Running to Think

Tuesday 29 December 2015

New shoes review: Adidas Glide Boost

Christmas is not just chocolates and candies, especially when it is time to think about new running shoes. Recently my running habits have changed into trail, and I am basically burning more trail shoes than road ones. Anyway, I hit the road "once in a while", and with that I mean for about 60 km per week.

After a distraction of about 3 months and a quite disappointing New Balance 860 v5 that have been pierced by my thumb in about 2 weeks, I decided to go back to one of the best shoes I have been running for a while now, namely the Adidas Glide Boost (don't remember which version I started with).

The technology of these shoes is just amazing. They sell them as a repository of energy that boosts at the right moment of your running activity. For those who are not familiar with material science, the Boost is nothing more than a hyperelastic material that is very resistent and light. A sole made of such a material takes the properties of it, that is lightweight, very flexible and super comfortable.

The first feeling I got is indeed like wearing a pair of socks, just with a nice protection under my feet. It is not easy to find shoes that are resistent, stable and comfortable at the same time.

The glide boost has a bit less Boost material than the sister Energy Boost. This is not bad as we might think, especially for those who want to feel a bit the road a bit, and need a more responsive piece under their feet.

If you put these shoes upside down, you will read something ridiculously funny: Continental. That's right! The same protection of tyres used for high performance cars.

Do you understand what I mean now?

Glide Boost by Adidas are the best road running shoes I found so far. One more reason to buy two pairs in a row this time.

The colors are still a bit too flushy. But there is an improvement with respect to the old version (which was fluo yellow). These ones look more like a python snake :)

Happy running!

Monday 23 November 2015

Updates from the running department

Unknown 08:05:00 delicious , nutrition 0 Comments

It has been a while since my last post. A lot happened in my life. I changed job, moving from academia to industry, finished the renovation of my house, found some time to go on holiday, also lost motivation to run long distance for a while.
But I never stopped completely.
There was some kind of innate mechanism in my brain that was forcing me to put some shoes on and run, almost every day.
However, I reduced the weekly mileage from the usual 110 km to barely 70. Still OK to keep up the shape.

I feel that things are getting better now. Motivation is slowly coming back. Even though motivation is not the only one ingredient to achieve a goal, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, today I want to start writing again about my running adventures, and I want to start in an unusual way. That is sharing a recipe of a super tasty and well presented dish I made myself, after Halloween.
Spoiler alert: it made my girl really happy to see such a beautiful dish, even more so with one candle on the table and a glass of good red wine.

The recipe I created literally from scratch is called "Fusilloni with pumpkin, mushrooms and leek". Delicious!

The recipe is, as usual, for two people, as I prefer to have dinner with Caroline.

Ingredients:
300 gr of pumpkin
150 gr of white mushrooms
1 white leek
1 red onion
200 gr fusilloni pasta
salt, persil, black pepper

Procedure
Chop the pumpkin in large pieces and soften in hot water for 10 minutes.
Chop leek, onion and mushrooms and brown off in a pan with one table spoon of olive oil.
Then add the pumpkin and add half a glass of water to keep it wet enough to steam. If it gets dry, keep a lid on.
Boil fusilloni pasta and 2 minutes before they get ready add them to the pan with the pumpkin.
Finish cooking the pasta in the pan.

Serve as in the figure below.

Buon appetito!

Friday 22 May 2015

The old good sport in grief

Unknown 09:12:00 annarita , champion 0 Comments

Tears of sweat poured during the intense training sessions of the 90s, when I was a first-league race walker in Southern Italy. Tears of sorrow today for Annarita Sidoti, champion and mother, and symbol of the cleanest (and poorest) discipline of athletics. Race walk to Heaven. Rest in peace.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Trail de la Lesse 55km Race report

Unknown 08:35:00 50km , hills 0 Comments

Before the memories of the trail running of Sunday fade out (as if that were even possible) let me share the report of a race that has been scheduled in two months, and for which I have been struggling with nutrition and mileage... this time without inflicting any injury to myself.
To start with, I finished Trail de la Lesse in 5th position and arrived after 5h50'09" on the distance of 55km and 1850+ mt elevation gain.

