Roma-Ostia Mezza Marathon: Giorno Due

Morning of race day quickly arrived and team crazy (I think that may be my new team for me and Lori) got ready. Well, I was ready and fielding questions asked about "should I take this" and "will I be warm enough if I wear this." Hey, it's all about being part of the team. I put her through a tad early alarm, she got to ask 20 questions, we both made it down to be attacked with flashing cameras from one of the guys. Yep. Some of those gems have made it to FB. 

The bus was loaded up and we moved to the starting line to be dropped off before our cheer team traveled to the finish line to await our arrival.

The starting area was a little crazy. Turns out this event is the second largest in Italy, second only to the Rome Marathon. Running clubs from all over traveled in packs sporting their matching warmups. Leather skinned old men with 2% body fat walked around wrapped in space blankets. Ponchos covered a lot of people and spandex shorts didn't do enough covering in some cases. Some groups out to have fun wore wigs and "CSI" body suits.

As the group warm up started (aerobics instructors on a stage shouting instructions in Italian) the group got moving, or you know, laughed at those getting into it. Runners still milled around the park area, running, stretching. If the competitor was male, there was a 85% he was using a tree or bush as his bathroom. Seriously. If not for all the starting gates and bib numbers this would have looked like a men's urinal rather than a race event. (Shoot, along the course it was more of the same!) Major ick is right!

Having no official time on record most of us LPN folks started in the giallo group or you know, the last one to start. 35 minutes after the first gun went off we were on our way. (Turns out the winner was already more than half way done when we started! Amazing and yet disgusting at the same time- right?)

We made a quick loop around the immediate area of where we started and then headed out town. On the autostrada. Just like Lori said it looked like we were going to be doing. It was a straight shot, with a couple of slow and steady hills. If you want a better shot of the terrain here's my race summary. Please admire the steady pace I kept...slow and steady. Emphasis on slow but yet that's the pace we're hoping to keep for the marathon, plus after 12ish miles it's the perfect pace!

The course was rather uneventful. Lots of people ahead and a fair amount of people behind me! Guess that's one good thing about these major events, they are more like the races back in the states. Around 20km an ambulance was on the side, a portion of the course roped off, and a man being put on a stretcher. Rumor has that he had a heart attack, ma no lo so. 

Perhaps the worst part of this race was the cruel and unusual finish line. Luckily I had prepared myself by looking at the course map and saw that there was a loop right before the finish line. As in you could see it, but it was barricaded and you were forced to run out and back before really being done with all 13.1 miles. Well, the map didn't show me that I'd be passing under 3, yes tre, inflatable arches in the process. If they wanted to make sure all their sponsors got proper advertisment couldn't they have used banners? Nothing like seeing the arch but then realizing there isn't a single clock by it so you keep running towards the next one to realize the same thing. Ridiculous.

At any rate, I finally carried my body over the timer sensor and was done! Food, jacket, medal collected while I convinced my body we'd survive I got to watch some fellow teammates cross the finish. Nothing better than screaming encouragment while they too suffer the agony of the 3 arches.

Over all it was a good race and nice to see what my "race pace" is rather than my lazy pace due to any excuse to stop running during the training runs. A weekend spent with LPN is always entertaining. ALWAYS. If it was this much fun for the 1/2...I wonder what the full marathon has in store for us in March.    

Roma-Ostia Mezza Marathon: Giorno Uno

It's just a half marathon.

Yep. Those words flew out of my mouth so many times this past week I lost count. The phrase started off as a joke with my training buddy but we quickly realized that it really just is a half marathon.  13.1 miles. Va bene. Nothing like the mileage we've been logging along our path to the Rome Marathon now in just under 3 weeks.

Le Piume Nere headed north in our bus where we laughed about previous trips, other races, and ate fabulously appropriate pre-race day food like Thin Mints, M&Ms, and chips. Once entering the city our first stop was in the EUR district which was just outside the city walls "way back when." Our destination was San Paolo alle Tre Fontane which is the location that Paul was martyred.

The chapel was beautifully decorated from what we could see since mass was occurring. The three fountains inside supposedly sprung up in each place Paul's head landed after being decapitated. Turns out the fountains were actually closed up in more recent years due to pollution. The Abbey area was also gorgeous: tree lined walk ways, birds flying through the air chirping happy songs, statues scattered. No real reminder that just on the other side of the wall was the busy city.

