Wavre - Bruxelles (25,6km) 2h07:34

This one didn't go too well at all I'm afraid.

The very first kilometre, just a few metres round the corner, was a steep hill - guaranteed to make you lose precious reserves of energy at a stage when you're not properly warmed up. I tried adopting the same strategy as in my recent marathon, running as smoothly as possible without exerting myself too much. But conditions here were completely different. To begin with I wasn't sufficiently trained, my last long run having been the marathon itself no less than 4 weeks earlier. A hamstring strain had prevented me from doing at least one decent long training run for the past month, so my endurance has inevitably started to diminish. But I like to look at the bright side. Hamstring strains are notoriously nasty and long-lasting, so I count myself lucky that I'm actually running races so early after the injury.

If the terrain had been any bit close to normal, I might still have run a reasonably good race. It was not to be! As if the frequent hills were not enough, it got worse. The forest paths were extremely muddy. Imagine running up a long, steep path with your feet unable to grip the slippery slush. We hopped from one slippery side to the other over the groove in the middle. At one point I tripped on a hidden root, and was lucky to stay upright and avoid tasting the mud... But a few moments later I decided it was almost as fast to walk as to "run" in those conditions. And once I slow down to walk in a race, for every little excuse after that I slow down to walk again.

It was such a relief to run on terra firma once again a few minutes later - going uphill on a normal road surface was almost like running downhill, compared to the previous mudfest. I picked up a rhythm once more, only to hit another uphill muddy patch, followed by a cobbled stretch. It was too much! If this is what they mean by cross-country running, it's certainly not my idea of fun. Give me long distance races, any time. Hills are no problem either - it's where I normally overtake most rivals. But mud is just a bloody nuisance, with a built-in high risk of getting injured.

Sorry, guys at Training 7. You've been really nice, the race is well organised, but this event is not for me. It's a pity, actually, as I had been looking forward to this race - 25 km from Wavre all the way to Brussels, just as in the fascinating third stage of the Malta Challenge marathon - for quite a few years. My insufficient state of fitness didn't help at all of course - the final slowdown to a walk at a slightly uphill stretch facing the wind, in the penultimate kilometre, was only due to the fact that I was so tired from all my previous efforts.

Never mind. The finishing time was marginally better than 5 minutes per kilometre, which is not too bad considering the many difficulties. And there are lots of opportunities to make up for today's disappointment in the coming weeks and months.

It's 8 in the evening and the sun is still shining. How I just love it when we switch to summer time!

Dworp 11.6 km, 0h50:23

Dworp is a pretty little village with a funny name situated on the outskirts Brussels, in the Flemish part close to the great linguistic divide of Belgium. Like many localities in Belgium, it is situated close to a forest, and the organizers of the Lentejogging te Dworp races make ample use of the fact.

My first race participation competition in Belgium, the Watermolen Cup, started today in Dworp, on a gloriously sunny day loaded with promise for the spring season that has just begun. With barely any training since the marathon of 1 March in Malta, and coming back from a brief stop due to a strained hamstring, I relied on my pre-marathon preparation to be sufficient to see me through this event.

After a few hundred metres in the streets of Dworp, the route took a sharp uphill incline going straight into a forest to the south. Here I started overtaking lots of rivals, and tiring though it is to run uphill, with the added disadvantage of not knowing what was coming next since it was for me the very first time here, I never slowed down, and on the level stretches I maintained my position well. The course undulated, more uphill than downhill, and in each uphill stretch I kept improving my position. But I was also tiring out, and was looking forward to the downhill part that would take us back to Dworp.

I finished at 50:23, which was better than I had expected, also considering the difficulty of the route and the sketchy preparation. The spillover factor from the marathon training served me well. Now I'm looking forward to an interesting several months packed with many different events - good health and lack of injuries permitting, of course.

How to run a marathon - 17 - what next?

(Concluding post of the beginners' guide to running a marathon.)

Whatever the outcome of your marathon, it would be best to take a whole week off running. After such an extraordinary effort, not only do you deserve a break, but you actually need it. The alternative would be to go back to training at once, and risk getting yourself injuried. So, lie low for that crucial week of recovery, bask in the glory of the great feat you have just accomplished, or mentally pick up the pieces if it didn't go quite as well as expected (in the latter case, don't take it very badly - there will be other occasions to make up for it). Your fitness won't deteriorate from a one-week break. On the contrary, it will improve.

