wonder what they had to say to their European socialist colleagues by way of explanation. Did they take up the Chamber of Commerce's (the employers') stance? Or did they justify their vote on the need for workers to work very long hours to get a decent salary?

Socialists, my foot.

Una bella calmata

E meno male che c'è la pausa natalizia. Servirà per darsi tuttiquanti una bella calmata. Servirà per ricaricare le pile. E servirà anche per riordinare le idee, e riflettere un po'. Ci voleva proprio.

How to run a marathon - 8 - interval training

As explained in How to run a marathon - 7 - speedwork, interval training consists of short bursts of running at a fast pace, with short recoveries done at a slow jog. The aim of this session is quite simple - to be able to run faster, so that once you start taking part in races you'll be able to perform better.

The ideal place for interval training is an athletics track. This could be freely available in your area, or you might need to become a member. If it's too complicated to run in an athletics track, there's a second option - to use a short loop, which need not be perfectly flat. Your best option, in this case, would probably be in a public garden or park, at a time when it's not too crowded, avoiding the possibility of motor traffic. As a last resort, you may choose a loop on the streets in a quiet neighbourhood with little or no motor traffic, taking great care to avoid dangerous blind corners.

The loop chosen should be one that you can complete at your regular easy running pace in around 2 to 3 minutes, i.e. close to 400 to 500 metres. A speed session must always start with a warm up jog of around 8 to 10 minutes. This may consist of 3 to 4 loops, or you could jog from home to wherever you intend to carry out your intervals session. After the warm-up you may wish to do some easy stretching, although I'm not at all keen on this (see How to run a marathon - 7 - speedwork).

At the final few metres of the warm up, take a couple of deep breaths and proceed to run two laps - fast. Not as fast as you possibly can, since you need to repeat this effort several times, but reasonably fast. Imagine you're trying to catch up with someone who is also running. Look at your stopwatch as you complete the first lap - you should complete the second lap at very close to the same time. As you approach the end of the second lap you'll be quite breathless, and your pulse will have rocketed. That's quite normal, and it's the whole point of this type of training. It will enable you to get used to running fast.

After two laps, slow down to a jog. It's better to jog than to give in to the temptation of stopping completely. During this jog, for one lap, you will recover your breath, and at the end of the lap you'll be ready for a second strong effort. Now you should aim to keep the same time for each lap as in your first effort. After two fast laps, you slow down to a jog once again. The pattern, therefore, is this:

4 laps jog - 2 fast/1 jog - 2 fast/1 jog - ... after your 5th or 6th (final) fast effort, the jog recovery should be extended to a total of 4 laps, i.e. about 10 minutes of cooling down. Six fast efforts will result in a total of 25 laps, i.e. 10km (assuming 400 metre laps at a running track). For a non-standard distance loop, which is incidently what I use nowadays, I keep repeating my fast efforts until at least 45 minutes after the start of the training session have elapsed. I then commence 8 minutes of cool down and head straight for a warm shower (it's very cold time at this time of the year...).

There are of course variations to the pattern outlined above. For instance, my very first interval sessions used to consist of four efforts of four laps each, with a one-lap walk in between each effort. But eventually I settled for the more straightforward 2 lap repeats, with a one lap jog in between.

This is a tiring session, but it's very good training for improving speed and the capacity to vary speed as necessary, especially in races and for going uphill. It should be preceded and followed by a day of rest or relatively easy training, i.e. the standard 10k run at an easy pace. To avoid the risk of overtraining or even injury, I think it's best to limit this type of session to one per week.

We will now introduce this session in Week 10 of our beginner's schedule for running a marathon. Here it is:

Week 10 (Monday to Sunday)
rest - 10k easy - 10k intervals - rest - 10k easy - rest - 75 minutes easy

Enjoy your running!

"If you're Maltese, and under 25, you're not allowed in"

Today I paid a bit more attention to the advert on my favourite Maltese radio station, Capital Radio. In fact it's about an "Evening of the stars" including Frank Sinatra and so on, at the Dragonara Casino. The phrase I was interested in, at the very end, was this: "If you're Maltese you need to be 25 years or over, and you have to show your identity card".

This means that if you're, say, Papua New Guinean or Iranian, you don't need to show your ID card. But the point is, how are the morality police at the gates of the Dragonara Casino going to recognise a Maltese citizen from an Iranian? A 24-year-old Maltese citizen, according to our friends from Capital Radio, could gain entry by NOT showing an ID card, and thereby being presumed by the morality police at the gates that they are, say, Argentinians or Albanians. Of course, said police could always suspect that a non-blond(e) person is Maltese, and challenge them to prove that they are not Maltese. The person suspected of being Maltese, however, could always claim that they are not obliged to show any ID card, since they are not Maltese but Albanian.

So, the situation regarding entry into the Dragonara Casino, according to the Capital Radio advert, is this. Blond(e) persons are assumed to be northern Europeans, and can enter without any problem, whatever their age, provided they don't speak any Maltese. Black persons and Asians are also assumed not to be Maltese, so, again not too much trouble for them, they are mature enough to enter the casino, even if they look younger than 25. But if you're young and have a Mediterranean complexion, then you're in trouble. You'd better prove you're not Maltese, otherwise your entry is barred. And, whatever your skin colour, if you look younger than 25, don't say a single word in Maltese, otherwise you will have given yourself away as a Maltese citizen, and therefore you're not mature enough to be allowed entry into the Dragonara Casino.

But then again, maybe the Capital Radio advert got its wording wrong (for a change). Maybe they meant that everyone needs to provide a means of identification. This would make it possible to enforce the discriminatory rule against Maltese nationals who are younger than 25. It still leaves the wide-open question of mixed Maltese-foreign young persons. Are these allowed to enter, or not?

Where are you, European Commission? Can Member States discriminate between EU citizens on the basis of nationality, or not? And if they cannot, what's to be done about this blatant discrimination?

Discrimination on the basis of nationality

According to an advert on my favourite Maltese radio station Capital Radio (the cause of much loud groans due to linguistic howlers, but that's beside the point), some casino or other in Malta (possibly all of them) is bound to require Maltese patrons to prove they are over 25 years of age, by means of an ID card or passport. Only Maltese patrons. If you're not Maltese, and you're younger than 25, you're still allowed into the casino.

This rule - I suppose it's a Maltese law - raises various considerations.

To begin with, according to EU legislation the rule is illegal. EU member states cannot discriminate between EU citizens on the basis of nationality.

That's the first point, and the most fundamental. But there are other considerations, which result from this ridiculous, illegal rule. My question is this: why are Maltese, and only Maltese, under-25's not allowed into the casino? I can imagine one answer to this: because they are not deemed to be mature enough to gamble in such places. If that is truly the reason for the rule, it's thoroughly insulting to all Maltese youngsters, who are considered by their national authorities to be less mature than their counterparts from all over the world. It's also a reflection of the low esteem that the Maltese authorities have of the product of Malta's educational system.

The alternative explanation is just as disgusting. Maybe the Maltese law-makers deem that ALL under-25's are not mature enough to gamble at a casino. But Malta cannot afford to lose the cash that foreign under-25's leave behind them at the gambling houses, so it only protects its own youth from the evil of gambling. Foreign youngsters might just as well lose their souls to gambling as far as we are concerned, so long as they lose their cash as well.

What a disgraceful attitude.

