I can't believe it but I actually had a run in Venice and it was absolutely bloody fantastic!
We arrived on Saturday evening and were staying on a little island across the canal from the "mainland" Venice. St Mark's Square was a 5 minute water taxi across! So rather than battle with the hordes of tourists on the other side I thought I'd run along our little island. I'd already found a running route that someone had previously done and there wasn't much room to go running anywhere else anyway!
So, my plan was for a yummy meal out on Saturday night, a good night's sleep and a lovely run the next day. But the gods of running clearly did not want me to run on Sunday.
When I was getting ready for bed I realised my left big toe was feeling a bit odd. When I looked at it closely I saw that a mosquito had bitten me right on the top of the toe near the nail! Ouch! It was really red, puffy and itching like mad. I didn't have any cream with me so I tootled off to bed hoping I would be able to get my running shoes on the next day.
An hour later, the music from a private party was still pounding through the walls of the hotel. Two hours later hubby had dressed and was making his way to reception to complain! Very long story short, I had about an hour's sleep the whole night!
I was like a zombie the next day, my toe was throbbing and I didn't have the energy to go for a run. I was so disappointed. Still, I had Monday.
We spent the morning sightseeing and walking (my warm up!) and eating (pizza) and by early afternoon we were back at the hotel. I waited 2 hours for the pizza to go down (it was delicious), drank lots of water, got dressed, switched the Garmin on and eventually headed out for my Run in Venice! I was so excited.
I started with the 5 minute walk. The Garmin was trying to get a signal. The temperature was perfect. Not too warm, a little sea breeze and most of our little island was in the shade! The Garmin was still trying to get a signal.
In the end I couldn't wait for the watch. I just wanted to run. And run I did. I got into a rhythm immediately, my pace was perfect, my breathing perfect. I glided along the sea front. It was effortless. My legs were working perfectly, my footsteps were quiet. It was magic!
I was loving this! I saw people eating and drinking on the pavement, I passed a beautiful white coloured church with ornate spires, I glanced in the windows of a few shops, I saw boats galore on the water, I sprang up a few sets of steps and down the other side, thinking of MilesYonder! It was easy!
I reached the end of the island (literally as another step would have me in the sea) and turned to run back again. It was still magic! Think I was "in the zone". I was grinning at this stage because I was so happy. If you could bottle this feeling then you'd make a fortune.
I reached the other end of the island and had my cool down walk, still grinning from ear to ear! I felt invincible! Ran for about 25 minutes. Don't care how far.
The only downside is that I had no stats for the record. I would loved to have the run recorded on my Garmin page because it was in Venice, but hey oh maybe next time!
It was a beautiful, magical run in a fairytale city. Why this was so I have no idea. Perhaps it was a perfect alignment of everything that is needed for such a run and in the end the gods of running decided I'd suffered enough the day before!
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Irishprincess
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I love Venice - beautiful place! I am trying very hard not to feel envious of you and your run! You made it sound fantastic. Well done you! Enjoy your holiday!
Sounds like a wonderful run. Enjoy that feeling and have a fantastic time but I a. Sure you will. Hopefully you will have a better nights sleep tonight. I am sure you will have a fantastic dinner tonight!!
I love Venice too - had a very romantic weekend with my partner it's a magical city. Lots of walking too.
Wow how lucky are you to have ran in Venice, I plan on backpacking around Italy next year so will be taking my running gear with me after reading your post. Well done
You've got to run! The island we were staying in was Giudecca island. On the mainland the only time you can run through the streets of Venice is early morning. However, there were LOADS of runners in the evening along the water's edge. Enjoy!
Sod the Garmin! You ran in Venice! How lovely is that. I've never been but I felt like I had experienced the magic of it right there in your post. Quite cheered me up in fact. I would love to go to Italy. Sigh
Bit late for Venice but try to connect your watch to garmin.com via the Garmin Express app on a regular basis. This caches satellite location data on the watch (7 days worth on the FR220) and speeds up the lock-on. If you're somewhere new it's also a good idea to fire up your watch well before you intend to run, again so the lock-on is quick when you're actually ready to start running. This also gives you a chance to charge the battery in case you've inadvertently allowed it to run down. I learnt this to my cost when I only managed to track two thirds of a lovely spring morning run in London:
Thanks for the tip Michael. Will definitely look at this for future trips. I've told hubby we've got to go again just so I can get stats!
The very first time I saw Venice it was by train and that view when you come out of the train station is just jaw dropping,isn't it? Another of life's magic moments.
Running tourism! Oh, how wonderful that sounds, you lucky thing! I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much as well, it sounds magical Hope your toe is better though?
oooh - I'm totally jealous as I'm another Venice fan. I've taken to trying to record a run when I go anywhere, sort of a virtual souvenir !
Green with envy here on the (temporary) injury couch...
That sounds absolutely AMAZING! This running thing is just such a life changer in so many ways... what a lovely way to see Venice early in the morning!
Sounds great! I've discovered that there's a Moonlight Half Marathon in Venice in May each year. How romantic would that be?! Seriously thinking of going for it next year.
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Today I ran because I wanted to 🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️
I ran through the walking bit!
I actually ran a parkrun!
in the last month, I ran, but also, I walked