I must say that the organization was not impeccable. The signalling was quite poor which led several runners to get lost in the middle of nowhere, forced them to run back to the last visible checkpoint, lose some positions and add some more mileage to the already longer-than-50-km track. That happened to me too, around the 13th km. I was holding 4th position and could see the leading group. They were fast, much faster than I expected. But being capable of seeing them made me feel still in the race.
Unfortunately, a quite hidden signalling flag that should have told me to go down towards the river and cross it for the first time, made me run in the opposite direction and cover a distance of 800 mt plus return. That meant a solid 8 minutes lost, and I think 12 positions back. By km 28 I was holding position 13.
Not for long. I heard that voice telling me that the race was still open and I had to catch up to the position I deserved.
Caroline was waiting for me at the first station, around km 22 then I saw her again at the next one around the 34th km. I gave her a flying kiss and promised to meet her at the finish line. I had a moment in which I was kind of hesitating about my promise.

When I passed from the starting line, I had one last loop of 17 km after which I could have gotten some rest. But you know what 17 km can look like when your feet are wet, you have very little water, a few verticals to climb and the last 900 mt elevation gain. Number 17 has never been so scary to me.
But that voice was still there, whispering not to give up, then screaming not to quit, in the loudest possible way, squeezing the energy out of me and forwarding it directly to my legs which had to do the job of carrying my remains to the finish line.
Come on, come on. It's only 15. Go Francesco, 12 km left.
I realised to be holding position 5.
Not so bad.

I also noticed that the first four runners were too far to even think to catch them. The only possibility was to defend my position. It could only get worse.
Number 6 was only 3 minutes behind me. Would I got lost another time, and I would have been fighting for that position at the end. No way.
I had to stay focused not to miss any flag.

Caught the first, check. Where is the next? There! Go. Run.
Where is the next? There!
Go, run. Run, for God's sake run! Don't look back.
Where is the next? Left? No. Right? No.
Ahead! There is a river. Cross it! Go into water, walk fast, water to the knees, walk fast. Come on, Francesco.
It's you against time.
Don't look back.

It was such a Hell for more than one hour. A physical and mental pain that was going to finish soon. Well, not so soon. The last vertical, 90 mt elevation in 300 mt distance, something that we had to climb with a rope gently bound to some trees by the organizers. And we had to do that twice.
I crossed some guys of the 35 km race that was going on at the same time.
We were running the same last loop. I had to climb on that rope as fast as I could. Number 6 was on my back, remember? The runners of the 35 km I met on my way were slower on the rope. I became quite pushy to some of them.
"Sorry guys" I shouted. "Leave me the space I need." I told them, without speaking a word.

After the vertical climb, the road became familiar and I remembered that I had been there already. My mind was not bright anymore. I was running on inertia. Legs were painful, when I could feel them. The feet, no I could not feel them.
At the last 2 km my watch showed km 53. I wanted water. Nothing in the hydration pack. Just a dry straw and some sweet gels that could have destroyed my stomach. A guy seemed to have some water in his backpack. I asked if I could drink some. He did have water in a bottle. Just a few sips, not much. Enough to swallow some nasty sugar and run towards the finish line.
Number 6 was just a bad memory.

The good memory was Caroline waving her arms 200 mt from the finish line, telling me that I was running on the wrong path and I had to jump into another lane to get back on track. I was not really capable of seeing flags, lanes, nor recognizing things around me.
I could only detect the horizontal white stripe on the ground, and the voice in my head saying "You made it man. It's over."

Then another voice told me "I am proud of you, babe. You are in the top ten".
It was Caroline's voice. That one yes, I could recognize.

Thursday 14 May 2015

I am ready

Unknown 09:29:00 action , belgium 0 Comments

Motivation leads you nowhere without action. That's what they say.
I have been keeping myself motivated so far. To overcome the struggle of injuries, hills, miles and sweat.
But motivation is not enough to accomplish things. Action is necessary. Motivation only triggers action. And I am acting.
This sunday I will put myself to the test.
To prove that motivation was not enough.
Action was.

This time with no fear.
Wish me luck for Trail de la Lesse.

Sunday 26 April 2015

Running a marathon, at the end of the week

Unknown 15:17:00 long distance , marathon 3 Comments

The end of the week has been marked with the long distance running session that has been scheduled, namely 42 km self supported, completed at the pace of 4:34" per km on 270 mt elevation gain.
Legs were rolling like wheels. I never pushed along the test and was running very relaxed, breathing and looking around as if I was running on a much shorter distance. I take this as a sign that my condition is getting better and better.
The workouts at the gym are being effective, as expected. No pain on the hills, no slowdown, no problem to the knees whatsoever.
Looking forward to May 17th.

