Rome runners...

[HeleneCorsa]

Pack your shorts, Lordi and JaySeeSkinny ! No filter...

[Lordi Graduate10]

Nice weather there today! Rain next week though (boo!) but 20 degrees warmer than Helsinki! Can't wait for a jog up and down the banks of the Tiber next week rain or not!

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

True - but it rarely rains for long here so hopefully you'll get lucky!

[Sandyscroll Graduate10]

Whoa, that's a seriously blue sky! Beautiful! We can do block colour like that here too...seriously, uniformly grey with splatty wet bits. I'm sure you're feeling at least a bit envious now. 😉😂

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Sandyscroll]

Odd though it sounds, by the end of the summer I am usually hankering after a grey sky and some rain.

Today's sky was lovely though. In the height of summer it's too humid to be such a deep blue.

[Hidden]

That looks gorgeous, just off to bed for an early night as tomorrow we fly for what we are euphemistically calling ‘Winter Training’ in Malaga - 20 degrees....

When I checked the weather in our place in Le Marche for tonight it is -2 degrees, so Rome definitely looks better.

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Hope you are enjoying your winter training! Sounds like a jolly good idea to me. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

[Anniemurph Graduate10]

WOW! Seriously considering jetting off for some sun somewhere now... Enjoy!

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10]

Haven’t checked the weather for next week yet. But we’re normally lucky. Ireland, The Lake District - we don’t believe it rains much there because we always have sunshine! So I’ll ask hubby to work his magic (I’m sure it’s not me!) and look forward to blue skies like that.

See you running along the Tiber Lordi ! When are you there?

[Lordi Graduate10 in reply to JaySeeSkinny]

From Tuesday to Friday next week. Wife and daughter have an extensive sightseeing list to plough through so I'll need to be up with the lark to get a a couple of runs in. The west bank of the river looks ideal as it has a cycling path (and if we do get some sun it will catch the early morning rays) .

Let's hope for a break in the clouds eh?

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

Might see you there then! We’re in Rome from Sunday to Friday and early morning Tiber runs are on my running agenda. I’ll be the one with the funny 5-Finger running shoes. Plodding along like a cart horse after lots of carb loading the evening before!

[Lordi Graduate10 in reply to JaySeeSkinny]

Yes, I'm looking forward to some turbocarbstuffing italian stylee!

I'll be in ninja all black with electric blue Asics ( usually sporting a red face). We are staying near Campo di fioiri so will cross the river and run on the west bank north towards the Vatican then south towards the Tiber island more or less.

Will give you a nod!

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

That's basically my most frequent route Sometimes I go beyond there but two nice places for bobbing up to ground level are the Ponte Sant'Angelo, for a quick circuit of Castel Sant'Angelo, before heading down again, or at the island, then heading off through the ghetto and towards the centre. I like the bit after Ponte Sant'Angelo where it widens but have avoided it for a while as it seemed to be a nesting ground for seagulls and I wouldn't like the mother gulls to decide to have a peck at the intruder!

Again, though, I'd encourage you to run at ground level too - the riverside is convenient but the beautiful places in Rome are elsewhere, and if you're able to get out in the early morning they will be all yours to enjoy. Unfortunately I tend to get out at about 5ish so it's just too busy to run comfortably elsewhere.

[Lordi Graduate10 in reply to HeleneCorsa]

Great tip Helene, I'll certainly go run around the castle at Ponte Sant'Angelo! Ponte Sisto looks like my best bet for getting over to the west bank.

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

The Ponte Sisto is "my" bridge! It's the one that leads over to Trastevere and is minutes from my house. I cross it several times a day

It's one of the nicest bridges too. Ponte Sisto, Ponte Sant'Angelo, Ponte Milvio, and Ponte Fabricio are the only footbridges over the Tiber (I think) - the others all carry traffic, trams etc. As such they are also by far the prettiest.

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

PS When I passed today, it seems that the marauding gulls are no longer there, so you can cheerfully keep on going well beyond the Vatican!

Also, the ice cream on the Isola Tiberina is very decent, should you feel the need for a post-run reward (Otherwise look out for Fata Morgana - there is one near you in Via dei Chiavari - for some of the best gelato).

