22🇬🇧 | Indoor 2026: debut and potential
An indoor debut that ended after 450 meters, clear signs of progress up to a season-best of 1:49.19, and a key workout from the latest period.
00. 450 meters into my indoor debut
Let’s get straight to it.
Indoor debut on January 17th: Memorial Giovannini, Ancona.
Bang. The gun.
I run 450 meters.
I step off.
That’s how my 2026 indoor season begins. Me, sitting on the high jump mat inside the arena in Ancona, watching the others finish the last lap and a half. My mind completely blank. No clear emotion. Just emptiness.
I’m ashamed of that decision. I let the race carry me away. I was never truly in control of what was happening, from the gun to the moment I stopped. And the paradox is that I was running correctly — no crazy pace, no reckless moves.
By the end of the second lap I was working harder than usual just to stay with the group, and instead of staying focused on myself, I was locked onto my competitors. Body and mind out of sync.
At 450 meters I thought: How is it possible that I’m hurting this much and I’m second to last?
In that split second, I decided to step off.
That’s what I can’t accept.
The fact that, among the available options in my head, stopping was one of them.
Even if I wasn’t in my best racing mode, I should have made it to the finish no matter what. I could have crawled it in. But stepping off — no. Because stopping goes against my entire project. Against the reasons why I chose to be an athlete, against the passion I put into this, against the desire to find out how far I can go, and the will to prove — first of all to myself — what I’m capable of.
The truth is, I didn’t even try to stay inside the pain for as long as possible. The moment the race stopped matching the script I had in my head, I pulled myself out.
Condition was missing, maybe partly.
Hunger was missing.
01. Nantes and Padova
After my season opener in Ancona, I needed an answer. Not a time — a mental one.
Ten days later: the Indoor Meeting in Nantes.
A completely different story. Different attitude. Different presence.
I was inside the race, inside my body, aware in every phase. We call this Synchrony: the ability to be fully present and focused in the moment of performance, uniting mind and body into one fluid, conscious movement.
I finished second in 1:50.47, fighting for the win. The time wasn’t anything special. But that night I gave everything. I emptied the tank in the final lap.
In France, the atmosphere is always something different. A full arena — kids, parents, athletes, older fans. Everyone there for track and field. When the environment vibrates like that, the race can’t do any less.
After Nantes, the original plan was to go straight to the National Championships on March 1st. Then we changed course because I needed a faster time to be sure of racing in the top heat. So on February 14th I raced in Padova.
Mission accomplished: second place in 1:49.19. Very close to my indoor PB. Currently third in the 2026 Italian indoor rankings. The time isn’t bad, but the race left me with something different.
In the three weeks leading up to it, we had refined everything. Removed the residue of heavy training. Restored sharpness without losing depth. My condition rose quickly. The result was that I showed up to the race with huge potential — and used it superficially.
For three laps I stayed too cautious, too controlled. With 200 meters to go, I realized I was actually feeling great — I hadn’t spent much, and I still had plenty of fuel left. I closed hard over the final 150 meters, but at the finish line one feeling was clear: I had given an 8 out of 10 effort. I didn’t dare enough. I didn’t dig deep into my resources. Maybe it’s just a perception — but by now I know myself: when my body sends certain signals, I recognize them.
I’m disappointed I only used half of a day like that. Because if I had taken more risk, something truly big could have come out of it.
There is, however, something that matters more than the clock: underneath the layers of preparation, I’ve found the best indoor shape of my career. Now I need the courage to use it.
I feel I’m worth a 1:47 indoors. And I want to prove it.
A few years ago, I used to come into form much faster. I was sharp right away.
Now we’re building deeper foundations — both in speed and endurance. It takes me longer to switch on, but when it happens, the level is different. It will show even more outdoors, with the right taper and the time to truly reveal the work of these months.
Less immediate.
More structured.
Different.
Thank you!
This blog is the diary of my attempt to live athletics — and to live from athletics — to run two laps as fast as I possibly can.
I share it with transparency, no filters.
All of this is possible thanks to those who believe in the project and choose to stand by my side, taking this leap with me. Thank you from the heart!
02. A key workout
I want to share a key workout from the three weeks between Nantes and Padova, which gave a decisive boost to my condition.
Saturday, 07.12
- 15’ activation, dynamic stretching, and mobility
- 10’ warm-up with easy jogging (Z1)
- about 40’ of technical strides and strides
- 3 x 300 aerobic activation in 58”, off 1’
Then the main course:
- 600 (off 1’) 200
- Pause 8’
- 500 (off 1’) 200
- Pause 8’
- 400 (off 1’) 200
Splits:
🔸1’26”67 - 29”97 —> effort 7/10
🔸1’07”22 - 27”38 —> effort 8.5/10
🔸52”13 - 27”34 —> effort 10/10
03. Books
The book that kept me company in January — especially during travel to competitions and in those quiet, slow moments of downtime on the road — was Dreamcatcher.
A novel that clearly echoes the universe of It: once again, a group of friends shaped by a shared childhood and a bond that goes beyond them. At the center is Duddits, a “different” boy who, in an America marked by hatred, violence, and discrimination, becomes the purest point of the story. As children, the protagonists make an act of radical goodness toward him, protecting him from a brutal assault. It’s a moral choice that defines them and binds them forever.
Over everything looms the horror element: fear, invasion, loss of control. Horror intertwines with friendship, and what ultimately saves them is not the absence of darkness, but the strength of their bond when the darkness arrives.
image from goodreads.com
04. Quick thoughts before they slip away
01 | Short Track: the coolest sport of Milano-Cortina
Thursday, February 13, I went with Gaia to watch short track at the Milano-Cortina Olympics. Arianna Fontana won silver in the 500m. What an atmosphere: the arena packed with Dutch fans (for them, it’s sacred) and so much cheering. We were totally hyped.
A few days before, I was undecided about going to race in Ostrava that Thursday. In the end, I didn’t go, and looking back, I’d choose a thousand times to see the Olympics. No contest: the atmosphere, the adrenaline, the speed on the ice… completely different from the usual feelings of my races. I got fired up, and I want to carry that energy into my next track competitions.
Insane how fast they go on such a tight track.
02 | Unsettling Thoughts
Lately, I’ve been having days when I think about my “complementary” life: me at work, me riding my road bike on the weekend doing 200 km rides, me spending weekends around with Gaia. In those moments, I wish I could live that life now, instead of the one made of training sessions, races, and track.
I don’t know if it’s a sign that I’m growing up, if I’m slowly distancing myself from the desire to make it in sport, or if these are just normal thoughts and I’m overanalyzing them. On those days, I feel unsettled — like I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing with my life or what I really want for my future.
03 | Time for Nationals
On Sunday 1st March I’ll be lining up at the National Indoor Championships running the 800 meters and chasing something big. See you there or see you on tv (Rai Sport)
05. The bell lap
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Thanks for reading!
Jacopo
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