Little Lion Man.

I wrote it. And that was amusing.

Then I saw it as it was going to be published. And that was amazing. The drawing, most of all.

I received a copy of the magazine this morning (Wednesday). THAT was amazing.

This is not me. I wonder why everybody keeps asking.

I have much more hair. On the body.

That's me!!

Bottom right. Black and white picture. It was taken when I was at university.

It's still the only picture where I don't make faces. It was taken for a newspaper, that's the only reason.

And this is the article!!

The heading might be translated:

"Milan-London Route"

or

"From Milan to London"

Who cares? This blog is on Runner's World. The bible of runners.

So excited.

I had to celebrate. I had to run.

The person who did the chart that I'm following is a genius. It's an Italian trainer, Fulvio Massini. You can easily find this chart on the internet. But it's in Italian.

Every Wednesday interval training (AKA fartlek) is due. Today it was the last one.

It was the best. Planned to cheer you up before the race. Three fast runs of decreasing length. First one 3 km, second one 2 km, third one 1 km.

You might be tired at the end of the 3 km. But the last 1 km is just fun.

I needed to celebrate the article. I needed to tribute to such brilliant interval training. I needed to thank the shining sun.

Suit Up Valerio!

Hot split shorts and tiny little singlet.

Actually, the shorts look like a diaper. But they're so comfortable. More than a diaper, I guess.

They're perfect for short races, like 10 km. Not suitable for longer runs. There's not enough vaseline in the world for me to run a marathon dressed like that.

The singlet comes from a popular 10 km race in Italy. It's called Deejay Ten (the race), sponsored by a famous Italian network (Radio Deejay).

This network sponsors also the Milano City Marathon.
I owed to wear such singlet to them.

I'm partly running the Milano City Marathon next Sunday, with some friends (their pictures and descriptions can be found on "chi siete?". Descriptions are in Italian. Pictures in English).

So, dressed like a baby DJ, I went out.

2 km of warm up. Pace of 4'27'' per km. Maybe I was already warmed up.

First 3 km.

Sun. Fresh air on my baby hairy skin. I was flying. 3'46'' per km. A total of 11'18''.

Recovery had to be within 4'20''. But I rested for a while and I did it in 4'22''.

2 km.

Sun was setting. Fresh air becoming fresher. 3'41'' per km. A total of 7'22''.

Panting but lucid. And full of energy. When the second recovery finished, watch said 4'08''.

1 km.

It ended. Suddenly. 3'36''.

I run 10 km in less than 40 minutes. As a training.
I barely finished the Deejay Ten in 41 minutes, last October. As a race.

There's a question which always comes to my mind in this period of time.

Am I ready?

It's early to say. Let's check next 17 April.

p.s.

Hall of Fame updated. Thanks.