Your return to the world of running would then take place eight days after the marathon, typically on a Monday. It should be an 'easing' back into training, similar to returning from a forced break such as a common cold.

The post-marathon programme would then depend on your next target or targets. You could settle into a yearly routine of running your local marathon, and then forgetting about it for a while and concentrating on shorter road running events in your area. This is very useful, as it allows you to 'recharge' your batteries while doing various interesting events, and after a few months starting to prepare all over again for the next marathon with renewed motivation.

The alternative would be to sort of 'shop' around. See if there are any marathons in different places in which you would like to participate. Maybe because you like the location, or due to the circumstances of the event. It's up to you to set your own goals. You simply aim to run as large a number of marathons as you can. This could be achieved by running your local marathon once a year: say, aim for ten marathons over a running career, or maybe more...

If you wish to run marathons in different places, you may choose to join the restricted number of afacionados who are aiming to run a marathon in each of the world's seven continents, including Antarctica. You could otherwise go for the most popular mass participation marathons, like London, New York, Boston and Berlin, but keep in mind that in this type of event it's sometimes already a challenge simply to be allowed to participate, apart from the fact that they're so crowded. I prefer smaller marathons where I can run at exactly my preferred pace without having to weave in and out of huge masses of slow runners for a good part of the event.

If you're adventurous you might try an 'exotic' marathon - the midnight sun marathon in Norway, the Great Wall of China marathon, the Hawaii marathon, the previously mentioned Antarctic marathon, a wine marathon in France, a nude marathon in San Francisco... Who knows, maybe in a hundred years' time there will be the first extraterrestrial marathon, on the moon!

Wherever you choose to run your next marathon, if you're normal, and not a natural phenomenon or an elite athlete, you should allow for a maximum of two marathons within a period of 12 months. More than that would probably be too much.

And whether you run your local area marathon once a year, in various places around the world, or in some future century a marathon on each planet of the solar system, always aim to stay injury-free, and most of all to enjoy your running!


END OF SERIES

Grande scoperta archeologica a Milano

Hanno trovato l'ultima Coppa dei Campioni vinta dall'Inter. Ecco l'immagine...

Please, do vote in the Europarliament elections

The powers that be at the EU are doing their level best to get the largest possible number of citizens to vote in the forthcoming elections for the European Parliament. Well, the level best of the powers that be at the EU is probably not good enough as far as this citizen is concerned. And this citizen happens to be a convinced europhile...

Quite frequently, from different sources, we expatriates have been receiving notices and pamphlets, explaining that we are entitled to choose to vote here in our place of residence. I had been seriously considering this option, and even went out of my way to ask about it.

But for various reasons I don't think I'll take up this option.

The main drawback of registering to vote in Belgium is that voting then becomes compulsory, and I don't won't to face the possibility of whatever sanctions are applicable in Belgian law for those who happen not to be able to vote, for whatever reason, on election day.

Another important reason why I won't register to vote in Belgium is highlighted by the fact that the notices that I receive are written in Dutch, which is a language I don't understand. So, should the Belgian authorities send me information in Maltese or English? Certainly not. If I'm voting in Belgium for Belgian politicians, I should be able to at least understand their language. The fact that I don't understand what they're saying is a clear indication that I'm a foreigner here, so I don't feel it would be correct for me to cast a vote. I might well end up voting for the Belgian equivalent of Joe Debono Grech. It would also be so embarrassing to enter the polling booth and ask for instructions in English, making it amply clear that I have no knowledge of Belgian politics... No, expatriates shouldn't vote unless they are somewhat integrated in their country of residence, and are familiar with the political background of those who they're electing with their vote.

So, am I so completely cut off from politics that I shouldn't cast my vote at all at the European elections? Again, certainly not! I'm very much familiar with what's going on in my own country, Malta. I'm a Maltese citizen, I'm registered as a voter in Malta, and I have a fairly good idea how I intend to vote. Did I say intend to vote? Sorry, how I would vote, if it were possible.

But it won't be possible. In the information age, the self-styled "smart" (hah!) country insists that voting should be carried out using stone age methods. So, while normal civilised countries allow their citizens who are based abroad to vote by post, at their embassies, by proxy, or online, Maltese citizens need to travel from the other side of the globe and stand on Maltese territory for the simple task of expressing a voting preference.