After milling around until almost sunset we loaded back up for the dinner location.  I still have no idea where we actually were. I should have turned the GPS on because after a while it was a game of "where are they taking us?" Finally the bus stopped and we were told it was time to get out for a "short walk." No problem right? Well, you'd think that considering 90% of those getting off the bus were running a half marathon the next day. Yeah, you'd think. Not really the case but it was getting late and I for one was ready to eat. We walked through a neighborhood to get to the place and found our typical 2 huge tables waiting for us. Food starting pouring out of the kitchen and then it was "pizza no stop" time. Pizza no stop is the glorious pizza meal where they keep bringing out different pizzas. I think we got through 5 or 6 types before turning over the peg from the green to the red saying "basta!"

All the pizza brought out was similar to ones I've tried before, with the exception of the one with red lentils. Yep, lentils. It was absolutely yummy because the pizza dough in Rome is much more like a fried flat bread or tortilla. So if you can imagine this type of crust with lentils and cheese, it almost tasted like something Mexican or in the least, not something too Italian. The final pizza was con nutella ma, it wasn't the best one I've had so it was onto the café and lemoncello. This of course was dopo i litri di vino, birra, e acqua.

Looking around the table seeing all the seats full while hearing the laughter, chatter, and clatter of dishes is a crazy experience. It's like a huge reception but not because we're all at the same table! I'm telling you dinning with fellow LPN members makes me really feel like an authentic Italian family. Of course this family consists of a whole lot of Americans, British, Italians, Spanish, Germans, Romanians, French, Canadians, and others but when we're all together we're a regular United Nations!

While we waited for the bus back on the street we were entertained by the radar speed sign. When a car passed by at a certain speed higher than the posted limit a -5 would appear. Who knows what this meant but we figured it wasn't good and were very amused when we saw it several times...including as our bus pulled up!

We had one last stop before the hotel....a drive by of the Colosseo at night. It was beautiful. So beautiful. Even more so than this awesome picture Lori captured from the bus driver's window.

Finally (finally, finally) we arrived at the convent we were staying at. Tired and stuffed we waited for our keys to the rooms. Within 15 minutes of getting into our room the lights were out and we were sleeping since it was way past my turning into a pumpkin time. Plus, we had to be moving in the morning crazy early.

Cooking Class: Lasagna Bolognese & Chiacchiere

Chiacchiere, is perhaps the word I struggle with the most when reading a passage out loud in class. My teacher quickly realized this and when she's feel extra sassy I somehow always get stuck reading that portion. When reading though it typically means chatter, small-talk, or gossip. Tonight though, it meant tasty fried batter covered with powder sugar and chocolate sauce. These yummy little treats are typically a carnivale treat and vary from those prepared in the past by being  drizzled with chocolate rather than blood. Why the name? Well, I guess someone thought the crunch when you bite into one sounded a little like chatter. Yeah. That has to be it because once these hit the table, there is no chatter to be heard...just the sounds of yum's and fat cells cheering.

Tonight it was our turn to try to make this seasonal treat. Come to think of it, the lasagna we made was also a seasonal thing. After spending the time rolling out the two different doughs with the pasta press I can now understand why they aren't made year round. Plus, who really wants their oven going for over an hour after various pots are boiling previous in the middle of the hot summer? But right now? It's a completely different story!

It was a very busy night but definitely hands on. We started off with the bolognese sauce (no veggie chopping this week!) and then worked on the second sauce for the lasagna that consisted primarily of flour, milk, and butter. As those simmered away it was time to start the pasta dough. Making the dough was easy, but the rolling out with the hand cranked roller took some time- especially since we had to get them to a small enough size before sending them through again to be the correct thickness. It was an arm workout. The product before being sent into the pot of boiling water wasn't very pretty. Nothing like our store bought frilly edged dry pasta. These were a much thicker and variously shaped wedges.

Once the table was cleared we started again with mounds of flour with a perfect volcano top to fill with things like sugar, eggs, rum, and orange concentrate. This dough was much sticker and smelled so fabulously sweet it was hard to resist especially as the next step took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Mini wedges being sent through the roller until they were thinner than pie crust. Then they had to be sliced. Chef R, another regular and I took on this process trying to be a good productive line. I think I was the bottleneck but by my 4th attempt to chop the dough rapidly like Chef R, I was sort of catching on. Here's what it should look like:



And no, even if the pictures indicate my level of  concentration,  there is no way my technique looked anything like that. And mine didn't look like nice tortilla strips either, but it didn't matter because when they are fried they don't stay like that anyway. But seriously. Check out that table full of those suckers and we didn't use all the dough. We also noticed while checking out that they had 3 large plates full of them under glass. Yep. Our food productions are works of art! Or you know, we just made enough to get them through the weekend.

