45 min. tempo run in the rain

I've just done a good tempo run in the rain and while I'm trying to improve my training, Italian Prime Minister is being investigated over his dealings with a 17 year old nightclub dancer. Mr Berlusconi is suspected of abusing his power by trying to have the Moroccan girl. Italy would need General Election next March. In the meanwhile I bought a new pair of running shoes (Asics, Gel - Cumulus 12) and gave my small contribution to economic development :)

Yesterday I received a package from Phoenix. My blogging friend Christina  sent me a nice postcard with an amazing long sleeve T-shirt. Thank you so much! It's the T-shirt of the 21th Annual Midnight Madness 3 mile run/walk. I love it!  I always enjoy reading about Christina 's running adventures and, as you know, I love reading running blogs from other countries. What a beautiful blogger community!

Nice running to everyone!

Ostia's 14 km race

On a January morning in Ostia, near Rome, hundreds of fit runners did that 14 km race. Although I ran with a shoulder pain I enjoyed that race and after 1 hour and 8 minutes I crossed the finish line. We ran one fourth of the track on soft path and through a beautiful mediterranean wood. My loot was two bottles of red wine. Good organization! There was a big table with cakes, bananas, sandwiches, orange juice and tea.

Three hours before I ran the race I had had dry dates and that breakfast was okay! Some blogger friends suggested to eat them as pre-race breakfast and I've learnt that dry dates have a higher concentration of calcium, potassium and iron, compared with dry fruits such as raisins and cranberbies. A one quarter cup serving of dried dates is fat and cholesterol-free.

The night before the race I saw my daughters and their friends while they were skating on ice. I was so glad that they enjoyed skating in ice.

Nice training to everyone!.

Aerobic training zone

On Sunday, January,  2, I had the first run of this new year. It was a relaxing run. Then I ran on  Monday  a tempo (45 minutes, average pace 4.50 minutes per km)  and on Wednesday, 1 hour and 7  minutes. Moreover, I did a gym session on Tuesday, the 4th of January. I was really delighted with my tempo run but while I was running fast on the way back a man asked me something. He said: "Could you tell me an information about the Tennis Club. Is it situated near here?". I quickly answered him: "The next street on the left!" Maybe he didn't understand because I answered while I was running. So, I decided to continue the tempo run.

Have you ever stopped during a run? Some runners sometimes stop during a run to chat with a friend or to take a photo. In this case, does the quickstop affect the training value?

I think that a midrun stop can drop we out of our aerobic training zone. This zone begins at 65 per cent of our maximum health rate. So, running at this level of intensity challenges our cardiovascular and muscular system enough to maintain or improve our fitness. As a consequence, midruns stop reduce the total amounts of time we're in the aerobic zone.

That's why I quickly answered and didn't stopped while I was doing the tempo run last Monday :)
I'd like to know your opinions about a stop during a run.
The photo above was taken while I was running the Orbetello's Christmas race on December,  19.
I hope that all my blogger friends will have a nice training!