Here is a split of 40.1 km of the total.
Happy running!

Thursday 23 April 2015

The best workout for runners at the gym

Unknown 20:09:00 abs , fitness 0 Comments

The number of injuries I got in the past, thought me that preparing an ultra trail does not only mean running the long distance on the road or hilly&muddy tracks.

Fortunately, it also means creating diversity in the training, strengthening joints, knees, quads, arms. In three words, HITTING-THE-GYM.

This might sound hard but I'm finding it extremely useful and fun.

So here is a summary of what I have been doing for a while.

In order to spend some hours at the gym I had to decrease the mileage per week. My highest priority has been about improving the core muscles that usually kick in after the 40th km.
No strength in the muscles after 4 hours of running usually means that it's pretty much over. You heard that, my friends. Over. Finito. Go home.

And you don't want that, do you?

I am not talking about glycogen and lack of carbs. These things remain the same for every ultra marathon and the strategies to replenish the overused resources are those that almost every ultra runner already knows.

What I am talking here about is the lack of power in muscles that have been put under stress for so long and are demanded to climb those last 1000 meters of elevation.

Here is a program that has been provided by www.iamsofit.com, a team of experts in fitness and nutrition. I clearly advise it for the purpose of getting stronger, faster and more resistant, especially on the very long distance.

Day 1

Deadlifts: 3 series of 12 repetitions at 75% maximal weight

Squats: 3 series of 15 repetitions at 70% maximal weight

Leg-extension: 3 series of 8 repetitions at 90% max

Lunges with barbell on the back of the shoulders (3x10 each leg)

Abs: crunches on the bench with 20 kg weight 4 series of 25 repetitions

plank with side step 3 series of 60 seconds each

Day 2

Pull-ups 3 times until exhaustion

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3x12 with 75% max

Bent Barbell Row 3x12 75% max weight

Barbell Push Press 3x8 with 90% max

Abs: Plank with legs on ball (bringing knees to chest) 3 series of 20 repetitions

Russian twist 3 series of 20 repetitions (with ball or weight)

Day 3

(Biceps) Concentration curl with dumbbells 3x8 with 90% max weight

Chest-press 3x8 at max weight

Hammer curl 3 series of 12 repetitions per arm 75% max weight

Cable Crossover 3 series of 12 repetitions at 75% max weight

Abs: crunches on the bench with 20 kg weight 4 series of 25 repetitions

Toe-to-head 3 series of 15 repetitions

The results above are of about one month of workouts.

I am not only seeing my body changing and becoming really dense and strong, but also running hills and intervals in conditions in which I am already tired, is becoming... easier, if you allow me the term.

That's it for today.

See you on the road!

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Training harder. Doing what it needs to be done

Unknown 12:00:00 nutrition , plan 0 Comments

A small update from the running department.

As some of you know, I set my next race to May 17, Trail de la Lesse. A 50 km trail run nearby Liege in Belgium. One more time to "feel the hill", pumping lactate around the blood stream. One more time to feel alive.

The training of the last four weeks has changed to become harder and harder. A steep increase of mileage characterised it, as you can see from the screenshot below. I also added interval training sessions to the mix and after four weeks I can feel the improvement of my cardio condition.

I am being followed by iamsofit.com and added strengthening exercises at the gym (will publish some schedules in a later post). Caroline of iamsofit.com is also providing a nutrition plan.

Running towards best shape of the season.

Keep it up!

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Alone in the dark

Unknown 13:03:00 back , gipsy 0 Comments

When I don't run, I don't think.

And when I don't think, I don't live.

The burdens of life in the last weeks,

maybe months,

have been so big and unexpected

that sucked out the time I was used

to dedicate to running.

Away from the forest, away from the road,

away from sweat and aching legs,

away from beeps of the watch

that keeps counting miles and seconds

in an unstoppable way.

This has been my life for a while.

With very little running, a bit of gym

to strengthen the knees and build core abs,

for the rest

one of the darkest moments I could experience.

Caroline has been around,

trying to figure out the reasons of the unexplained lack of miles

and running clothes to wash.

I haven't found out either.

