Looking back the running season 2019, it has been an interesting and inspiring year. I can do this balance today, after having participated to the Verona Marathon this last weekend. I think winter is kicking in and the number of options becoming reduced, in this part of the world.

This is also the moment to start looking at the 2020 season: planning both where to run, and how to keep in shape despite the cold winter.

But it has been an interesting year, and I would like to share some of the things happened with you.

First of all, in December 2018 I was 10 kg heavier. I cannot say I was fat, neither my body index was. But I wanted to reach a better shape. Once I found the right method, motivation helped to achieve the goal pretty easily. I must say that I got back 2-3 kg from the lowest point, and I feel really good.

I love eating and drinking, and like many of us, starting running was also a way to burn out calories, accommodating room for treats without putting up weight. It became much more than that in the years.

But after a first race in February, Napoli City Half Marathon (oddly my first event in Italy, at the 13th attempt), I lacked motivation. This due to several reasons: being busy between work and some education, time for running was quite limited.

Then, finishing my master in June, everything changed. Copenhagen was blooming, with temperatures and landscapes calling for outdoor activities. Would have been possible to achieve my old time goal, to run a 21K below 2 hours?

Copenhagen Half Marathon was 12 weeks ahead: perfect time frame to arrive at the event prepared. And I started running about 40 km per week, seeing my pace going down, finally below the 5:40 min/km average.

On the way I convinced a good friend of mine to enroll and do it as well. He was not capable of running more than 3-4 km. All this enthusiasm gave me the idea of creating this page, I wanted to have and give more to a community, hopefully one day great enough to be a network, a platform to organize trips and events with the joy of sharing an experience together. And we are getting there 🙂

And the race day everything was perfect: I realized a new PB, enjoying the course for all the 21.1 km (actually few hundred meters more 😉 )

I ran 4 half marathons this autumn in three different countries: 3 of them below 2 hours. I met new friends, visited amazing places I wanted to see, and built new memories that will be with me forever. Isn’t this probably the best part of being a traveling runner?

Soon it will be again planning season: this will give motivation for hitting the roads when it is cold (but a treadmill can help in these cases 🙂 ). And what about you? Did your season 2019 come to an end? What is your next challenge? I would like to know it!


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