Arms tired, apron covered in flour, and hands scaly with dried dough it was time to assemble the lasagna. Sauce, noodles folding outward, sauce x2, cheese x2, noodles. Repeated until to top of pan and fold noodles back over. Bake for an hour and then let it sit for another to let the liquids/juice from the cheese and sauce to get absorbed by the noodles. Luckily he had already made one and we didn't have to wait for the one we really made.

The other perk of this week (other than learning an Italian classic) is I learned where to buy some of the kitchen gadgets that I drool over each week...like the meat pounder, strainer-bowl for items just out of the frier, and even some of the huge pots. I think it's time to start rearranging my kitchen to make room for some of these soon to be mine items. Just getting the kitchen ready for my visitors!

Piano, Piano

No, not the instrument but rather the Italian word for slowly.

I'm sure I've mentioned it in the past since I hear it all the time during my fits of frustration in Italian class, while chopping oodles of carrots into microscopic squares, and it's what I keep repeating in my mind when I'm out there running. Running. Running.

Today was a huge milestone in the training process. Somehow I managed cover 20 miles of pavment. Totally not the smartest thing in the training world to go from 16 miles all the way up to 20 but for some reason today was the day that I actually chose to follow our training schedule. (It's a little more complicated than that...but just go with it.)

It wasn't fast.
I'm pretty sure it was ugly at times.
The wind was brutal (23mph with up to 40mph gusts).
It was a little scarey at times.

But you know? I did it.

And once it was done, I was thrilled about my decision to take a day off from work to just focus on this. I was extra excited that it decided not rain and although I keep complaining about the wind, it made me laugh that even my body mass (during its "no carb left behind" 3 year stint in Italy) could still get knocked around by it.

I wasn't thrilled that my training partner was sick so I had to do this solo...but while she rested up for our weekend half marathon up in Rome, I pressed on.

Which again, probably not the smartest thing. I think in the time I was out there (we'll call it 4.5 hours) I feel like 50 cars honked at me but I'm sure it was really only 25. And no, I wasn't in their street but I was running along (our normal path) dressed in running gear and yet guys looking for the "working girls" would still slow down or try to get my attention. One guy tried talking and luckily it was when I could still run so I just stared straight ahead and I think he finally realized I was jamming out to whatever he speed off. I mean my calves are eye catching (cause they're large and very white) but really?! Near the end I really wanted to break my "just ignore them, they'll go away" plan and kick a car door while expressing my disgust for their actions (in English of course) but I didn't, thus avoiding an international incident. (Where were my cyclists when I needed them?! At work?)

I'm totally safe out there- I promise! Cell phone was loaded to call at anytime, had my RoadID, & my GPS watch was tracking my route. Plus, said training partner knew where I was running and since my car was in front of her house she would know if something was up. I may crazy but not stupid!

I think it was around this time that an old basset hound who had been basking in the sun the first time I passed him was trotting towards me with something in his mouth. When I got close enough, I kid you not, he had a pack of wrapped ladyfingers and headed back to his dog house. I almost stopped to open it for him (plastic can't be good for doggies) but then thought, maybe it's his job to run down to the market?

Then again, maybe I was delusional at this point?

Those last miles were misery. The wind kicked up sand. The lake looked like an angry ocean. The air wasn't clear due to dust, pollen, and other non lung friendly things. It really was ridiculous. It was to the point where I was entertaining the idea of getting picked up by a friend in the area but when I thought that the call would consist of "yeah, I'm a mile away from your house" that was just crazy talk. So those thoughts were squished by the "okay, only a mile left...that's less than 15 minutes and there is more water than you can possibly drink waiting for you." Two seconds later "okay, you made progress...just a few more steps."

Did I mention that I was "walking" at this point? No point injuring myself this late in the game...or you know several miles prior.

I'm really trying not to exaggerate my experience. Any of you who have pushed yourself to the limit know that it can get ugly but you also know that you get through it. And that's what I did.