Well, this Maltese citizen is not going to join the mad scramble for Air Malta tickets on EP election weekend. I have a life to live where I live, and I'm not ready to remove my entire family from home, probably cause my daughter to miss school, beg for special leave from work, spend good money including two full price air tickets for my two children, travel half-way across Europe, and a few hours later travel all the way back just to choose my representatives in the EP, when I should be able to do this within 5 minutes online, or at most by taking a 30-minute trip to the Maltese embassy in Belgium.

So sorry dear PN, PL, AD, AN and some other nut cases. No vote from me until you decide to join the 21st century world and accept 21st century methods of voting.

Divas and superegos in orbit

There's an international space station in orbit around planet Earth, where astronauts, grouped in different sections according to the continent where they were born, do research on rocket science. The research is then archived and utterly forgotten, but this fact didn't prevent the emergence among the astronauts of a handful of divas and superegos, who take great offence if the results of their research is contradicted, or if anyone were to prefer the research done by other divas...

How to run a marathon - 16 - the marathon

Continued from How to run a marathon (Parts 0 to 15).

I often say that the most difficult part of a marathon is to actually get to the starting line. To begin with, there's the crucial, life-changing decision to actually take up running, then the decision to attempt to train for a marathon. After that comes the long training schedule that leads to the event. Various things could hinder the process - injury, illnesses, life commitments, loss of motivation... But an iron will, discipline, perseverance, support from the people in your life and a fair dose of good luck will get you safely to the starting line. Once you get this far, all you have left to do is keep your cool, run the marathon sensibly, being prepared to suffer in the last few miles, and that's it. Mission accomplished!

In the last few days you need to be careful not to undo all the good work you've done during all the previous months, through some silly injury or illness. Try to avoid risky situations: closed crowded rooms, lifting heavy objects, strenuous physical activities, especially those you're not used to do. Don't eat any exotic food, avoid heavy meals, and include a good dose of carbohydrates: pasta, rice, bread, potatoes. But don't overdo it - the worst thing you could do is to get yourself a bout of indigestion on the eve of the marathon! If you like to have a drink, a glass of beer or wine a day won't cause you any harm. More than that, especially in the last couple of days before the event, would be asking for trouble. Besides having a dehydrating effect, alcohol strains our body, particularly the liver, which needs to detoxify the bloodstream from what is essentially a poison. You would best avoid it completely in the last few days before a marathon.

In the last week you will still be doing some easy running - the last 30-minute run being two days before the event. It's the only physical exertion you should be doing, apart from your normal walking activities. Make sure you get the required number of hours of sleep. Just keep in mind that in a few days' time you're going to make an extraordinary effort, using up a huge amount of energy.

Plan all the logistics well in time. Registration, getting the number, safety pins, sports bag, transportation to the start and after the finish, all your running gear, petroleum jelly for those sensitive areas of the skin, a change of clothes for the finish... You should have a fair idea of the weather forecast, so as to know what to expect on the day, especially the temperature, and therefore what you need to wear before and during the run.

You should also have some knowledge of the particular marathon that you're running: the route, its profile (hills, downhills, etc), the number of participants. Too many participants make for a slow, crowded start, and much meandering and frustration as you won't be able to run as you wish. You could, of course, be quite happy simply to be taking part in a world-famous event such as London or New York, even if you have to practically walk in the first few minutes. But if you wish to run a proper marathon from start to finish, you would better seek a moderately attended event, with up to a thousand participants or so.

As for any normal race, you will have consumed your last food at least two but preferably three hours before the start. This would normally be a light snack consisting of some form of carbohydrate, say, a toast, a biscuit, an energy drink... You will have drunk a fair (again, not too much) amount of fluid - water is always the best. You will have made extra sure you won't need to go to the toilet again, except for the final pee in the last half hour. You will have prepared your sports bag the day before. And you will get to the start with ample time - at least one hour - to spare. You will know where to leave your sports bag, and where to pick it up at the finish.

Now you're quite tense, as you anxiously wait for the time to start. Try and relax by finding somewhere to sit down in the last few minutes. Chat with your friends if there are any. If not, just sit down, relax and wait. I wouldn't bother with a warm up. You're not going to start fast anyway (if you do you won't finish the marathon), so there's no point in extending the distance run on the day beyond 42.2km...

The starting gun goes off!

