Although I haven’t posted in the forum for what seems like forever, rest assured, I have been running - not as far or often as I’d like - but the pressures of work seem to have left me with little time for catching up on all things C25k and beyond.
However, this morning, on holiday in Tuscany, I managed to wake up early to try and beat the heat. I was out the door of our little mini villa in Cascina just south east of Pisa before 7am, despite the consumption of some rather nice vino frizzante last night.
Once I got out of the shade of the beautiful gardens surrounding our home from home, I realised I’d failed in my first endeavour. I had in no way beaten the heat; the sun was already climbing up in the cloudless sky and scorching down. A quick bit of faffage ( I can’t seem to run, not even a tourist run, without the obligatory faff) had me back at the house rummaging quietly for my sunglasses. (OK so maybe I wasn’t as silent as I thought, as my holiday companion -daughter number 2- grumpily pointed out).
At last I was ready to go...
And it was a lovely run: through the village streets, past a possibly medieval church and down towards the River Arno. But it was hot, hot, hot. 32 degrees already; I wasn’t fast and I certainly wasn’t pretty, but I was determined to complete 5 km. Got to about 4.5 when my phone (which has had a very leaky battery for a while) gave up the ghost. With no music and no idea of distance or location I ploughed on, hopeful that I was going in the right direction. I’d be scuppered if I got lost with no phone and, more to the point, no Italian!
Fortunately my inner Satnav was working well and the familiar building came in sight sooner than expected, which meant I’d run my planned 5k plus the 5 min walk distance too. So I’ll chalk that one up as 6km.
After a walk around the gardens to cool down, which didn’t work as by now I was dripping, I decided to leave the sleeping offspring in peace, and opted for a gentle swim. 60 lengths later and I’m just about cool 😎 and lounging in the sun thinking about breakfast.
Written by
Razouski
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Thanks your Majesty. The trouble with Tuscany is the food - especially the gelato. I’m trying to ration myself to just one gelato a day. Hence the need to run and swim to burn off some of the extra calories.
Where about’s in Tuscany are you headed to in September?
I know! The food and wine ...... heavenly. As you say thank goodness we do some exercise 🙂
We'll be around half an hour from Siena and within good travelling distance to those gorgeous little hilltop villages. We first visited there many years ago so it'll be a trip down memory lane for us.
Hi Raz! You always seem to be very busy, fitting in a zillion things at a time, so it's great to see you with your feet up. Or at least, to see your feet up 😁. Looks so beautiful there, kudos for running in that heat though.☀️🕶️
Thanks @grumpyoldgirl. I didn’t stay reclining for long as walked around Pistoia for a few hours later in the morning. But I’m ready to get my feet up again now with a glass of something cool. 🥂
Thanks Wimborne, it was nice to have time to actually write a post rather than just think about it then get distracted. Even though it was hit it was good to be out running in a completely different environment to my usual runs.
Thanks Maddee, I’ve really missed everyone, and need to get back in the forums more regularly as it helps keep me motivated to run more regularly. Life just seems to get in the way at the moment.
We were in Tuscany 2 weeks ago. Gorgeous place, delicious food and fantastic landscapes. I “gorged” on running and tried to get out as many mornings as I could. Running tourism is the best!
Ah, it's good to know that you are around. I often wonder where some of the troops are, whether they are missing in action or laying injured. Whatever happened to Jan?
Injuries? Ouch. Like toothaches, annoying but fixable, hope she's back on track before the snowflakes fall. I miss her summer banter regarding a scorchio as well as the opportunity to annoy her with my music suggestions. Great to 'see' you around though, more than positive to know that people are still running!
I know, I miss her summer run blogs in Italy, especially as I had planned to visit her so we could run a HM together. I was looking forward to training on The Hill That Kills. I’m sure she’ll be back eventually.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