[Lordi Graduate10 in reply to HeleneCorsa]

You're a gem Helene! Thanks!

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

I’m further north than you, so shall be running south to Castel Sant Angelo. But there are some brilliant tips here and I’m getting really excited. Thank you so much HeleneCorsa 👍

[Fishypieface Graduate10]

OH!!!! That's just not fair

[Lordi Graduate10]

Not as warm as I'd hoped in the morning here in Rome today (chilly 6 degrees) but better than the minus 21 in Helsinki this morning.

Ran along the Tiber, north into the wind, then it started raining! Loved it! As a Nordic jogger I had shorts and T shirt on only for such tropical conditions and got a few shakes of the head from shoppers in the fruit market in Campo de Fiori!

Check out my run on Strava: strava.com/activities/14184...

<img src="content://com.samsung.android.memo/file/5e60c261-3a87-a8a1-0000-0161b79d86e9" orientation="0" altText="null" width="420" /><br>

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

Yes, it was blooming nippy this morning! Cracking run though, well done! Super pace.

I can only imagine the looks you would have received in Campo de' Fiori. I have seen people wearing scarves around their necks (proper cosy ones) along with their swimsuits on the beach in the height of summer in above 30 degrees, out of fear of the colpo d'aria (I kid you not). Many Italians are scared of air.

It's a shame as there have been some lovely days recently, but some really wintry ones too - the weather's all over the place at the moment.

I'm hoping to get out there by the river later on this afternoon if the rain holds off. It looks quite nice out now.

[Lordi Graduate10 in reply to HeleneCorsa]

Beautiful city You are lucky to live here. Though we were hounded by ticket touts at all the main attractions (cruxifiction's too good for 'em I say!)

Hope you had a good run. I was dragged around the Colossseum then up to Trevi and 3 hrs of shopping along via de Corsa all afternoon!

I decieded to run a faster 5k this morning because there was no snow and ice to worry about. Quite pleased with a 26min 5k

The walls of the embankment seem to play havock with the gps signal (Strava map or route)?

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

You are right about GPS. Using Strava just with my mobile phone was basically pointless (it had me scrambling all over the place, with a 5k PB of 18 mins!) but it's greatly improved now I use my Garmin. The map still shows me walking on water but I find the distances are accurate enough and pace corresponds to my pace on similar terrain elsewhere.

I pity you being stuck on Via del Corso all afternoon! Yikes! The Trevi Fountain also needs to be seen in the early morning - it's way too busy at other times.

The ticket touts are a nuisance. The only fixed rule I can give you is that NONE of them are official so you are right to keep away. BS. I get hassled every day around the Vatican (no I don't want an expensive guided tour of my workplace...) despite obviously not being a tourist. Official tour guides exist but they do not hawk for clients. I am sure that many unofficial guides are great but I have also heard plenty of them telling unsuspecting tourists astoundingly inaccurate BS.

If you get the chance to go for a morning run up at Villa Pamphilj (or indeed along the Passeggiata del Gianicolo), give it a go, if only for the pleasure of the walk up there which is beyond beautiful and gives you the best views over the city.

Also - not running-related, I know - if you're near the Pantheon / Senate building / Piazza Navona, don't forget to stop in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi to see the three masterpieces by Caravaggio. And the VERY strange dome inside the church of Sant'Ignazio.

[Lordi Graduate10 in reply to HeleneCorsa]

Back in freezing Finland now (minus 15). Many thanks for all your great advice Helen! We did try to eat at Il Duca but left it a bit too late and the queue was too long even at 20:30! We did find some reasonable places to eat in anycase (more by luck) and also tried the Filletti d baccala for some authentic Roman fried fish and puntarelle! I only did the one run in the end as Thursday was pretty rainy and chilly and we were pounding the pavements every day for 10-15km and pretty much covered all the major sights.

[HeleneCorsa Graduate10 in reply to Lordi]

Glad you had a good time, and you did well to try filetti di baccalà with puntarelle for good honest Roman food (now I want some too!).

It's such a shame the weather was so grotty. I think it's rained more over the last few days than in the whole of the last year... It's also unseasonably cold.

Oh well, you'll just have to come back another time then! You'll never run out of things to do in Rome.