I wonder. What happens to the sons and daughters of mixed Maltese/non-Maltese parents? Is an under-25 who is 'tainted' by Maltese blood allowed to be 'tainted' by the evil of gambling? Is the 50% Maltese DNA overlooked for pragmatic economic reasons? Is the 50% foreign DNA deemed sufficient to make them mature enough to gamble? Illegal, disgraceful and ridiculous.

Vai formica atomica!

Il capitano non c'è, ma il sostituto ce l'abbiamo, eccome...

Ecco come si presenta, Signore e Signori, il futuro pallone d'oro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInQgv--caM

How to run a marathon - 7 - speedwork

All training that we have considered up till now consisted of running at an easy pace, just slightly faster than jogging. It's a pace at which the regular long distance runner doesn't get breathless at all, unless he or she is running up a steep hill. The cardiovascular system is in equilibrium - it's working faster than the state of rest, i.e. greater oxygen intake through quicker breathing and faster heartbeat, but at a moderate rate that can be sustained for a long distance. It's called aerobic training, meaning that you're breathing in oxygen at the same rate as you're using it up through physical activity.

But this type of running is rather slow. If you wish to start taking part in races, and having a target event is certainly a strong motivator for your training, you will probably aim to improve your performance. This you can achieve through quality training. A quality training session consists of a speed session or an endurance-enhancing long run.

Your training schedule should ideally consist of an alternation between quality training and easy recovery runs, including a long run once per week, traditionally during weekends, and at least one day per week of no training at all. You will have by now perfected the 10 km run at an easy pace. It's now time to introduce the speed session.

The main types of speed training are called 'intervals', 'tempo running' and 'fartlek' (a Swedish term meaning speed play).

Intervals consist of brief periods of intense running at an anaerobic rate, i.e. using up oxygen at a higher rate than that at which you can take in through breathing, followed by recovery periods of slow jogging, when you literally have to recover your breath.

A tempo run is midway between your normal 10 km run at an easy pace and a 10 km race - let's say at a moderately fast pace. This is very good training for improving BOTH endurance and speed.

Fartlek, meaning 'speed play', is a training session with varying speeds. You set out at a slow warm-up pace, and after 10 minutes or so speed up for, say, the distance between 5 lamp posts, slow down to a jog along a slight uphill, run at a moderately strong pace until you reach some particlar landmark, slow down again, and keep varying the pace according to your whim. It has the advantage that you can regulate the hard bits according to the way you feel, but you need to take care not to be too lazy, otherwise it wouldn't be a quality session at all.

A typical speed session consists of three phases: the warm up, the speedwork, and the cool down. The reason for the warm-up is fairly obvious, and is implicit in the name. Your muscles, and your body as a whole, need a transitional phase to go from a state of rest to one of hard work. If you start running very fast without a warm-up you risk getting injured. A ten-minute jog is the gentle way to ease into a hard workout.

After the warm-up, it's time to do some stretching. In running it's the leg muscles that do most of the work, and it's those muscles that we need to keep most flexible to reduce the risk of strain injuries. Basically, we need to stretch the calves, the quadriceps and the hamstrings for anything from 15 to 30 seconds. DON'T overstretch, otherwise you would risk injuring yourself, and preferably do your stretching when already warmed up.

The speed-work session itself I will describe in the next section, dealing with interval training and tempo runs.

The cool-down is equivalent to the warm-up, but at the other end of the session. It's the transition from a state of hard work to a state of rest, and facilitates the dissipation of the waste products of anaerobic exertion, especially lactic acid, from your muscles.

So, how often should you do speed training? It depends on your number of training sessions per week. The important principle to keep in mind is the alternation between hard days and easy days. Here are some possible typical training patterns:

4 sessions per weekMon: rest; Tue: 10k easy; Wed: speedwork; Thu: rest; Fri: 10k easy; Sat: rest; Sun: long run

5 sessions per week
Mon: rest; Tue: 10k easy; Wed: speedwork; Thu: 10k easy; Fri: speedwork; Sat: rest; Sun: long run

6 sessions per week
Mon: 10k easy; Tue: 10k easy; Wed: speedwork; Thu: 10k easy; Fri: speedwork; Sat: rest; Sun: long run

The pattern you choose depends on how important it is for you to perform well in races, compared to all other non-running aspects of your life. In my beginner's schedule to running a marathon I'm proposing the easiest option based on 4 sessions per week, but this can easily be 'upgraded' to 5 or 6 per week following the models given above.

In Week 9 of our schedule, I'm introducing the first speed training session, which consists of speed play - a 10km run at a pace varying from a jog to a sprint, according to your whims:

Mon - rest
Tue - 10km, easy
Wed - 10k - fartlek
Thu - rest
Fri - 10km, easy
Sat - rest
Sun - 70 minutes, easy

Enjoy your running!

What's good for the goose, is good for Iran

It's rather hypocrytical of the international community to pressurise Iran against developing nuclear technology, which might eventually result in nuclear weapons, when their most prominent members already have a nuclear arsenal big enough to destroy all humanity many times over.

There's nothing wrong with developing nuclear energy, so long as there are strong safeguards for safety and clean disposal of nuclear waste. Nuclear weapons, on the other hand, are utterly wrong. All weapons are immoral, but nuclear weapons are many times worse, because they cause damage that is so much worse than conventional weapons. Therefore, yes, Iran shouldn't be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

But then, neither should all those other countries be in possession of the same weapons that they are accusing Iran of contemplating to develop. Iran's position is on the lines of, "You have nuclear weapons, then why shouldn't we have them too?" Can't blame them. It's absurd to wave a non-proliferation treaty in someone else's face, when you yourself have been proliferating away to your heart's content for so many years.

Belgium - the language question

I have several times had the occasion to say positive things here about my adopted home country. It's true that the adoption was born of necessity, for if I had the choice I would never have picked Belgium. But that's where the founders of the European Union decided to place their administrative capital, so Belgium it had to be.

Still, although the country has its defects, I have learned to grow fond of the place. Geographically, it's very much in the centre of things. You can go almost anywhere in Europe and beyond without too much trouble. It's also just the right size for anyone who wishes to explore the entire country - and there are quite a few pretty places to visit. It's not so small that you've seen it all within a few months, but neither is it an overwhelming size.

My impression of the Belgians is that they are in general an easy-going people, who are not too pretentious and are in fact a bit conscious of their presumed limitations. Being situated as it is close to various different countries, having accepted a substantial number of immigrants of many nationalities, and the fact that it hosts various international institutions and organisations, Belgium is also the home of a great mix of expatriates, who have settled down remarkably well. As I said, there are defects (never-ending roadworks all over the place, right of way for traffic barging in from side roads) but still, overall, it's a pleasant enough place to live in.

One very interesting aspect of living in Belgium is the language factor. The train I take each morning begins its journey in French-speaking Wallonia, crosses a narrow strip of Flemish, Dutch speaking, territory, and enters bilingual Brussels, where everybody goes to their workplaces or classes. On the train, it's quite normal to have six people sitting in close proximity reading material in six different languages. Or to listen to several different conversations in as many different languages.

It's an interesting aspect, but unfortunately, the Belgians have managed to turn it into a huge problem. Belgium is not really one country. It's an uneasy union between two countries, and from my detached point of view the main cause of the unease is language. It's like a marriage where the partners speak different languages, with both sides taking pride in only speaking their own language, even though with a small effort they could very well speak their partner's language. The marriage is held together by their child, Brussels, which is in fact bilingual.