Granted, the thought of having another 6.2 miles to complete on race day really made me question this whole thing but seriously? At that point, what's another 6.2? And my favorite running buddy with be out there. And we'll have fun landmarks keeping us entertained.

Rome Marathon...get ready...34 days until you're going down.

Carnevale

The Lookout

I know I shouldn't be. But I am.

Even after all the days I've spent in my house seeing at time rather odd things out my window, never did I imagine seeing what seemed liked every kid from the town dressed up in costume and confetti flying into the air. Yes, even after I had stumbled upon a news story talking about Monte di Procida's Carnevale celebration and how the sale of flour, eggs, and spray paint to kids had been banned for the week. (Which by the way, was the article I posted earlier on Facebook in Italian. It made me laugh because it sounded like something you'd read about back home.)

Yesterday afternoon in two different parts of town, kids, adults, and floats congregated for this year's La Bella Napoli themed parade. The group that gathered in the piazza around the corner were Snow Whites of every size and lots of dwarfs. We had a few of i Puffi (the Smurfs), other princesses, and even a Ninja Turtle. It looked like Halloween again but this time around I could actually see the costumes since the sun was out. The little kids were adorable! If you watch the official video you can see a few of them. There is a little boy dressed like a chef that was in my top 5 favorites that appears around minute 7 (I think).

Before the parade even started, I could hear "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho" blaring. Well, it was the Italian version of it which was hilarious in my mind, but it turns out Nico is not a fan of giant Snow White, let alone her music. The confetti was pouring into the streets. Those poor kids who couldn't get their hands on flour or eggs apparently bought out the local supply of silly string and chased each other through the streets.

The parade really was more like a swarm of people (again, you really should check out the video) and that's EXACTLY was what outside my window.

It was fun though- all of us were on our balconies watching the show below and hoping that not too much of the confetti drifted into our houses. Well, maybe I was the only one thinking that as I'm pretty sure I was the only one with my balcony doors actually open? Come to think of it, I wasn't in a down jacket either. And you know my heat wasn't on. I was thrilled to feel the sun so late in the afternoon. Granted, that changed just a few hours later when the rain started falling again.

Yeah. Streets filled with confetti. Then it rained. Just a little messy? You bet! But you've got to chalk one up to Monte di Procida because today when I left town they had city street cleaners out there trying to scrape what they could off the street. Some of the business owners were also out there sweeping. Trash problem in Naples? I don't know what you're talking about. Well, actually I do since I was over on the Support Site today and saw the mounds of trash growing again...but not where I live!

Cooking Class: Tiramisu & Other Stuff

Another Friday night means another cooking class over at La Vigna. Tonight's menu was another that was not to be missed with tiramisu on the menu. Seriously, it was the only one I really saw when the announcement went out and even now after spending 3+ hours cooking and eating I still had to look up the other things we made....tagliatelle alla bolognese and involtini alla messicana. 

With so many things going on in the kitchen tonight and probably more socializing than what is conducive to truly learning new recipes, I'm going to just show you what we made. Sorry. I'll try to at least track down the tiramisu recipe by the week's end. I really was trying to keep track of what we were doing tonight but once I was selected to dice 2 carrots piccoli I sort of lost track of what else was going on. I mean, don't they have food processors for things like this? (Please, take a moment to appriciate just how tiny I had to chop these suckers.)

That was just one part of the bolognese sauce and once it was done I didn't even see our beautifully diced veggies. Crazy! But it did make me feel better about eating every last noodle off my plate knowing that there were veggies. (Just ignore that slab of butter and the fact that olive oil was also added.)

Next up was the involtini alla messicana,  or what we were calling, sausage stuffed veal. In a method very similar to the last involtini  we made, the meat was rolled up before being cooked up and served with a sauce. This week's though was spicy (that's why it's messicana) and with the funghi, also chopped by me, almost took on an Asia flavor. It had my taste buds very happy because I was eating something that did not taste Italian at an Italian restaurant- go figure. 

Finally, we got to the main attraction, tiramisu. With the cream and "pudding" already prepared, assembly was the only thing required. Using store bought ladyfingers, each was dipped into "weak coffee." Weak because it was double the water used typically for one espresso shot. Yeah. It wasn't that weak...but what's the point of weak coffee anyway? A layer of the cream mixture was added, and then another layer of ladyfingers, this time soaked in the coffee was layered on top. Then the topping was piped on before being dusted with "just a little" cocoa powder.