I just have been missing the simplicity

of putting one step in front of the other,

of feeling the silence of the road and

the noise of the lungs,

pumping air in and out,

of the music playing only in my head,

of those quotes echoing in my ears

telling that one thing I wanted to hear

which was energy transforming into pain

and speed

and knees absorbing the shocks of the stones

in that trail that goes up and down like a roller cost

and the hearth that wants to get rid of that fuckin' chest

and pump blood until it has nothing left

because there is no more blood left,

only lactate,

white as milk,

heavy as pain, thick as oil.

The nightmare is over.

I see light at the end of the tunnel.

I am back.

The Gipsy is back.

Monday 9 March 2015

Sport bars by PRIMAL Nutrition: our review

Unknown 09:34:00 CrossFit , diet 0 Comments

Dear food lovers,

Today I am writing about a sport bar that might be of interest to many of you: PRIMAL Nutrition.

Who are they?

When two belgian sport fanatics, get a break from their daily crossfit session, something good happens. Here is their vision: without proper nutrition you cannot even get close to your maximal performance. Eating healthy should be a way of living and the way to respect your body. Hence their attempt to engineer sport bars, such that it would be easy to carry and provide the correct amount of carbs, proteins and fat for your workout. Being healthy should be that easy!

What is PRIMAL Nutrition?

The bars that I am talking about are capable of satisfying your body with the primal nutrition needs that are required before and after workout, or just for your own reasons to stay healthy.

They are made 100% of natural ingredients such as the honey, grass-fed whey, dry prunes and dark chocolate. There is science in each of those, namely the Paleo and Zone diet, famous within the world of Crossfit.

The Paleo Diet consists in eating just like we used to, back in the past... way back in the past. If a caveman could not eat it, why should you?

With this, I mean anything that could be hunted or found in the nature. Sorry, pasta, cereal, and candy are not included.

The Zone diet is basically about learning how to put together perfectly balanced meals that promote maximum health, wellness, and performance. As a CrossFitter you should look at Zone as how much you eat. When following the zone diet every meal you eat is 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat. You also eat a certain number of “blocks” based on how much lean body mass (muscle) you have.

Back to the bars, there are two sizes and one flavor. One as a energy bar (± 150 kcal) the other one as a full power bar or meal (±300 kcal).

The verdict

I chose the medium bars as a snack between breakfast and lunch. This kept me away from snacking around and gave me the energy I needed. I chose the larger bars as my lunch, even thought I have to admit that I needed some time to get used to it in substitution of my regular pasta or salad.

No worries, though. Getting used to it, is easier than you think.

The taste is really good, for those who have a sweet tooth. I could feel the difference with industrial bars which are usually smaller and contain less nutritional values.

The packaging, is simple, as healthy food should be. The fact that you can always see the bar from the package is reassuring. For those following the Zone diet, it is possible to read how many blocks of each nutrient (carbs, protein, fat) are there in the bar.

Overall it is a sport bar that can be used by everyone.

The large bar costs 5 euro while the medium one costs 3 euro.

Want to get some? Order PRIMAL Nutrition at their website

I wish those gentlemen lots of success, believing that passion for healthy food leads to great and tasty things.

Love,

Caroline

Wednesday 28 January 2015

New sister. New brother. Iamsofit.com

Unknown 14:46:00 blog , coach 0 Comments

It has been a while, I know. We've been quite detached from the mainstream, from the blog, email, news, twitter... Even away from people. But we did it for a good cause.
We are familiar with awkward mixes with our training schedules, food and beverage.
Mixing our skills, however, has gone even further, providing us with fresh ideas that only needed to be realised.

When a man loves a woman, says a famous song, can't keep his mind on nothing else.
That is so true and it also applies to us. When an engineer, who is used to run the long distance meets a sport addict and nutrition expert, who is used to coach people and spend hours at the gym, the mix is even more powerful and awkward. And amazing!!

Dear friends, it's with extreme pleasure that I hereby introduce you our sister website iamsofit.com. I know you will think that it's just another website.
Nothing more wrong than that.

iamsofit.com is a project we are finalising, to provide sport and nutrition in a new flavor, with new tools, concepts, strategies and schedules. All of this in a personalised way!
Are you familiar of those gyms in which you get the same plan of your overweight cousin who barely knows what a kettlebell is? Forget about it.

Don't let me say more.

Get a free subscription and stay in touch. It is free!

Click iamsofit.com/subscribe to get news from us very soon.

Just the time to warm up the engine and get a test drive.
Then we are ready to run.
Fast.

Stay fit!