Some time in the sixties or thereabouts, Belgium became a federal state, consisting of the three regions Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels region. Each region has its own regional government, whose responsibilities include - and this, as I see it, is what resulted in the present shambles - linguistic matters. For political reasons, being the national capital Brussels is officially bilingual, even though the vast majority of its residents are French-speaking. But both Wallonia and Flanders are strictly monolingual, to the point of extremism. All administrative documentation is only written strictly in the region's language. Any signage has to be strictly in the region's language. If by mistake a sign is displayed in two languages, the 'offending' linguistic version is either covered or vandalised. In the seventies, an entire town - Louvain-la-neuve - was constructed in Wallonia to take up French-speaking students who used to attend the Catholic University of Leuven, whose Flemish-speaking majority insisted that it should remain an exclusively Flemish-speaking university. Tourist information booklets in Mechelen are provided in Dutch, English, German and Spanish, but not in French. And so it goes on.

You have an entire country that is split into two halves that officially do not have the means to communicate with each other. And both sides' politicians exacerbate the situation by enacting rules that are ever more intolerant of the 'offending' language. Commercial outlets, ever the pragmatists, do their best to cater to their clients in their preferred language, but under strict supervision by vigilant authorities lest they do not use the official regional language as their default.

This is clearly a ridiculous situation, and is literally tearing the country apart. It took them more than six months after general elections to be able to form a national government, amid much bickering and reciprocal acrimony.

In the meantime, the obvious solution is there for all to see. It's in Brussels. The Brussels population speaks French. There's no doubt about this. And yet, all written and verbal official communications are provided in French AND in Dutch, for the benefit of the Dutch speaking minority. I don't see any reason why this system cannot be applied for the whole country. Neither language will be threatened by this measure. Anyone will remain perfectly entitled to speak in their preferred tongue, without the present intense paranoia and intolerance. It would be compulsory for anyone seeking a decent job to be knowledgeable in both main languages of the country. It would also effectively enable all Belgians to speak to each other.

The federal government should take this crucial matter of national interest within its responsibility. Go on Belgians. Give up some of your linguistic pride, and both you as individuals and your country will make huge gains. Your languages are too strongly integrated into your communities for them to be in any danger. You have a lovely country. There really is no need to allow it to disintegrate.

What a gross product

I despair as I watch the dumbing down of the Maltese language. People, especially media people, make up mistranslations or even dyslexically pronounced words, and drum them into the nation's psyche. The misspelt, mispronounced or mistranslated expressions, through sheer repetition gain "respectability", and eventually official acceptance by linguistic authorities, for whom apparently anything goes as far as linguistic precision is concerned, since according to them it's the people who define language. Including, I suppose, ignorant people.

Therefore, we now have as semi-officially recognised terms:

"armi ta' qerda tal-massa" - weapons for the destruction of mass, or weapons for destruction of the masses (hmmm, I'd better not comment on this one...). It should be "armi ta' qerda massiva", but the Maltese media will of course keep going on about the destruction of mass.

Instead of 'gross domestic product', we have 'domestic gross product' ("prodott gross domestiku - that's what everybody says"). In vain do I point out that it should be 'prodott domestiku gross'. They insist on their beloved domestic gross product. Maybe they are referring to the way the Maltese language is being spoken domestically...

And how about the entire generation of youngsters that was taught, at school, to mispronounce and misspell 'delfin' - dolphin? There actually was a textbook for the teaching of the Maltese language, which proudly bore the dyslexically spelt title "ID-DENFIL" - the dophlin. AAAARGHH!!!

Monschau, Germany - 30 November 2008

Nestled at the bottom of a valley, close to the Belgian border of Germany, lies a pretty little town called Monschau. On the first Sunday of the 2008 advent, we took heed of several recommendations to go visit this place, and we were not disappointed. From this weekend they have their Weihnachtmarket - the Christmas market - complete with food stalls, toy stalls, souvenir stalls, and our favourite, the gluhwein (mulled wine) stalls. I tried out a traditional gluhwein, and an orangepunsch, both of which were delicious. We rounded up the morning with lunch at Restaurant Flosdorff - good inexpensive food, friendly service, warm atmosphere and a toy to keep the young wild one quiet, which was a great improvement on his previous few hours' rebellious and uncooperative behaviour. The whole ambience was rendered perfect by snow from previous days and a snow shower after lunch, including a drive back into Belgium through a snowbound forest. Lovely experience!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tonio.privitelli/MonschauGermany

How to run a marathon - 6 - the standard 10k session

A training schedule for long distance running consists basically of a combination of three different types of session:

1. A standard 10 km run, at an easy pace, normally carried out several types per week.
2. A speed session, normally carried out once or twice per week.
3. A weekly long run, traditionally (although of course not necessarily) done during the weekend.

Up till now, my suggested training runs for budding marathon runners have always been given in minutes of easy running. The schedules given here have been working up to the standard 10 km run. We are basically there. In week 7 it was suggested that three of the four training sessions would be 50 minute runs.

Now, of course, the distance equivalent to a 50 minute run at an easy pace depends on the natural ability and speed of the individual. In my case, I normally run 10 km, at an easy pace, in 53 minutes. When I started running around 17 years ago, I used to carry out the same session in just 48 minutes or so. One can't expect to be as fast at 46 as one was at 29... Mind you, when I race I expect to run 10 km in around 44 minutes, so there's still some good quality steam running around in me yet!

Whatever my pace, which is not very relevant here, normal runners who are neither exceptionally fast nor terribly slow should expect to run 10 km, at an easy pace, in 45 minutes to 60 minutes. This should be your "regular" midweek training session, when you're not doing a speed session or the weekend long "endurance" run. It's what keeps the running machine ticking - the filler, not-too-difficult sessions to allow for recovery in between the more demanding quality sessions.

How do you find out your 10 km time? I wouldn't recommend taking this measurement by running 25 times round a 400 metre track - as here the tendency is to run faster than normal. I'll explain more about this when we discuss speed training. The best way is probably to use the car odometer (mileometer) to measure a 5 km stretch of road, along which there's a good pavement where you can carry out a normal running session. The average time of three separate runs along this stretch of road and back will give you your 10 km time. Once you know this, you need not measure the distance run each time you go for your regular 10 km training spin - just run at your normal pace for 26 minutes (if your 10k time is 52 min.) and do exactly the same route back.

You may also opt for hi-tech, and wear a GPS on your wrist that gives you lots of data about your run - distance, time, speed, average speed, pulse rate, and lots more - they're getting better all the time. This old timer, however, is quite happy using traditional methods - a stop watch, and that's it.

Week 8 of the beginner's schedule for running a marathon (Monday to Sunday, running at an easy pace):

0, 10k, 10k, 0, 10k, 0, 70 minutes.

Enjoy your running. Vary your routes. Sleep well. Limit your alcohol intake. Run on an empty stomach, while keeping well hydrated. Soon, you'll be taking part in a race.

Going to the dogs

Oh dear, two consecutive posts about the Maltese Partit Laburista. This blog is really going to the dogs. I promise I won't do it again. But I had second thoughts about yesterday's comments, which were admittedly a bit too dismissive, so today I will mention some positive points, as seen from this runner's viewpoint.

1. Changing the name of the party is a step in the right direction. The MLP label and the banner that goes with it, and all that they stand for, appeal to the party's 47% core support, and no more than that. Worse, they bring back too many bad memories for the majority of the Maltese people to actually vote for anyone represented by that banner.