 

Yeah. "Just a little."  

As for me, the full belly I left with is totally winning over the super soaked coffee dessert so it's time for me to head downstairs with my espresso charged kitty and get to sleep. 

Buonanotte!

Cooking Class: Pizza

Friday still seems to be my pizza day (well, one of my pizza days) be it either for lunch with the coworkers or for an easy dinner pick up before I climb my stairs. Here in Italy though, pizza is much more the Saturday night meal of choice. I'm not sure why that is...maybe because it's easy meal before the Sunday feast?

Tonight's cooking class was one that I'd be waiting for- PIZZA!

Well, it was take one for learning how to make pizza. Granted it was more like an episode of Martha Stewart where we mixed everything together and then magically the chef pulled out a huge tray of pizza dough ready for pizza-ing but that's how you have to do it when it takes about 2 hours for the dough to rise in the dead of winter and hail is falling from the sky.

Pizza dough is super easy to make so I recommend giving it a try if you haven't before. Need a recipe? Try this authentic one that I learned tonight.

Pizza Dough (*Winter Recipe)
1kg flour
50g yeast
1cup (or so) warm water
1/2 a huge ladle of olive oil (best guess 2/3 cup)

Mix it all together (with your hands of course) until it all pulls together. Set aside for approximately 2 hours until it's increased in size.

One trick with real pizza is the crust is really thin. It's fabulously crispy with (all) the olive oil once baked so give it a try. You'll need to roll it out (with a rolling pin) and add flour as necessary so it doesn't get all over. Once in the oil (olive) coated pan, prick the dough with a fork all over to ensure no bubbles take over.

*In the summer (or warmer weather) you only use 25g of yeast and you can use cold water. People in Monterey, I think you should stick with the winter version!

We made several types of pizza:

• Marinara: sliced garlic gloves, marinara sauce, drizzle of olive oil
• Margherita: marinara sauce, light coating of shredded Parmesan, a tad of basil (add mozzarella di bufala after pulled from oven)
• Biancaneve: "cooking cream" from a box, corn kernels, cheese and drizzle of olive oil (translates to "Snow White")
• Siciliana: marinara sauce, fried eggplant (sauteed), cubed provolone cheese, and yep, olive oil
• And then that one that seems to be on every menu, except for my pizza place downstairs...the Siciliana with potato wedges 1/2 cooked

Once loaded (well, not really by American pizza standards) bake at 180C for about 20 minutes. Yeah, sorry for all the metric measurements, it's only going to get worse! 

There you have it! Of course if you really want to just make it pepperoni or throw even more veggies on it go for it. I think my favorite pizza still is the Sicilian but once the weather warms back up a tad I'll be switching back to the baby tomatoes, rocket, yummy cheese, and prosciutto crudo because it's like a salad on bread, and it doesn't get much better than that.

Turn On Your Heater...

• When all surrounding mountains are dusted with snow.
• When you wake up with a cat glued to your side because his fur coat isn't enough warmth.
• When you have to double check that the fridge is in fact running because it doesn't feel cold. 
• When you can see your breath in the house and your hot coffee steams like it never has before. 
• When stepping onto the patio feels warmer than the living room you just left.
• When the fear of your laundry drying too slowly and being stinky is replaced with the high possibility of it freezing.
• When things that should feel cold don't because you have 10 icicles instead of 10 fingers. 
• When your PJs could double as snow gear.
• When you realize that milk was left on the counter for about 5 hours, but aren't worried because it's still cold. (True story.) 
• When pending union strikes (gas station attendees) are put on hold due to extreme weather conditions currently being experienced in Italy. Yes. Even strikes are impacted by this coldness!

I finally caved the other night and turned on the heat here in my stone castle. I'm surprised just how nice this antiquated system can take the edge off of the cold. Don't get me wrong, my warm blooded sister would still freeze to death here, but I'm down to just one sweatshirt over whatever the sweater of the day was.

Nico finds the 2 wall units extremely entertaining with their beeping, but I also think he's realized that they provide heat. Why? Well I noticed we were fighting for the same half of the bed last night. You know, the "warm" side. And when the one in our room isn't on I find him perched on the back of the couch, in between the wall radiator and the unit on the wall producing warmth. (Yes, my cat is a genius!)

So yeah. I guess this is what I could consider my first winter? I don't like it very much. Bring on the rain any time because seriously...I already can't run out there because it's so cold.