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| The U&R crew at the start line with our coach |
Buon giorno tutti! I had a wonderful time in Bologna last week with the Up and Running alumni. Imagine a bunch of awesome inspiring women, to-die-for food and wine, a beautiful medieval Italian city, a kick-arse coach and a very enjoyable 10.5km race.....it was heaven and I didn't want it to end.
I have a separate post brewing on the foodie's paradise that is Bologna...but this post is all about the running. Which, as evidenced in the pictures above, thank God I was there to do! :)
You've heard me talk about the awesomeness of Up and Running's online running programmes on here before and I've been coached by Julia for the marathon a few years back now....but this spring I took part in one of their structured programmes with other women from all over the world. I did the 10k course, which is an eight week programme designed to get you running a 10k race, and enjoying it, by the end. I'd had a very lazy winter and had kind of lost my running mojo. This course gave it back to me in spades. It's amazing the difference it makes when your routine is just shaken up a bit and you feel motivated again.
And that's just the running side of things - the social side of U&R is brilliant. The support from the other people doing the course is heart-warming and utterly fantastic, I've made heaps of new friends. It's like a virtual running club!
So, as an Up and Running alumni, I was eligible to participate in their annual retreat in Bologna, Italy, which I was very quick to put my hand up for - I'd had so much fun on the forum I knew I'd have fun with everyone in person :)
The retreat included, among many other wonderful things, a boot camp with our coach, Julia, on the Friday; some personalised coaching for improving our technique (I have lots of glute strengthening exercises on my schedule now!); and running either a 6km or a 10.5km race through Bologna on the Sunday as part of the Julia Jones Running Festival. Yes, our coach has a running festival named in her honour! She has done amazing work for raising the profile of women's running in Italy.
Sunday morning dawned bright and early, we were all up and raring to go! I was sharing a room at the B&B with three other women so we were all quite excited and helped each other get ready which allayed any race nerves. I had been a bit worried about my rather epic wander around Florence the day before as I had been a bit sore when I went to bed. I also had blisters. Thank God for Compeed!
The B&B put on a daily breakfast spread which included some delicious orange-scented croissants that I became a bit addicted to, but which I stoically turned down that morning and instead chomped away on my usual pre-race fare of toast and jam, banana, plain yoghurt and black coffee. Then we all headed up to Piazza Maggiore for the start:
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| Photo courtesy of fellow U&R retreater Sunita |
The start time was meant to be 10am but the announcers chatted on for about 15 minutes...which was fine but some of us were starting to need the loo again! I didn't know if I really needed to go or if it was just nerves/desperation to get started. Turns out it was the second one and my no-toilet record for races has been maintained!
Finally the pink balloons were released and we were off!
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| Image courtesy of Shauna |
The race had a great turnout so it was a little crowded at the start but eventually the walkers and runners separated out and we could all fall into our own rhythms. The race started off through Via Rizzoli, Bologna's answer to Oxford Street, and out to the outskirts, around and back in again. It was a warm, almost muggy, overcast day with storm clouds brewing just over the horizon.
Having not done the 10km distance for a few months, I had no goals for the race other than to run the whole thing and have a good time. I didn't have any music with me so I soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the surroundings. Bologna is a really charming medieval city and I kind of had to pinch myself that I was there, pounding the cobblestone lanes, passing ancient churches and Renaissance fountains. I couldn't really stop and take any pictures (!) but it was beautiful. I took pictures with my eyes instead.
My mantra for the race was enjoy it. Enjoy being there, on those ancient picturesque streets. Enjoy being fit and healthy enough to run, any distance. Enjoy the feeling of satisfaction that comes from knuckling down, sticking to the programme and getting motivated again! I felt strong, happy and comfortable. Just what I wanted.
In boot camp on Friday, Julia had impressed on us the importance of noticing our feet during running so that was something I tried to focus on during this race. I concentrated on foot turnover rather than making my strides bigger in order to go faster. It really worked!
But otherwise, I was really in the zone for this race. I don't remember a lot about the individual stages - some kilometre markers I don't remember seeing at all! But that can be a good thing, there's nothing like the surge of adrenalin you get when you think you're about to see the 8km marker and it's 9km instead! My fellow U&R 10k course participants, Tessa and Jennie, had been right in front of me since the start and I figured if I could keep up with them I'd be happy. But at 6km, or thereabouts, they slowed down for a drinking break and I passed them! Then I just tried to keep in front of the lady in the purple t-shirt, whose footfall I could hear behind me for the rest of the race.
At the 9km mark, there were some locals standing and watching who called something out to me - I responded with my very basic Italian "nove! Uno altero!" ("nine! One more!"). I was told later that was very formal Italian to use...the locals were probably most amused!
The finale was coming up to the entrance of Parco della Montagnola, up a bit of a hill and then around the park where we'd done our boot camp a few days before. I sprinted towards the finish line, where I could see all the U&R ladies who had already finished waiting on the other side cheering. The announcer also called out my name - "FILL-EE-PA MOOR-AY!" - as I crossed the line. It was awesome, I felt like a rockstar :)
Then it was hugs and water and goody bag time! There was an area after the finish where we could help ourselves to water, iced tea, bananas and what looked like a brownie but was actually a "Good Morning" chocolate cereal breakfast bar. And instead of a medal, we got a Running Festival portable bag hook, to hang your bag from on a table when you're out and about, which is already proving very handy:
After showers back at the B&B, we all headed out - in the torrential rain, the storm had finally started - for pizza, beer and gelato to celebrate. What an awesome day!
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Gelateria Gianni is where it's at.
I really, really enjoyed this race. My official chip time was 1:06:54 which I was happy with and it's not too far off my best time for the 10k. I was just stoked with the return to form and the return of my mojo, to be honest. When I think about where I was in February, as both the winter and my lack of motivation with running showed no signs of disappearing, in just eight weeks things were very different. I'm back baby! Whether you're a complete beginner or you're more experienced but feeling a bit stale and in need of a challenge and some support, I can't recommend the Up and Running courses highly enough.
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| Coach Julia (far right) with the Spring 10k course participants who made it to Bologna |
Bring on the next 10km race....maybe that's the distance I'll rock this year :)
But during the retreat, the two Paulas planted the seed of us running the Barcelona Marathon together next year so who knows!