2. They will finally be sporting a name in the Maltese language. Still an ugly name, but at least it's not a national party with a foreign name.

3. They're doing away with the children's political indoctrination club, the Brigata Laburista, which is so reminiscent of North Korea. Actually, I was surprised that this aberration still exists in this 21st century. I thought it had already been disbanded, but I must have been wrong. So - another step in the right direction, and none too soon.

4. The Bord tad-Dixxiplina u Vigilanza (rendered immortal to the national psyche by a picture of three old men in sandals and shorts, one of them sporting a long beard) is also being disbanded. This Soviet style organisation, which reminds me a bit of the Broadcasting Authority, every so often decides to censure any party member that expresses him or herself in a manner not in line with party diktat. Good riddance.

So, the new PL intends to rebrand and rid itself of some dead wood. Good for it. But it's only a first step. They still have a long way to go if they wish to become attractive to those who can't stand the MLP. The next, crucial, step will be to come up with some interesting, valid, alternative policies. Malta is desperately in need of a credible alternative government, just in case the ones in charge lose track of things. It doesn't need two Christian Democratic parties - if the new PL intends to be a carbon copy of the PN, there would be no point in bothering to vote. What we want to know, in concrete terms, from the PL is this: what do they stand for? What are they proposing to do? How are they proposing to do it? Only then, when they are offering something substantial for us to consider, can we take them seriously.

Incidentally, the Partit Nazzjonalista should have long ago changed their name, which in political circles the world over is normally associated with separatist movements or the extreme right. I wonder how they don't feel embarrassed to introduce themselves as nationalists to mainstream political colleagues at the international level. It's not only embarrassing, but it's also a misnomer, because they are NOT nationalists at all. They are Christian Democrats. So - Partit Demokratiku Kristjan. It would win them yet another two general elections...

A banner is hit by an "earthquake"

They may well be changing their name, and altering the shape of their torch, but it's still the same old motley crew. Changing the MLP banner into PL is a bit like the monstrous black smoke-emitting buses putting on a coat of orange paint to make us think they're someone different.

Another gem by Capital Radio

I do love Malta's Capital Radio. So many times, the background noise they provide through my PC as I key in one translation after another gives me cause to emit a loud groan. Their latest gem concerns none other than St Joseph, who, according to them, was married to this lady:

It's the only interpretation I can give to one of their current Christmas adverts, in the Maltese language, where they were mention "Madonna u San Ġużepp", pronouncing the lady's name the American way - "Madona". Hmmm again...

How to run a marathon - 5 - dogs and other problems

By now, if you have been following my step-by-step schedule, you will have become a regular runner, going out for a training spin anything between 3 to 6 times a week. You will have noticed an improvement in your physical condition, and more so in your self perception. You're doing something useful for your fitness, and it's beginning to bear fruit. But the best part is yet to come. This is still very much the beginning - you're laying a strong foundation for a lifetime of running.

You are bound to encounter challenging situations. In the previous section I dealt with problems caused by the weather. Today I will consider some other problems you will need to tackle, namely, difficult terrain, dogs, injuries, illnesses, or simply off days.

Difficult terrain

This could be due to the weather (which I dealt with in the previous section) - there is no magic formula here, you just have to be careful if it's rainy or snowbound. You should of course avoid choosing routes that are prone to becoming muddy, as well as rocky terrain - both of which situations could result in a sprained ankle if you're not extra careful. These are rather obvious, common sense precautions.

What I have in mind most when I mention difficult terrain is hills. You will have immediately noticed how much harder it is to run uphill than on flat terrain. You become breathless more quickly while running uphill, especially if you're a beginner. Experience will teach you how to approach hills, so that eventually you will simply take them in your stride, without much ado. But in the beginning, the best idea is to avoid them, although in many places this is much easier said than done.

Here are a few tips about going uphill. First of all, be confident - you'll just need to work harder than usual for a few minutes. Be prepared for the fact that your pace is going to slow down. Decrease the length of your stride, look down to the ground, concentrate on taking small steps, thrust your arms to help propel you uphill, and don't be too concerned about reaching the top of the hill. The less you think about reaching the top, the quicker it will seem once you get there. Don't worry about getting breathless. Let your lungs and your heart pump away, but don't force the pace. The magic formula here, most often valid wherever long distance running is concerned, is to take it easy. It will definitely become much less difficult as you gain experience.

Dogs

On rare occasions, dogs can be a nuisance to runners, especially if they're not on a leash (the dogs, I mean...). The worst possible encounter would be if it's you and the dog (or dogs!) and no one else. Clearly, the best policy is to ignore them, and in most cases they will leave you alone. Once they realise that you're not threatening their territory they will lose interest in you, and go back to their doggy world. Very rarely, a dog persists in pestering me, in which case:

(i) I turn upon it, shouting an animal growl, and literally chase it away, hurling kicks if necessary. This action works wonders, and they always disappear in a flash; or

(ii) for added security I keep a stone handy when anticipating an unfriendly doggy encounter. Throwing a stone or even an imaginary stone at them, again, should scare them away.

In 17 years of running, I have never had any trouble with dogs other than the very rare occasions that I resolved by (i) or (ii) above.

Injuries and illnesses

If you don't make any abrupt changes in training distances and intensities, you shouldn't have many injury problems. However, people do get hurt without even running at all, and this is true for runners as well. Where injuries are concerned the golden rule is this: if it hurts to run, stop, and walk back home. Don't run if it hurts. Just in case you may have misunderstood this point, please allow me to clarify a bit more: don't run if it hurts, unless you want the pain to get much worse. Too bad, you'll have to take time off training, until you're fully recovered. Only then is it safe to ease back into running again.

The same principle applies if you're feeling ill. Again, "listening to your body" will tell you if you should run or not. My rule of thumb here is that if I feel like going out for a run, I'm probably healthy enough to do it; if I feel run down and plain miserable, I take a good rest and allow myself time to recover.

This subject, i.e. having to take time off training due to injury or illness, and how to ease back into normal training, deserves a future section all by itself.

Off days

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, you feel more tired than usual and don't seem to be able to get a satisfactory rhythm in your run. There could be various reasons for this. You may have had a particularly tiring day, didn't sleep well, the weather is humid, or there may be a different reason altogether. The "off day" is an unexpected factor that could strike on a training run or during a race. You'll just need to sweat it out, puff somewhat more than usual, and look forward to a better day. Make sure you have not been overtraining during the past few days, in which case you should ease back on your training.

Don't let the odd bad day discourage you too much. In the next run you'll probably feel on top of the world again.

Week 7 (minutes of running at an easy pace, starting on Monday): 0, 50, 50, 0, 50, 0, 60

Capital Radio's Christmas Santa

Malta's Capital Radio must be in possession of a goldmine. For this year's Christmas Santa competition, they're giving away gift vouchers that include no less than an entire jewellery shop. "Vouchers għal ġojjellerija" is what the ad said. I tell you, it's worth giving the competition a try.

Unless...

...unless, that is, they didn't mean "vouchers għal ġojjelli"...? Hmmmm........

How to run a marathon - 4 - when the going gets tough...

... the tough get going. I sometimes repeat this saying to myself when I run, and it often helps.

Running is not always like a walk in the park. You're going to encounter challenging situations, including bad weather, difficult terrain, dogs, injuries, illnesses, or simply off days.