You have been working for so many months just for this moment. Now make the best of it. DON'T GO TOO FAST! Pick an easy pace. Through the sheer excitement of the event, and due to the presence of the other (ideally not too crowded) participants, you will run at a faster pace than your normal training. It's the same thing that happens in other road races, except that here you shouldn't force your pace. I have on purpose avoided mentioning a target time, and for your first marathon it's probably best not to have any. Depending on the outcome of your first marathon you may then set a target time for the next one. Whatever the case, don't exert yourself at all. Rather than racing, imagine yourself to be flowing along the route. Drink in the scenes, the atmosphere. Enjoy the event. Don't force the pace, but just let it flow.

Take a note of the time elapsed, either at each distance marker or at regular intervals. Allowing for slightly different speeds due to initial thinning of the field of participants, changes in incline or due to the wind, the pace should hardly vary at all from the start right on until the end. Keep reminding yourself not to force the pace, and don't enter into any useless competition with other participants. That would be suicidal. Just concentrate on running at a comfortable pace. Make full use of drinking stations provided by the organisers, even if you take just a few sips of water each time.

This way, if you have trained well as described in the previous fifteen posts in this series, not only will you run an excellent marathon, but you will get a great thrill through passing one distance marker after another - and at a late stage you will also be overtaking other runners who had set off too fast - without any noticeable slowdown. Believe me, you can hardly experience a greater sense of achievement than finishing a marathon at a strong pace.

Something might, of course, go wrong, the most likely cause being either lack of sufficient training, lack of proper tapering in the last three weeks before the event, or excessive expenditure of energy in the early part of the marathon. The problem usually manifests itself at around the 32km marker, as the fuel reserves consisting of glycogen stored in the muscles become depleted and the body shifts to burning fat, which is much less efficient in producing the energy required for running. It's a situation referred to in distance running jargon as hitting the Wall. Running becomes very difficult, and the last 10km seem like an eternity. Try to avoid this situation by taking the precautions mentioned earlier. If you do hit the Wall, it's only will power that can take you to the finish, and the knowledge that it would be such a pity to give up at this stage, after having gone through so much, and having come so close to achieving your dream of running the marathon. As you struggle along, think of the large number of 10km training runs you have done in the past: now you need to do just another one, and your dream will be fulfilled.

If you do get to the finish, whether at a strong pace or a slow painful jog, you've made a great achievement. You're a hero. And you'll have gained invaluable experience for the next marathon. Very well done indeed!

Sharia Law in Lilliput

IMPORTANT NOTICE
by the
Lilliput Authority for the Upholding of the Sharia Law

The Grand Druid of Lilliput hereby decrees that it shall be unlawful for any goblin to use satire, irony, or express itself in any way as may be deemed spontaneous by the authorities of Lilliput. The Grand Druid further decrees that all humourous expression by any goblin in Lilliput shall be subject to the prior approval of the Lilliput Authority for the Upholding of the Sharia Law.

Italian Serie A table, with refereeing errors corrected

You've got to love Italian football. For off-the-pitch entertainment I have no doubt it's the best in the world. There was many an occasion when I preferred to watch a TV programme showing fans' and personalities' comments and reactions to the unfolding of the match results, rather than the matches themselves.

Now, according to the Corriere della Sera, an "Observatory of Refereeing Errors" has issued a virtual Italian Serie A league table, as it would have been without refereeing errors. I suppose they assume that each penalty they deem should have been awarded would have resulted in a goal. And I can't imagine what compensation was allocated for attacking situations that were thwarted by wrong offside decisions.

According to the Osservatorio, instead of being runaway leaders Inter should in fact have 11 points less, which would place them in fourth position, behind Juventus in third place (they are actually second), Fiorentina who would be second, while crisis-ridden Milan should in fact be at the very top, enjoying five points more than they actually have at present.

Here is the full classification, as it should have been without refereeing errors, with differences from the actual points tally in brackets:

1: Milan 53 (+5)
2: Fiorentina 51 (+5)
3: Juventus 50 (-3)
4: Inter 49 (-11)
5: Genoa 46 (+1)
6: Roma 45 (+1)
7: Cagliari 40 (+2)
8: Udinese 40 (+6)
9: Palermo 39 (+3)
10: Napoli 39 (+4)
11: Lazio 39 (+1)
12: Sampdoria 36 (+4)
13: Atalanta 35 (-1)
14: Catania 33 (=)
15: Siena 31 (+3)
16: Torino 24 (=)
17: Bologna 23 (=)
18: Reggina 23 (+5)
19: Lecce 18 (-4)
20: Chievo 17 (-6)

Source: Corriere della Sera

Mourinho contro tutti

I can't blame Jose Mourinho, who was in top form yesterday as he lashed out against the Italian sports media in a hilarious press conference.