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Finding your way after holiday

Unknown 18:05:00 eatclean , food 0 Comments

Hi folks,
I hope you enjoyed the holidays with your dear ones, moments to cherish fully. I wish you the best for the years that come. May this year be filled with love, family, health and ofcourse physical activity!

I spent my holiday abroad. Francesco and I planned to go to his hometown Molfetta, in Southern Italy. I got in contact with his culture, his family, their habits, and their food. Food so delicious that I literally lost my character and determination to say no, once in a while. Do you want to know how this ended up? With a weight gain, of course.

A brief analysis of the aforementioned gain is reported below.

Eating more - caloric intake counting is math. No magics.
Eating different types of food, more fried stuff, more cheese, pizza, pasta, etc.
Skipping breakfast due to the fact that I had enough from the day before - which basically slows down one's metabolism
Drink some more alcohol than I usually do (or well, don't)
No gym at my disposal to burn some calories

I address these 5 points as responsible of my weight gain. Of course, my determination to change my condition as soon as possible is back. Here is my plan for the next two weeks.
Feel free to adopt my strategy to improve your condition after holiday.

Drink a lot of cold water
Eat 5 times a day (every 2 -3 hours), of course in smaller amounts
Eat carbs only for breakfast and lunch
Prepare healthy juices and smoothies with no added sugar
Eat more proteins
Avoid snacks such as chocolate, candies, ice cream, cookies and the like
Hit the gym 4-5 times a week to perform some interval as cardio and weight lifting in order to sculpt the body

This will help us to find the normal weight again. A bit more motivation and dedication are needed especially at the beginning. Don't give up because it will worth! Just be patient for next 14 days.

In addition, here is a delicious, light and easy-to-make recipe that can contribute to your weight loss.

Time to make: 5 min preparation + 12 min boiling the wheat = 17 min

Ingredients:

Roquette
100g Roquefort cheese
75g of wheat (type Ebly)
1/2 green apple
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

May all your wishes come true for 2015,

Buon appetito!

<3

Friday 2 January 2015

Happy Fit Year: how to get fit once you got fat

Unknown 20:43:00 cardio , fat 0 Comments

Believe it or not, Christmas is over. And with Christmas also candies, chocolate (a bit less for those who already abuse sugar on a daily basis), cakes, sugar, fat, pasta, fish, meat, panettone, bread, cakes and cakes and cakes.
Every year I prepare myself for the toughest period of the year, that they refer to as Xmas. I even strategically try to lose weight around November to get below my regular threshold by December and be "normal" by January. It never works.
How can it work with a mother like mine, Italian from the South, who already thinks that I am sick just because I am fit.
Holidays are nice, cakes are awesome. But we are runners, aren't we? We need to crash our legs on the road and how could that be with a belly always full and hours and hours spent to digest?
The best way to stay fit in such conditions is of course to control yourself at the table, which, I know, can be extremely hard to accomplish. In the common case of failing in such an attempt, I found that some more cardio is always the best solution to save what can be saved. Slow-pace long-distance running allows one to burn fat slowly and steadily and should be done every day for the whole period of our dangerously unhealthy holidays. That is the price to pay for some slices of that cake we really cannot say no to.
I survived my holiday with 1 kg more on my weight. Not bad, considering how much fun I had at the table. My trick was in one word, cardio.
Do not draw any conclusion right after your holiday. Everybody is different and metabolism varies as well, as side effects of eating and the number of days after which you actually realise of your, well, new condition. In order to assess the damage that you inflicted to your own body after so much food, you should wait one full week and keep your fingers crossed. Easy gainers are usually those who fall into depression when they end up on the scale. Caroline is one of them. Do not panic though. Easy gaining usually means easy losing. Moreover that extra weight that really annoys you could be water kept by your body due to salts and sugars, not just fat. Again: cardio is the answer.

What does cardio mean?

Here is an easy running schedule you could start with, right after landing to the airport near your hometown.

Monday: 1h slow pace run + stretching
Tuesday: 45' slow pace run + stretching + 5 times sprints at 90% max on 100 mt + stretching
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 1h slow pace run + 5 series of 20 crunches for abs. + stretching
Friday: 45' slow pace run + 15' faster
Saturday: 45' slow pace run + stretching + 5 times sprints at 90% max on 100 mt + stretching
Sunday: 1h slow pace run

After this week of recovery, you not only should get back to your usual weight but also get ready to start your regular running schedule (with interval trainings and the like) or to your daily physical activity.

Happy 2015!