Bad weather

The worst weather for running is not when it's rainy or wintry - you can normally overcome these conditions - but when it's hot and humid. That's a nasty combination, and you need to be extra careful here. You have to ensure you're sufficiently hydrated (this applies for all your running, but especially when it's hot and humid). In the peak of summer, i.e. in temperatures exceeding the high twenties, you should only run early in the morning or in the evening, and drink enough water before, possibly during, and after the run. Running in late morning to early afternoon on a hot day is a definite no-no - you would be risking heatstroke, which is a potentially fatal condition. Just don't do it.

The other extreme... winter. Rain is not much of a problem. I find that I get wet anyway when I run, whatever the weather conditions. Many runners wear waterproof jackets. I don't - I dislike having sweaty air trapped inside this type of clothing. I simply ignore the rain. For me the only change when it rains is that I'm extra careful where I tread. There are puddles, which could easily hide dangerous potholes, besides which the ground is slippery and motorists have limited visibility. Basically, when it's rainy you have to be a bit more careful. Otherwise, I normally find running in the rain to be an exhilarating experience!

Strong wind is a bit of a nuisance - when it's a headwind. But again, unless it's an extreme case, in which case you should be looking after your own house and not training, all you need to do is literally take it in your stride. Accept the fact that you'll have to run at a slower pace, and console yourself, if you're running in a loop, that for half the time the wind will be pushing you forward.

Snow... is definitely a problem if it's thick on the ground. If you live in an area with snow for extended periods, you'll have to either find yourself a track or trail that is maintained and de-snowed regularly, use a treadmill indoors, or simply wait for the end of the snowy season. In the meantime you could take up cross country skiing, which is the snowbound version of long distance running.

Hail is even worse. Running while it's snowing is OK if it's not thick on the ground. It's rather fun, in fact. But hail is bad - a shower of stones falling down on your head. If you're unfortunate enough to get caught running in a hailstorm, just cover your head the best you can with your arms and run for shelter.

Cold weather is as unpleasant as hot weather, except that you can do something about it. All you need to do is wear enough (but not too many!) layers of clothing so that you don't feel cold. This you can only fine tune through trial and error. Before I run on a cold day, I normally check the temperature and cover myself accordingly - cycling shorts, number of shirts, long or short sleeves, sweat shirt, thin gloves, thick gloves, two sets of gloves, woolen cap...

The other challenging situations will have to wait for my next blog in this series. I'll sign off for tonight with Week 6 of our beginners' schedule:

Week 6 (minutes of running at an easy pace, starting on Monday): 0, 45, 45, 0, 45, 0, 60

Enjoy your running :-)

"The referees were awful"... again

Every Sunday, almost without fail, the Italian football commentary ends up with the same conclusion - the referees were awful.

Now the truth of the matter is actually the opposite. In most instances, they take perfectly correct decisions in extremely difficult conditions. But all these are overlooked by the commentators in favour of the inevitable handful of errors, which are analysed repeatedly in slow motion in many different TV programmes. The most distasteful aspect of this is those retired referees who get paid easy money to appear on these programmes and issue generally negative judgments on their younger colleagues with the comfortable benefit of video replays. Their conclusion, almost every Sunday - the referees were awful, and Collina (the ex-referee who is in charge of Italian referees) should do something about it.

But, clearly, in the circumstances within which they are asked to perform, today's referees can't improve anymore, in any way. The pace of the game is simply too fast, and it's already incredible how they manage to get most of their decisions right. An advancing attacker is tripped as he enters the box. He falls inside the box, but was he inside when he was tripped? For Italian commentators, an error of judgment in such a situation is considered to be a scandal. An attacker is in an offside position by one centimetre. The attacker is advancing fast. The defender is advancing fast in the opposite direction. Which one of them was closer to the goal line when the ball was passed forward? And was the ball passed towards the attacker who was in an offside position, or towards another attacker who was just onside (in which case the former is deemed to have an "inactive" role) in that instant? The decision needs to be taken in half a second, without the benefit of any replay, in a tense situation being watched by millions of people. And once you've taken a decision, it's practically impossible to change your mind, otherwise you would seem to be undecided. It's mind boggling.

The stakes related to one single decision are often very high, involving millions of euro (in case of relegation, qualifying for the Champions League, qualifying for the World Cup, winning an important trophy), the job of a coach, a footballer's career, or the dreams of millions of fans.

It's useless for referees and football administrators to talk endlessly about improving refereeing standards. Referees are already performing at the limit of human capability, but it's just not good enough. And no, Herr Blatter, football is none the more interesting for it. Refereeing errors, along with violence on and off the pitch, are foremost among the ugliest aspects of football.

There's one, and only one, solution. Football is crying out desperately for the introduction of video replays to help match officials finalise their decisions. In case of a suspected offside, the ref would wave play on and if a goal is scored suspend the award of that goal until he has verified whether it was offside or not. Play is stopped for an offside ONLY if the ref is 100% sure (99% is not good enough) that the attacker is really in an offside position. Both coaches have two chances in each half to "challenge" the refs' decisions, just as happens in tennis and in other sports.

Not only is this possible, but it would drastically reduce important refereeing errors, and the waving on of play and the tactics involved in "challenging" the officials' decisions would actually make football more interesting.

Alas, we need to fervently await Herr Blatter's retirement. For the time being we can only dream on.

Social conscience, please, anyone?

Water and electricity cost money. We can't afford to waste them, and oversubsidisation by government of their cost to the general consumers is bad just because of this: it encourages waste of an expensive commodity, that is energy, which through the infinite foresight of all our previous and present governments is only available in Malta through a natural resource that we don't have - oil.

When in 1997 Alfred Sant's Labour government decided that Maltese consumers should pay the full cost of these utilities, which, as has been well remarked by someone, do not grow on trees, all hell broke loose. The Nationalist opposition, at that time, was very vociferous about the subject, and went so far as to align itself with big bad Dom Mintoff in criticising the new tariffs, endlessly quoting his "Labour has lost its social conscience", and much more besides. At that time, the non-Labour leaning unions took it upon themselves to protest against the higher tariffs on behalf of the working class, while the General Workers Union (an extension of the ruling Labour Party) limited itself to a timid "scientific study" of the effects of the price hike...

Fast forward 11 years. Exactly the same thing has happened, but the political parties have switched sides. Now it's a Nationalist government insisting that consumers should pay the full price for the water and electricity they consume. And the Labour Party, along with their trade union wing the GWU are screaming blue murder, organising outdoor "manifestations of courage" and "national protests".

Apparently, neither Nationalists nor Labourites or GWU have realised that their stand is diametrically opposite to their position 11 years ago. What an utter farce.

The non-Labour leaning union(s?), which had protested in 1997, is also protesting in 2008, for exactly the same reason as eleven years ago. It's heartening to notice that one voice, at least, has managed to remain consistent instead of being driven only by blind political partisanship.

Autumn's last gasp

The Cinquantenaire park in Brussels, just a few hundred metres away from the office, is where I do most of my running during the mid-day break. Today Saturday afternoon, on a typically grey and grizzly Belgian November day, the lawn was completely covered with fallen leaves, offering a wonderful pre-winter spectacle.

The fact that I'm appreciating even the grey and grizzly weather here is to me a clear indication that I'm beginning to grow fond of this country.

Incidentally, today it's exactly four years that I have been living in Belgium...

Autumn

There's a stately elegance in autumn that never fails to enthrall me. It's so beautiful - an explosion of colour that is nature's swan song, after the abundance of summer, before the imminent onset of the cold, dark bleakness of winter. The light intensity is subdued, the air is silent, in keeping with nature's slowdown, in preparation for a regenerating sleep. I love it!

