Enrico Maso, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 4 – First Steps
Piero has prepared his training plan. Every day he checks how many kilometres he needs to run, what exercises he must do and what rhythm he should keep to.
The first days are the most difficult. His body isn’t yet used to the new regime and his legs hurt from the unaccustomed exercise. Fortunately he has read various articles on how to recover his strength and so his physical fitness improves day by day. He has a good appetite and sleeps very well at night, better perhaps than he has ever slept.
The new shoes are excellent, too. The only problem is that his cat loves playing with shoes, and these new ones are his favourites. Piero hides them but Miro’ always finds them. Apart from this little inconvenience, the first month passes smoothly.
Piero runs in the park where he sees a lot of older people running. From one training session to another he feels better and better and so decides to try a mini-marathon.
“After all,” he thinks, “it’s only half as long as a marathon; 21 km isn’t much.” Looking at his programme, Piero remembers that he needs to run in ‘race rhythm’. The mini-marathon is scheduled for the following Sunday at 10 a.m.
There are athletes of all ages lined up at the starting point. Piero feels confident and sets off at speed. He must run as if it were a full marathon. But the course is heavy-going and he soon begins to feel tired. At 15km some older athletes overtake him. They seem comfortable while he is having difficulty…
“And this is only a half marathon! How would I manage a full one?” Piero asks himself dejectedly as he finishes the race.