Malta: Living on the Edge of Europe

Week 15 of 34 – A weaker week

Sandro — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:05:56 +0000

Does the title of this week’s post seem uninspired, seeing that it’s almost the same as last week’s? The reality is that this has been the poorest 7-day period to date. Having completed only two sessions is bad enough but even worse is my failure to do any of the key workouts: hills, speed and long run. Admittedly I was feeling poorly with flu-like symptoms siphoning off my energy supply. As any of you athletes know, the temptation to force a reluctant body into action is always there but a recurring elevated resting heart rate confirmed my physical sensations; going head to head with common sense would have been counter-productive. At least I now know why week 14 was so disappointing – the body was already busy trying to fight off the virus.
Unfortunately these let downs are par for the course but thankfully there is still plenty of time to get back into stride for the 0 – 3000metres Etna marathon challenge since I’m not quite half-way there yet. And to cheer me up, I concluded the week with the proverbial silver lining – a 15km trail run taking me to the cliff edge of Ras il-Wahx.

Training hours: 4 / Weight: 70.9kgs / Body fat: 12.4% / Muscle mass: 69.4% / Water: 57.6% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 50

VER I ♥ U

Sandro — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:18:40 +0000

VER I ♥ U

VERA I ♥ U

VERDI I ♥ U

VERILY I ♥ U

VERBALLY I ♥ U

VERMOUTH I ♥ U

VERACIOUSLY I ♥ U

CONVERSELY I ♥ U

VERONICA I ♥ U

AVERSELY I ♥ U

VERGIL I ♥ U

VERMIN I ♥ U

VERY I ♥ U

Safe cycling: a guide

Sandro — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:51:49 +0000

Safe cycling: A guide

Avoid lorries

Never wait between the kerb and a lorry at a junction. If the lorry turns left, the driver may not see you. Stay well behind or, preferably, in front, where you can be seen.

Stay clear of the kerb

The kerb is not your friend. Ride clear of it so that drivers steer around you. Hugging the pavement invites them to try and scrape past.

Show your face

Looking at drivers at junctions helps them to view you as a fellow road user they would rather not run over. Do the same to vehicles on your tail.

Use your neck

Learn how to look over your shoulder without wobbling and do so regularly – particularly before making a manoeuvre, when you should also stick out an arm.

Obey the code

Some may argue that it is safer, say, to jump a red light than wait in a lorry’s shadow but egregious violations endanger you and harm the image of cyclists.

Overtake buses

If you’re approaching a bus at a stop, look over your shoulder, and move to overtake. If you can’t, wait behind the bus. Never undertake.

Be bright

It’s more important to show your face and position yourself well, but bright clothing, strong lights and reflectors will help you get noticed.

Plan your route

It stands to reason that you’re probably more vulnerable in three lanes of traffic doing 40mph than on a residential side street.

Find a friend

If you’re a new or lapsed cyclist, venture out with a more experienced friend. Keep a good distance behind and watch. Then let them follow you and take their advice.

These tips are taken from The Independent. For the full article, please go to - The ‘ghost bike’ revolt: Families demand action on cyclist deaths

Do what you love

Sandro — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:00:49 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDmt_t6umoY

Week 14 of 34 – A weak week

Sandro — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:05:38 +0000

Sometimes an easy week doesn’t reinvigorate the body enough to deal with an increased work load. Sometimes the best of intentions cannot quite overcome a dip in motivation. Sometimes the planned week of work turns out to be a much weaker version of that that had been intended.

Since I began my preparation for the Etna marathon, this has turned out to be the most disappointing 7 days for a plethora of reasons:

Heart rate – resting and active – has been on the rise
Cold, hunger and sleepiness prevented me from doing my second session of the day
Pains and cramps in places that the body never suffered before interfered with my running gait
Difficulty in finding a comfortable pace, even during a bog-standard run

There, I’ve enumerated the problems that beset me. Now my job is to find the cause or causes.