Excusing oneself

Today a Radju Malta disc jockey apparently turned up late for his programme, and apologised by informing his listeners "Niskuża ruħi talli ġejt tard, għax weħilt fit-traffiku, ..."

Hmm. I accept my own apology to myself for being late, because I was held up in the traffic.

"Nitlobkom tiskużawni talli ġejt tard" would have been much more in order.

Vox clamat in desertum. On the airwaves, everyone is accepting their own apology to themselves, all the time. "Niskuża ruħi" here, "niskużaw ruħna" there. Every time you happen to hear these expressions on the radio, I could very well at that moment be listening, somewhere, and silently fuming.

Armistice Day

In Europe, 11th November is Armistice Day. It's taken very seriously in Belgium, where the day is a public holiday. I learned this the hard way this morning, when the train never came, and I eventually had to decide to take my own car to work. So much for "integration" with the Belgians, by the way - I wasn't even aware it was a public holiday... The EU institutions are partly to blame, because for some reason they do not deem Armistice Day to be worth celebrating as a holiday.

The Belgians have good reason to commemorate the official end of World War I. The country was devastated by the madness. I came to learn of the folly of this war through reading Ben Elton's "The First Casualty" (referring to the truth, which is said to be war's first casualty). There I read of the way the war was conducted, with ground troops charging at each other beyond their own trenches into no-man's land, trying to capture a few metres of enemy territory. The defenders would simply shoot the chargers down, and the latter would drop dead like flies. Utter madness. Almost 20 million soldiers died this way, just 90 years ago. Twenty million pawns, all of them leaving behind grieving loved ones, wives, parents, young children, all in the name of power play.

Did the world learn from past mistakes? Like hell it did. Twenty years later a bigger world war broke out, this time claiming many dozens of victims. And following that there were others, scattered all over the planet. Wars are being fought, and people are dying, this very moment.

What a tragedy.

I wonder. Will we ever learn?

Citizens of the world

Being an emigrant is not easy, more so if you need to learn two languages of the host country. Apart from having to work hard in the beginning to settle down, including setting up the most basic requirements, there's the longer term process of integration and acclimatisation. I don't think this process can ever be fully completed, although some emigrants do get very close.

In five days, on 15th November, it will be fully four years that I have been living in Belgium.

In the beginning, I used to fly back to Malta to visit Sue and Roberta, and the rest of the family, once every fortnight. It was almost as if I was leading two lives in parallel. It felt that, in Belgium, I was living in a bubble, the inside of which was Maltese territory, sealed off from the Belgian surroundings. I watched the same, non-Belgian, mostly Italian TV stations that I used to watch in Malta, by means of satellite. I was in contact with my family by means of the internet. I read Maltese newspapers on line. Even my colleagues at work were mostly Maltese, and we spoke my native language at work. The process of cultural integration with my physical surroundings was very slow indeed.

The process hasn't speeded up any much, but one can't help eventually getting used to one's environment. And, unless the environment is awful, which is certainly not the case here, you 'mould' yourself to it. The place becomes a bit like home, and the more you get used to it, the balance of "where is home" shifts inexorably towards where you are staying long term.

This has affected my outlook in various ways, but mostly in my general perspective on things. Again, it's inevitable, and my colleagues report the same effect. We have acquired an international perspective. This is the biggest gain that we have made by moving abroad. The world has become our country, and we follow the international news with great interest. From this perspective, and with all due respect to my dear fellow country men and women, some shenanigans that happen in Malta seem so petty and puerile. I'm doing my best not to be misunderstood here. That which is happening in Malta is also important, but it's given exaggerated weight in the overall scheme of things. Especially the political soap opera, which is truly fantastic entertainment value...

I now realise that it's my entire home country, and not only myself, that has been living in a bubble, sealed off from the outside world. To overcome this drawback on our development, it should be made compulsory for all Maltese schoolchildren not only to look out of the bubble, but also to venture outside it, even if for a short educational trip. Later, those that take up tertiary education should be required to live abroad for a period of at least six months. The EU actually encourages this, and now that we are members we should make the best possible use of this wonderful opportunity to truly feel and act like the citizens of the world that we are.

How to run a marathon - 3 - Endurance build-up

If you have been following my suggested schedule for taking up running, How to run a marathon , you will have done more or less easy running, somewhere on the following lines:

(Monday to Sunday, minutes of easy running)
Week 1 - 10, 0, 10, 0, 10, 0, 15
Week 2 - 0, 15, 15, 0, 20, 0, 20
Week 3 - 0, 20, 20, 0, 30, 0, 30

This is basically a build-up of endurance, the essential component of distance running. Endurance is a measure of your capacity to carry out an aerobic activity for a prolonged period. It involves the burning of glycogen stored in your muscles, using oxyen (hence the term "aerobic") that is dissolved in the blood, to provide energy. We derive glycogen, the fuel, from carbohydrates that we eat. Oxygen enters the bloodstream through our lungs, and is pumped via our heart through the arteries to our muscles. As you build up endurance, you increase the efficiency of oxygen intake into the bloodstream, as well as the capacity of your heart to pump oxygen-enriched blood to your muscles. There is no speed involved yet, but your ability to maintain a running activity for a sustained period without getting breathless is improving continuously.

You could build up to a marathon simply using this method of gradually increasing your endurance, although as the distances get longer you would need to limit the longer runs to once per week at the most, filling in the rest of the week with shorter runs.

However, this has an important drawback. Improving your endurance through long slow distance training will only result in long slow performances once you start competing. This could be good enough for you, but you might be a bit more ambitious, hence the need, once you have built up a strong endurance base, for speed training.

Unfortunately, three weeks after taking up running, the endurance base is still not good enough to support speedwork. Remember, distance running is all about patience, perseverance and discipline. We need to continue building up our endurance, our capacity for running without losing our breath, for a few more weeks. Here's my suggested schedule for the fourth and the fifth week of build-up:

Week 4 - 0, 30, 30, 0, 30, 0, 40
Week 5 - 0, 40, 40, 0, 40, 0, 50

In the meantime, it would be a good idea to vary your training sessions as much as possible, by running along different routes. Otherwise, repeated running along the same route tends to become quite tedious.

As you run on a regular basis, the distances run get longer, and the routes chosen more varied, you are bound to encounter difficult conditions - bad weather, difficult terrain, dogs, injuries, illnesses. I will be considering these factors in the next section.

GRANDE JUVE!

I've criticised them when they weren't doing well. It's only appropriate that I should now shout out to the whole world:

GRANDE JUVE!

Far from faring badly in the Champions' League, we're among the first teams to qualify to the next stage, after just four matches, two of which were victories against Real Madrid, home and away. Alex Del Piero earned a standing ovation from the Santiago Bernabeu crowd, an accolade reserved for a restricted elite. It's probably the crowning point of his illustrious career.

And we're still on course to realise the prediction I made at the beginning of this year's campaign, back in early September...

Dare we hope?

I don't remember the election of any country's leader that was greeted with such world-wide enthusiasm. I would consider the election of Barack Obama as the biggest political event since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I can suggest a few reasons for the present "Obamania":

1. The world is crying out for a leader who has charisma. We are bored silly of the various grey Merkels, Putins, Berlusconis, Gordon Browns and Barrosos of this world. Sarkozy is just a prima donna. Zapatero was one of the few steps in the right direction.

