We’re out for a run. The girls are working and we’re running. How cool is that? We are Matteo and I. The girls are Sara and Giulia. Matteo is Giulia’s husband to be. He’s a runner, so that already makes him a good guy. Plus he’s my guinea pig. I’ll explain.
When Giulia comes to the Netherlands to record a new yoga course for our La Scimmia Yoga platform, Matteo always comes with her, which means he and I can run together. He’s a football player. Almost 40 years old, but still going strong. He’s also a runner. A 10 kilometer runner, mostly.
Florence Marathon
Now, almost being 40 years old, is a thing. Such a thing that he decided to run a marathon when he will be 40. Living in Tuscany, he picked the Florence Marathon, which will be held the 26th of November this year.
There is a big difference between running 10 kilometers and a marathon. I mean a marathon is four times 10 kilometers, plus another 2 kilometers and 195 meters. And believe me, those 195 meters you feel, after running 42 kilometers. So to bridge the gap between 10k and 42k Matteo asked me to make him a training schedule.
Self taught
I’m kind of honored. Okay, I make my own training schedules and I like to read everything I can find about training schedules, how to train and so on, but still… I’m not a professional. I’m self taught, which means Matteo now is my guinea pig.
I kind of know how to go from 10 kilometers to 43, as I’ve done it myself. I even went from one kilometer to 43. Or better, to 37 kilometers, as I still have to run my 43 kilometers. So that part I’ve figured out. The part I still have to figure out, is the speed, as Matteo wants to run a sub 4 hour marathon, but I’ve got my ideas, and I’m testing them on myself at this moment.
Football player
Running a marathon as a non-professional in 4 hours is pretty good. According to the website of Asics only 43 percent of all men are able to do that. I think if Matteo can do it, it’s even an amazing performance, as his preparation is different from that of most runners. Remember; Matteo is a football player. That means less time to run, because of all the football training and matches. It also means a bigger puzzle for me, but that’s part of the fun.
What is part of the fun as well, is running together. Today we’ve chosen for the Drunense Duinen. A 15 kilometer trail run. A good opportunity for me to see him run and to see how he’s progressing with the schedule I’ve made so far.
Apple pie
The answer is pretty good. Okay, the first part we’ve run below marathon pace, but we had to run on loose sand and over sand dunes. Now this last part, we’re running marathon pace. Still on small trails, but that will only make it easier to keep this pace once he runs on the road.
Yet, that’s for later. Now we have another goal: running back to the Rustende Jager (the Relaxing Hunter), where apple strudel and a hot chocolate is awaiting us. Because if one thing is important in preparing for a marathon, it’s having fun running and rewarding yourself with something nice afterwards.