Training hours: 7 / Weight: 70.9kgs / Body fat: 12.3% / Muscle mass: 69.5% / Water: 57.7% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 50

Election mode

Sandro — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:28:13 +0000

The no confidence vote in parliament might have been defeated earlier today but what this is what I found in my letter box when I got home:

Monday: after training, before work

Sandro — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:41:49 +0000

Week 13 of 34 – Every 4th week

Sandro — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:05:27 +0000

Every 4th week is one with a reduced training load and so it was this week – fewer and shorter training sessions. Besides giving my body time to recover from the incessant pounding of the streets and (less frequently now) trails, it allows me to reconnect with a world outside running. It was fun to meet friends for backgammon and go to the cinema again while not having to be in bed by 8.30pm. The wake-up time of 4.40am is a different matter though. That has been absorbed into my DNA so whether it’s the weekend or a day off, my eyes open to the darkness of the hour. I can sometimes force myself back to sleep but the night would have been interrupted nonetheless.

Overall a quiet week but with a curious heart rate anomaly. Although the resting heart rate has remained under the 50bpm mark, the active heart rate was somewhat higher than usual. This happened during the steady runs and also the speed sessions. I can only presume the climatic conditions played a part, such as a strong head wind or elevated humidity. Let’s see how it goes next week.

Training hours: 7 / Weight: 70.6kgs / Body fat: 12.1% / Muscle mass: 69.6% / Water: 57.9% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 47

Kinnie – Malta’s national soft drink

Sandro — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:37:15 +0000

I have been enjoying this drink ever since I was a child. Way back then I also appreciated its angular shaped bottle, so distinct from other soft drink bottles and even more so when compared to the bland PET containers of today. I remember the pleasure and sense of pride I felt when I discovered it in a supermarket on the outskirts of Nicosia, Cyprus, in the 80s. At the time I was attending an international youth camp organised by the Leo Club and I couldn’t help but point it out to the fellow participants who were shopping with me; it goes without saying that I bought a few Kinnies to share with them too. Thirty years on and I’m still recommending the product, this time to my classes of mixed nationality students who come here for a few weeks, even months, to improve their English language skills. I don’t do it because I have a lucrative promotional contract with the bottlers, Farsons, but primarily because it satisfies my taste buds. Secondly, it’s a local product which I believe deserves more international recognition.

One of the ingredients which goes into the making of Kinnie is bitter oranges, although the label simply states “oranges”. Now I don’t know about you but I got thinking – just how many bitter oranges are actually used in a 1.5 litre bottle? Hence my email enquiry to the company yesterday, asking them exactly that. Once their reply comes in, I’ll attach the information to this post.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Sandro — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:56:22 +0000

This is the filmed sequence accompanying the opening credits of the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – the Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara version. It’s a dark, sci-fi horror style video that more than compensates for a movie which, as often happens, doesn’t do justice to the novel.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVLJkIZvFlo

Week 12 of 34 – A solid week

Sandro — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:05:55 +0000

Ten hours worth of training this week, which included days with two training sessions each, makes for a week of solid work. Positive feedback also comes from the aerobic threshold session I did on Friday at 5.30 in the morning; certainly not the ideal time for speed work and neither is the location. Not being much of a track fan, I prefer to jog down to the Pwales road (leading from Xemxija to Ghajn Tuffieha), which conveniently serves as a warm up, and then do the session along the flattest stretch. This has a slight, but none too compromising, incline on the way out. Also, if a wind’s blowing then it’s almost guaranteed to meet me head on during the “up”section. Nonetheless, last Friday’s 3 x 20′ at 150-153bpm were done 20 seconds per kilometre faster than 3 weeks ago.

The week of solid work

Training hours: 10 / Weight: 70.7kgs / Body fat: 12.2% / Muscle mass: 69.6% / Water: 57.8% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 47

Three things I don’t like about Franco Debono

Sandro — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:09:01 +0000

He is so full of himself, always going on about how brilliant he was as a pupil and how exceedingly important his proposals for legal reform are
His perpetual emphasis on the suffering he has been undergoing while ignoring the fact that the vast majority of Maltese don’t have the privileges he enjoys
His silliness for continuously checking his mobile phone for calls and messages while being interviewed on national television