2. I have used this expression before, but I like it, so I'll use it again. The collective sigh of relief as we see the end of the Bush presidency will probably be heard from the other side of the galaxy.

3. Obama is the antithesis of George W. Bush. He radiates optimism and good will, and this is spilling across the Atlantic as well as the Pacific. He transmits a sense of involvement to the common people. He wants us to work together to create a better world. It's so refreshing to have a leader who is inspired by positive values, to which the people can relate - a beacon of hope in a world that seemed to have forgotten the meaning of the word "hope".

4. We may now dare hope that America will "change" (Obama's clarion call) from an arrogant sheriff to a strong, friendly partner. Certainly, Bush represents all that the rest of the world dislikes of America, while Obama is its friendly, likeable face.

5. The fact that Obama is black (well, sort of, he definitely isn't white) has finally laid to rest the taboo about race. The white majority of the USA has no qualms about electing a black leader. On the contrary, they fell over each other to put him into the White House. Effectively, as far as American electors are concerned, race is no longer a big deal. At long last!

I just hope that Obama will live up to the high expectations. And I dearly hope that his security people will make double sure they can ward off any potential madman...

Human rights, my foot

We Maltese (some of us, anyway) may not be entirely happy with the way our country is being run. In particular, it seems in my eyes that, after having done its damnedest to get us into the EU, the Nationalist government strongly resists any improvement in our way of life that results from EU membership.

But every now and then, we (i.e. those some of us that are not entirely happy) recover our sense of perspective, by means of a straightforward reminder:

There they were, most of the beautiful bunch who were ruling our country with, in the background, that picture of the Great Leader, which after so many years is still capable of ruining my day. And we thank God a million times that those days are truly over, and that our country is now governed by a normal, even if imperfect, set of politicians. The dinosaurs from the past were celebrating... would you believe it... the Al-Gaddafi prize for Human Rights, awarded to the ex Great Leader Dom Mintoff.

Just a handful of days later, we were reminded of one possible reason why Al-Gaddafi chose to award a Human Rights prize to Dom Mintoff. This is so typical of the human rights situation overseen by the great leader:

The Times, Thursday, 30th October 2008 - 14:24CET

Prison warder gets compensation for 1982 police torture

Former prison warder Anthony Mifsud was today awarded €186,349 in compensation after a court found that his human rights were violated by the police when he was beaten in a police cell.
The case goes back to 1982 when Mr Mifsud, then in his twenties, was arrested and questioned by the police following the escape of two prisoners - Louis Bartolo and Ahmed Khalil Habib - from the civil prisons.

He had subsequently been accused of corruption and complicity in the escape, but was acquitted after having been kept in jail for three years under preventive arrest.

Mr Mifsud had claimed that during his arrest, before being taken to court, he was tortured by (then) Superintendent Carmelo Bonello and Superintendent Joe Psaila, among others. He claimed he was repeatedly beaten and kicked to the extent that he started coughing up blood and could not eat.

He said the officers also put a gun to his head and threatened him unless he signed a confession.
The court found that the police officers had violated Mr Mifsud's fundamental rights not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. It ordered the Police Commissioner, former Police Commissioner Laurence Pullicino and former Supts Bonello and Psaila to pay total compensation of €186,349.

How to run a marathon - 2 - Safety first

Whether you wish to run on a regular basis, or go somewhat further and run a marathon, I will repeat the overriding principle that is most guaranteed to succeed. They are the same words with which I concluded my last entry on the subject: take it easy. Going too fast, or running long distances that you're not used to, can easily lead to injury. You need to be patient, and build up gradually. Patience, perseverance and discipline are the qualities of a successful distance runner. A good physique and natural talent are obviously extremely useful, but without the necessary mental qualities, physical qualities are simply not enough. On the other hand, you could possess an iron will and strong discipline, without being particularly gifted physically, and still become a reasonably good distance runner.

The approach I'm suggesting here is built on this method of cautious, gradual build-up. In the first week, we did our first easy runs of 10 minutes each, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus a slightly longer 15-minute run on Sunday. We have the beginning of the structure of a typical running week, with regular runs on weekdays and a longer run during the weekend. You could of course adapt the system to your own life schedule. Here I'm advocating an extra-cautious approach, that with the onset of middle age I've found particularly useful - a one day on, one day off system that allows my muscles to recover on rest days. Nowadays I typically run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday plus a long run on Sunday. When I was younger I used to run everyday except Saturday. Then I added another rest day on Monday (to recover from Sunday's extra effort), until my present four runs per week. How many times you run per week is up to you, how you feel, and what you wish to achieve. But I do suggest at the very least one day off per week to allow your muscles and joints to recover.

During these first few weeks, the idea is to become used to the routine of running, to establish your preferred running routes, and to train your body to adapt to the rigours of running. If your aim is to lose weight, don't expect to achieve it at once. You will certainly lose weight eventually, but this takes time, at least four weeks, probably more. Remember, running is a long-term commitment, not a temporary whim. At my running club in Malta, St Patrick's Athletics Club, our slogan is "running is a way of life".

Patience, perseverance, discipline. These first few runs are your most crucial. If you manage to find the time, insist to go out for your run, and don't make up silly excuses to miss out, you will probably keep it up. In that case: congratulations, you may now consider yourself a runner. You won't regret it!

In the second week, you may repeat what you did on Sunday (a 15 minute run) on Tuesday and Wednesday. The following Friday and Sunday, you move up one notch to 20 minutes. Your first two weeks would therefore be something like this:

Week 1, starting on Monday - 10 min, rest, 10 min, rest, 10 min, rest, 15 min on Sunday.
Week 2 - rest, 15 min, 15 min, rest, 20 min, rest, 20 min.

I'll be away for a few days, so here's the third week thrown in for good measure. It's basically more of the same, building up more and more endurance, until we start considering speed training and eventually racing... Here's the third week, still doing simply running at an easy pace:
Week 3 - rest, 20 min, 20 min, rest, 30 min, rest, 30 min.

Safety first
I started today's piece by advocating caution. Caution is not only about training: it's also about safety. Unless you intend to do all your running on a track (which may tend to be boring), or in a park, you may need to do at least part of your running in streets. Even if you run mostly on the pedestrian pavement, you will often need to cross the street, or use some roads that do not have any pedestrian paths at all, and therefore share the road with motor traffic. Always keep in mind that car drivers are not expecting to encounter joggers on the road: so it's up to you to keep a watch out for cars. Never go out for a run in the dark wearing dark clothing. Wear yellow or white, but preferably a brightly coloured bib. It's generally a good idea to run against traffic, so that you can see the vehicles approaching you, but this is to be absolutely avoided at blind curves, because you would really be risking a bad accident that way: always run on the outside part of a curve in the road, to give drivers ample time to see you. And be extra careful when crossing the road!

Finally, as far as jogging or running on the road is concerned, unless drivers clearly and unambiguously stop to allow you to proceed, always give way to motor traffic. The road was built for motor traffic, not for joggers, and whatever the law may say, it's never a good idea at all to be hit by a car. It could mean the end of your running career, if not your life.

"Rush" hour?

Why do they call it the rush hour? It's anything but a rush. I would call it the snail's pace hour. The Italians and the French are much more realistic - they use their own linguistic equivalent of the peak hour.

Something should really be done about it. People who have lived in cities bigger than Brussels all say that it's nothing compared to London, Paris or Rome, but I can safely say that the Brussels jam is awful enough. There's no respite. Even to get to the train station, it's a jam. The trains themselves are jam-packed with passengers standing up. Hmmm, I now realise a better term for the rush hour would be the jam hour...