It's true, the Italian press and TV coverage of their football is only minimally concerned with the game. It's a witch hunt rather than a sport. They are so negative. No emphasis on great goals, breathtaking saves, beautiful moves, exciting football. The main concern is the referees' performance. Reporters do their best to force the losing teams' coaches to complain about perceived refereeing errors. When a team loses, in many cases they ask the coach if he thinks he's going to be sacked. As they enquire about the possibility of the coach losing his job, the screen displays the name of that team's best player of the match, next to the name of their worst player. I'm sure they do it to boost the latter's morale, so that he can improve in his next match. It's disgusting.

However, Mourinho omitted to mention, as he complained about what he believes is an orchestrated campaign to give the impression that his team Inter are on top of the league table thanks to the help of referees, that it was Inter themselves who for many years were in the middle of much more vicious similar campaigns against Juventus. They were on the losing end for such a long time (17 years to be precise) that they ended up engineering a scandal implicating most Italian top teams, but of course not themselves, to wipe out all opposition. It was only then that they were able to win anything.

Benvenuto in Italia, caro Mister Mourinho!

Marathon X - Malta: 1 March 2009

It was late spring last year, a few weeks after having completed my ninth marathon in Antwerp, as I was doing my customary midday break run in the Parc Cinquantenaire, that I calculated the date when I could run the next marathon, which would be my tenth. It added up to late February... of course, Malta! What could be more appropriate for a tenth marathon, than a return to my home country?

I immediately resolved to prepare to run my tenth marathon in Malta in late winter 2009. Except that I was forced to stop training for close to two months because of a hamstring strain, which reduced my fitness to zero. It was only in August that I could start training again, starting from scratch. Another quick calculation: if all went well, I could still JUST possibly make it to build up to the Malta marathon on 1 March. So I began my comeback, which proceeded without too many problems right up till the big day.

Marathon Day was a blustery cloudy Sunday with a temperature around 10 to 15 C. Quite OK, except for the wind that was a bit too strong. As we anxiously waited for the starting gun, I said hello to a number of friends and acquaintances, whom I rarely meet nowadays given that I've moved to Belgium. At exactly 8 a.m. we were off.

I was aiming to finish in 3 hours 30 minutes or less, so I needed to run each kilometre in a handful of seconds less than 5 minutes. This I managed from the very first kilometre, while concentrating on not forcing my pace, but rather to let it flow naturally. Successive distance markers showed erratic times, indicating that they were probably not placed very accurately. However, the average trend of my timings showed that I was gaining slightly on the 5 minutes per km pace, which was exactly what I wanted.

Unlike other occasions, I completely disregarded my rivals, and never made any effort to keep up with them or to overtake anyone. I just kept concentrating on not forcing my pace, and monitoring the time at each distance marker. The worst part, in fact, was the second visit to Ta' Qali, just after midpoint. It was there that I exceeded the 5 minutes per km target by quite a bit for several successive kilometres, and I feared that I was tiring and beginning to slow down. The openness of the area also resulted in a strong headwind, which made the going harder.

Then we turned into the long main road from Ta' Qali towards Imrieħel bypass - the final third. It was here that I really came into my own. I got a strong boost from the fact that I recovered my normal timings. My carefully planned training was serving me well, as there was no sign at all of tiredness. The ever-dreaded 'Wall', where at around 32km you have used up your muscle fuel reserves, your legs turn to jelly and running seems like an impossible task, was nowhere in evidence. Attard, Imrieħel bypass, Ħamrun bypass, Triq Diċembru 13, Blata l-Bajda, Portes-des-Bombes, ... A long succession of kilometre markers went by, and at each one of them I literally shouted in elation as I kept gaining on my target time, all the way to the finish at the Sliema Ferries. I crossed the finish line with both arms raised, with the clock at 3 hours 26 minutes 35 seconds.

It was a great triumph. I don't think there's a bigger satisfaction in long distance running than to finish a marathon at a strong pace and well within your target time. I'm very happy to say that I achieved this on my tenth marathon. For me, it was the perfect marathon!