Training Log Archive: Charlie

Here are the maps from the trip to Italy:


Rome Photo-O (not a race)

Villa Borghese

Lotti di Garbatella

San Gregorio di Sassola

Ischia

Savelli

Agropoli

Paestum

Reggia di Caserta

C • Rome 1

Arrived too late to visit my Italian friends, so stayed at the airport hotel and they will pick me up this morning for a walk or a coffee before my flight this afternoon.

C • Flight this afternoon - volo questo pomeriggio 6

Pleasant walk along the canal out to the sea with my friends Tullio and Giulia. My Italian is improving, chatted the whole time without having to resort to English even once. Beautiful day, very pleasant outing. We weren't there to eat, but it would be a good place to eat fish, very fresh, very inexpensive. Many restaurants, including one on a boat tied up to the dock. The promenade along the canal was full of fishermen repairing their nets.

Longish sprint in the Reggia di Caserta, largest palace in Europe. Some forest and mostly in the "English Garden". Lots of mistakes. Ended 19th of 40, I think.

After the race we walked from the race center at the statue of Diana and Actaeon along the central water feature and fountains to the palace itself, a distance of 2.8 k. Amazingly opulent. Have to give these guys credit for getting permission in the archeological park yesterday and here today.

Very easy course in the archaeological park at Paestum, running around the Greek temples. Didn't stop me from making a rather terrible mistake, overrunning #4, losing at least 1:30 in the process. 18th out of 39.

Many of the elite show up for these races, including the Hubmann brothers, Gustav Bergman (seeing him made me think Ross should be here, too) several other WOC contenders.

C • Paestum 9

Walk to the start in Paestum. Very windy.

And then a walk back to the hotel, by a rather indirect route at that.

Event: MOC - Mediterranean Open Championship XIII edition
 

No race until this evening. While as often happens I brought a lot of things I don't need, I seem not to have brought a headlamp, so I hope to borrow one for the night o at Agropoli.

Out wandering around, to the beach for a bit. This is the most pleasant and warmest weather of the trip, but certainly not yet a day for swimming. Walked down the road for a bit toward the archaeological park, but eventually decided to turn back and walked back partly on the beach and partly in the strip of pine forest between the beach and the town.

Night sprint in the town of Agropoli. I borrowed a headlamp from Trygve Fosse who was starting much later. Much less complex than the small town sprints of the last few days, but still plenty of chances for mistakes. Maybe could have gone 1:30 faster, but still ok, 8th of 39. 2nd control was longest leg, a slog up to the castle. I have no uphill in me, so that was slow. Otherwise a couple of sub-optimal routes, and only once where I went down the wrong side of a wall and had to back out. Fun to see the elites finishing at high speed.

Heading south into Calabria. I was amazed by the steep snow-covered mountains all the way south to the instep of the boot, now heading deep into the toe, greener and gentler terrain, on the way to Savelli for a race and a party. Long bus ride to get here, but stunning countryside.

For whatever unknown reason, my back has been generally happier the last several days than it has been in a long time. Climbing a lot of hills and stairs? Going for a short o-race almost every day? Daily pasta applications? Who knows.

C • Gotta be the frequent O-races 8

Very fun race in the hill village of Savelli, in the mountains, and pretty hard to get to. It is the birthplace of Nick Manfred, singer and friend of the Park World Tour folks, and the day was scheduled as a celebration for him.

The map, even at 1:2500, is very detailed, all houses of different shapes, narrow streets and staircases. Claes Nideboom did it for the occasion.

Times were quite spread out, best on my course was around 23:56, I was 8th out of about 17. Not much opportunity to try to run fast, precise navigation being he watchword. Some small mistakes, but nothing major, just going really slowly.

After the race we spread out to a few restaurants for a very nice pranzo. Era Ora was the restaurant I went to. 8 different things on my appetizer plate, prosciutto crudo, a bocconcino of bufala mozzarella, more bufala with honey and walnuts, eggplant carpaccio, a little ham and egg tart, a strip of grilled zucchini and a small piece of a harder cheese. Fabulous, particularly the eggplant. Then rigatoni with tomato sauce and some wonderful meatballs and stewed beef in tomato sauce. Next plate was a bean and bacon soup with crusty bread, then a little creamy dolce and a small glass of limoncello. Ready to crawl in the bus and sleep, but there was a ceremony to go

A rather long address in Italian by the mayor, who speaks very well and clearly. Certainly it was wasted on the Scandinavians, but there were also quite a few townspeople in attendance. Then some rather extensive prize giving- some very nice gift baskets, not the rocks and sticks sort of thing at all. Then a lengthy fussing over Nick, before he sang 5 or 6 songs for the happy crowd.

This was quite a big deal for the town, and they were out in force. I don't think this is a place that gets a lot of tourists - just way off the beaten path. They even gave the kids in town the day off from school.

On the cold side, but generally the weather was great, sunny and brisk.

The ruins at Pompeii in the morning, being a guide for my Swedish friend Margareta, then lunch at the rather prosaically named Pizza and Pasta in the town square, a nice place where the owner and I remembered each other from the several times we ate there last year. A very fine rigatoni with eggplant, sausage, bufala and provolone.

Then a trip up Vesuvius, good brisk walk. And late to our new hotel in Paestum.

C • Fish still fresh? 2