Malta: Living on the Edge of Europe

Posts Tagged ‘ race ’

Week 9 of 34 – Christmas day run

Due to work commitments, and because it was time I did so, I reduced the training volume for week nine. This meant Monday was dedicated to sloth while I did only one session-per-day on the remaining days, while still doing the key workouts. These were a 3×20′ @ 150-153bpm on Tuesday, a short hills fartlek on Friday and the long run (the longest so far) on Christmas day. Again I included some longish hills: Manikata, 1.4k with an elevation change of +94m; Ghajn Zejtuna, 1.8k with an elevation change of +109m. Despite these hills, and having run for 2:15, I only climbed 420m. This serves as another reminder of how massive a 3000m climb is and how much respect the Etna marathon deserves.

Training hours: 7 / Weight: 71kgs / Body fat: 12.3% / Muscle mass: 69.4% / Water: 57.6% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 48

2011: 12/26
CATEGORY: Athletics
Events
Sports
Write comment

Week 1 of 34 – Just about jogging

Last week I announced to the world (meaning those of you who visit this site) my intention to race the Super Maratona dell’Etna in June next year. What I didn’t mention then was that I am still recovering from a partial tear of the left calf tendon, an injury suffered a month back. This means that my preparation has not started with a bang but with a whimper, not with impressive hill sessions but with a gentle jog every other day. The situation takes me back to March 2008 when I attended the launch of Lifecycle on crutches because I was suffering from a slightly more serious version of my present injury. I remember exchanging a few words with Alan Curry about whether I could recover in time and well enough to undergo the intense preparation that the event entailed (cycling 2000km from Lourdes, France to Casablanca, Morocco in 10 days). Five months later I had the quiet satisfaction of stepping off the bike in the shadow of the tallest minaret in the world at Hassan II Mosque. I hope I can experience the same sensations once again but this time in the shadow of Mount Etna’s summit, Europe’s highest active volcano.

Kettler Coach rowing machine

This first week has been a mix of sports at mild intensities: jogs of no more than 30 minutes on alternate days, indoor rowing, indoor cycling, elliptical trainer, swimming, push-ups, sit-ups and stretching. In spite of all these activities, fitness is at a very low level and the heavy breathing when I walk up the hill to my home proves it. This is not the best way to begin preparing for the challenge but I’m in it for the long haul – 33 weeks to go.

Here are some relevant statistics relating to the past 7 days. I’ll be including the updated stats in weekly write-up:

Training hours: 5 / Weight: 70.2kgs / Body fat: 11.8% / Muscle mass: 69.8% / Water: 58.1% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 49

2011: 10/31
CATEGORY: Athletics
Events
Sports
Travel
Write comment

0 – 3000 on 16 June 2012

Sometimes I train for the simple pleasures it brings – sweat stinging the eyes on a summer afternoon, lungs labouring as the legs run me out of the comfort zone, the sheer satisfaction of a shower washing away the exertion. Some other times I need a target to pull me through the routine that regular training becomes, such as Lifecycle in 2008 or the Madonie trail mountain marathon in 2011.

I’ve now set my sights on next year’s challenge. Put in figures it reads: 0 – 3000 / 42.195. In words, that’s running a full marathon which starts at sea level and finishes at an altitude of 3000 metres. Reading between the lines (and if my math is correct), there’s an average gradient of 7% for each and every one of those 42 kilometres.

The location is Mount Etna. The date is 16 June 2012. The time is 08oohrs. The aim is to keep going up unless the volcano brings me down … to my knees in submission. In answer to the question, ‘why this event?’, it’s because living on an island of mere hills, I cannot even begin to imagine a non-stop climb of that magnitude.

The purpose of adding a new page (click tab at top right) to my website is two-fold. Making my commitment public should help me through (inevitable) phases when enthusiasm begins to flag – the ‘I don’t want to lose face’ motivating principle. Also, I wish to share my preparation for the event should anyone else think of doing it, be it in 2012 or future years. To this end I’ll be logging weekly updates, with Monday being the target publication day.