So, what can be done about it? To begin with - more train trips, at least double the frequency. But I suppose the public transport infrastructure is already bursting at the seams. We probably need more innovative, revolutionary measures. How about spreading out the opening times of offices? Spreading out the time when employees can report for work and leave the office? A strong drive to promote teleworking, even if on a partial basis? Creating alternative weekends in the middle of the week? I can't see why not: various categories of employees work during weekends, and they don't seem particularly traumatised by the set-up.

It's just such a pity that so many of us have to start our working days at a high stress level from the very beginning!

Quo vadis, Juventus?

Article 1

Definition

"We" means Juventus.

Article 2

State of Play

After seven matches, we have already picked up two defeats, following on from two draws, and just two wins. From the last four matches, we have gained a grand total of 2 points. In seven matches, our points tally is 9 points, on a par with Lecce. Above us, one can find footballing giants of the calibre of Catania, Atalanta, Udinese, Napoli and Genoa. For the third week running, our glorious name is gracing the bottom half of the table.

Article 3

The Coach

1. At the beginning of this season, coach Claudio Ranieri blurted out what he thought was a daring statement. "La parola scudetto non è un tabù." Winning the championship is not forbidden.

2. This statement was more revealing than anything else he might have said, anything he's doing, or whatever he will (probably never) achieve. Caro Mister, per la Juve lo scudetto non è mai un tabù, ma è un obbligo! The very reason for the existence of Juventus is so that they win trophies. For Juve, the runner-up position is considered a failure. But, quite clearly, the man is unaware of this fact, and that he's no longer coaching any ordinary Fiorentina, Udinese or Sampdoria. Josè Mourinho, in his inimitable way, highlighted this when he remarked about Ranieri: "He's almost seventy. He's hardly ever won anything. It's too late for him to change now."

Article 4

The Players

The Juve line-up nowadays includes such "stars" as Molinaro, Knezevic, Grygera, Salihamidzic. It regularly features Del Piero and Nedved, who are now well past their expiry date. Most of our best players are out injured, and their substitutes are hardly fit to play in any Serie A team.

Article 5

The Management

With the passage of time, we are beginning to look evermore like Inter used to be a few years in the past. Countless names of unknown foreign players are continuously bandied about as potential new recruits, supposedly to boost the team. And the string of successive years without any victory becomes ever longer.

Article 6

Future Prospects

1. Overall: bleak.

2. Short term - Champions League against Real Madrid this Tuesday. Dear God, please help us!

3. Medium term - if we're lucky we'll avoid relegation this season, unlike Milan in the early 80s, when they dropped back to Serie B, through the results of normal play, a couple of years after having been forced to play there due to the "calcioscommesse" scandal.

4. Long term - I fear a repeat of the post-1986 black period for Juve. This was a nine-year drought characterised by the following names (to mention just a few) - Rino Marchesi, Gigi Maifredi, Magrin, Galia, Ian Rush, Zavarov, Aleynikov, Alessio, Blanchard...

Cringe-fest updated

You can save yourself lots of embarrassment, and in particular the cringe factor of a cringe-fest, by being as invisible as is socially acceptable during the big event...

How to run a marathon - 1 - The first steps

The overriding principle in training is this: don't try to achieve too much in a short while. Any abrupt increase in intensity or duration is the perfect recipe for an injury or burnout. Gradual and continuous progress is the key to long distance running.

Therefore, the length of your very first runs depends on your current state of fitness.

Now here's another golden rule, that should serve you admirably throughout your running career: learn to read the signs given out by your own body. The way you feel is a strong indicator of your state of fitness, your readiness to undertake a particular run, whether your muscles are up to the stresses involved. If you feel pain, it means something's wrong. If you're simply itching to go running, you're probably in good shape.

So, how long should your first runs be? I'll consider three possible situations - although there are of course many different intermediate degrees of fitness.

If you're unfit, possibly overweight, your first outings should be on the cautious side - a brisk walk, breaking into a slow jog for a minute, back into a walk, and so on - for not more than ten minutes. This you should repeat on alternate days. Eventually, the jogging intervals will get longer, until you'll be able to jog continuously for 10 minutes.

If you're not unfit, but simply untrained, you should be able to jog for 10 minutes without stopping to rest. If you haven't done any sport for a long time, it would be a good idea to limit your first three runs to just 10 minutes, on alternate days. The days off will give your muscles time to recover from the exertion to which they are not accustomed, with resulting inevitable soreness. This initial phase will simply serve for your whole self to get used to this novel activity.
You may be reasonably fit already, through being active in another sport. In such a case, you could even put in a longer run, say 20 minutes or so, depending on your level of fitness.

But whatever the case don't overdo it, in intensity as well as the distance run. It's better to err on the safe side than risk getting injured. And, at least in the beginning, do not run fast at all. An easy jog will do; speedwork will come later, after you have built a solid base of endurance through easy and steady running.

What should you wear while running? Good running shoes are the most important running gear. Also, socks are important to absorb sweat, and lessen the risk of blistering or catching athlete's foot through your feet being constantly wet. It's not a good idea to run without socks. If it's cold, i.e. less than 10 degrees C, you may need warm gloves and a woollen cap. At the other temperature extreme, dress as lightly as possible. No fancy stuff - any old loose-fitting tee-shirt or sleeveless top plus comfortable shorts will do. Make sure, if you're running in the dark, to wear light colours, preferably a bright fluorescent bib.

Where should you run? The most practical, if the surroundings are suitable, is straight out of the front door, for 5 minutes in any direction, 5 minutes back and you're done. You could otherwise go to a park, a jogging trail, a pleasant promenade, anywhere without too much traffic which is reasably flat and smooth. But travelling to a park and then coming back takes up precious time, which may be in desperately short availability... In fact, I normally do a combination of the two. I run on a pleasant route, being the Cinquantenaire park in Brussels, or the lovely St Julian's to Sliema promenade when I'm in Malta, but I include the time taken to jog towards my preferred running haunt as part of the training.

At what time of the day should you run? It depends on various factors, particularly your life schedule and the conditions outside. In the peak of summer, running at any time from late morning to early afternoon should definitely be avoided, as you risk getting heatstroke, which in bad cases could even be fatal. In very hot weather, running should only be undertaken in the early morning or from late afternoon onward, also making sure you drink lots of water before and after your run. Otherwise, i.e. in cooler weather, it's up to your preference and the time you have available.

What should you eat and drink? Anything you like, in moderation. Not too much meat and fats. Carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables are definitely the best. And of course, lots of water, and no more than one unit of alcohol per day (except on rare occasions if there's a good party, you're not driving, and you're prepared to face a couple of days hungover). It's never a good idea to party late into the night if you intend to go out running the day after... Never. In particular, you shouldn't eat a heavy meal, especially one containing meat or fatty foods, if you intend to go out running within the next few hours.

To recap, here's a typical beginners' programme for the first week (as explained, unfit persons should do brisk walks including short jogging intervals, until they reach the fitness level required for a 10-minute jog):

Day 1 - 10 minutes jog
Day 2 - rest
Day 3 - 10 minutes jog
Day 4 - rest
Day 5 - 10 minutes jog
Day 6 - rest
Day 7 - 15 minutes jog

Good luck, and enjoy your first training runs. Three last words before you go - take it easy!