Sunday, September 25, 2011

Grosseto's Bio Half-Marathon 2011

This morning, on a sunny Sunday,  I ran  the Grosseto's  "Bio Half-Marthon". It was really  well organised: four refreshment points, running path flat enough, good loot and a lot of food after the race (cakes, bananas, pizza, bread with bacon and cheese, tea, orange juice and some healthy drinks).
I enjoyed the 21 km race although the weather was hot (considering that it's Autumn here in Central Italy! :) ). Moreover, from the 8th km until the finish line I had foot pain. Anyway, we ( Stefano and  I ) thought the Grosseto's 21 km race as long run related to the Florence's Marathon training: in this perspective, this morning we ran it as training.
So I ran at an average pace of about 5 min./km.: my time taken was 01:46:07. After I had run the race I put ice on my injuried foot and now I feel a bit better

In the 1st photo I'm with the blue outfit. The 2nd photo shows the finish line.
The finish line
As requested by some blogger friends, I write the recipe of the Baklava, a sweet Turkish cake with walnuts and honey.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. phyllo pastry sheets
1/2 lb. walnuts, chopped fine (Be careful do not make them powder but small chunks)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
150 gr. butter or as in my case margarine, melted (but we didn't use it, we used olive oil)
¼ cup corn oil
For the syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
Peels of half a lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
Then we followed the instructions posted on Katerina's blog:
The site mentioned shows a Greece's recipe. On the contrary, the ingredients which I've just written  above are referred to orginal Turkish recipe of Baklava.
At the beginning, before we had mixed  the walnuts with sugar and cinnamon  until everything is incorporated, we added 2 tbsp honey too. We added  honey when we made the syrup too.
You can be sure that Baklava is useful as pre-race breakfast :) This morning I had had it before I ran the race and yesterday, the night before the race, I had a small piece of strudel (you can see it in the photo). Obviously, we made it. 

I hope all you blogger friends will have a nice week!




12 comments:

Ewa said...

I'll start my comment for what matters most: baclava :)
I am drooling, I want a piece, I will make some but only when my long runs reach 18mi, I am at 13mi (yes, 21km) only so I will have to wait, I guess.

And now for REALLY important stuff. Congrats on a good race. Sorry about your foot though. Hope it will stay fine for the rest of your training.

I am always envious of the post race food and loot you guys get. I swear, I will move to Italy. You would not mind one more immigrant, right? :-)

Have a great week, Giorgio.

ajh said...

Yum! Lots of good food at this race!

Char said...

That's such a great time for a training run-race. I hope the sore foot is just a temporary thing.

Katerina said...

Giorgio thanks for the shout out! The baklava looks terrific. Baklava just like many other sweets and food is primarilly Mediterranean. All nations inhabiting around Mediterranean Sea have their own variation of baklava including Greece. I have no idea from where are the origins of baklava but I do know that each country that makes it uses its own ingredients. Congrats on your race ad i hope my blog will continue to provide you with many useful information on good food.

Amy said...

Too bad about your foot hurting but it certainly didn't stop you from having a great race! And the food sounds delicious...

Fran said...

You're a rockstar for pushing through even though your foot hurted. Great job on the race Giorgio.

Unknown said...

Sorry about the foot pain but I am glad you are feeling better. I love baking and will have fun trying the recipe you posted. Have a great week!

Black Knight said...

Why didn't you write about the "ear's juice" in that restaurant?
I cannot say "good job" because the injury wasted your performance. However you ran fast.

Vedo che le ricette........

Johann said...

Nice race Giorgio! I can only dream of 01:46 half marathons nowadays. I hope the foot is already feeling much better.

Rís said...

That was a great time Giorgio - and better still considering you hurt your leg! Well done.

Christina said...

I may have to try your recipe. I love baklava, especially when dripping with honey.

Thomas Bussiere said...

Congrats on a fast half - With foot problems. Imagine what you could have done if your foot didn't hurt, and cooler weather!