Maratona #4 : Basilicata – Policoro 23/03/2012

23 Mar, 2012 by Luca

Today I run marathon number 4, in Basilicata. Unfortunately I didn’t managed to get in touch with the local running groups so it was only Lidia and I. Lidia cycling with all the food and drinks in the bicycle basket and me, with my sexy socks… what a couple! But noone paid attention.. because there was met almost noone for the 42km of the route!

The run went up the hills of Policoro, with a nice uphill that I really enjoyed … while Lidia didn’t like it that much This reminds me when I cycle in Sydney.. so many hills! Policoro countryside is simply beautiful, with fields of strawberries, artichokes and fennel hundreds of apple, orange, lemon, peach and cherry trees. Every now and then we met people working the fields that waved at us. More often, dogs would bark and run after at us… that’s when all the speed work comes handy!

First 25km went very well, my legs felt great and the uphill made things interesting.. I love the hills as they take away the boredome of the flat and you use different muscles.. From km25 onwards, I started to feel tired, my right hamstring started to annoy me. An energy gel and a powerbar later I was ok. Around km30, my GPS wanted us to run in the fields.. literally. So Lidia and I had to improvise, we followed our instinct and asked the only person we met on the road. We followed a road parallel from the one initially planned arriving at the finish line a couple of km short. So an extra short loop to get to 42.2km and complete marathon number 4.

Our camper Battista was parked close to the sea, so while Lidia cooked an awesome lunch, I headed straight to the water for my 10mins of cold bath. Given the warm day, I dived in for a short swim. Happy I did as this ended up being my shower for the day! The road to the next stage (Calabria) is long so no time to waste.

 

As a note, the owner of the camping where we stayed – Camping Le Due Barche (http://www.leduebarche.com/web/it-IT/default.aspx) didn’t want us to pay, as a sign of support. So to give something back, I can only say to go and stay there if you get the chance! The camping is very well organised and it is literally on the sea! Closer and you would get wet! The beach is very long and perfect location for kitesurfing!

 

I must admit that today I felt the run on my legs.. I don’t know if it was because of the hill or that the previous night I was very tired..

 

 

The stats for the day:

Time: 4h:22,

Distanza: 42.22

Numero partecipanti: 2 (Lidia and I!

Food: 1gel, 2 Lidia’s power bar, 2 bottles water + electrolite, 1 gatorade

Garmin GPS : http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160653617

Highlights: Having Lidia on the side in her bycicle and chatting all the way!