Arienzo 5K

This week's running adventure lead us to a little town named Arienzo for a 5K/10K event. After the recent Vesuvio trail run, we were a little weary, but those fears were pushed the back of my mind as we drove through the back roads with fields and well kept neighborhoods going by our windows. No trash filled the shoulders of the road either! And no, I'm not the only one who notices this stuff because it wasn't too long before all the passengers in the car were commenting on it.

When we arrived, our group of Americans was good in size, large enough for us to win the club prize, and we stood around while registration was completed. It was during this time that 6 piece marching band started to play along the starting area. It took us no time to realize that one of the trumpet players was holding his instrument with one hand and in his other hand a cigarette was waiting for a break in his part. And that is just what happened! As soon as he could, he moved the trumpet down, and lifted the cigarette to his mouth instead.

Closer to the event start, a priest took the stage for prayer and maybe even a quick scripture reading with commentary. It was pretty interesting to see this group of runners, primarily males in their 40-60 in their way too much spandex outfits pausing to cross themselves and recite the Lord's prayer before a race. The priest wasn't done until he splashed holy water over the crowd. Yep. Only in Italy!

The race course was along the roads of town and then some gravel paths. There were hills, but for the most part they were  short and steep, so although I had to break my "run like the Italians ie no walking, just run slower than walking would be plan" I was able to power up one of them. Of course by this time the "cool" of the morning was long gone and the sun was full strength on us racing along these roads.

Although the 10K-ers moved on ahead after the first turn (it happens when you purposely start yourself in the back of the pack), it was alright because this hands down was the best marked path I've seen. Well, for most of us. Turns out one of my coworkers found a "short cut" that lead her back to the finish line about .2 miles before she was supposed to arrive there. Water stations were stocked and ready to give us water after those killer hills (even before the first mile). Roads really didn't need to be blocked from traffic because of how they organized the course and also, I'm pretty sure that all community members were either running with us, volunteering, or had already walked to the town's church for Sunday mass.

Lori-less and iPod-less on this race, I was forced to listen to my feet crunching the gravel and my lungs not so efficiently taking in oxygen. But you know what? I'm actually learning to like running without the added noise. But don't get me wrong, with Evacuate the Dance Floor or MMMBop remixed streaming through my ears my step is always faster. Well, unless I decide to take a dance break...then no guarentees.

Pretty much from the get-go there was another female ahead of me, so I just stayed a few yards back from her. My grand plan was to beat her at the final stretch...but I guess she also pounds out the last portion of course. I almost got her, but almost doesn't count when she crossed first. I got 3rd and she got 2nd. So although I'm frustrated that a few more quick steps would have moved me up...I placed! Yes, there were more than 3 females running the 5K. (Please don't ask me how many more though!) And you know what? My time wasn't half bad considering the hills so that was more encouraging than anything else as it marked the end of week #1 of training for the Lisbon 1/2 Marathon.

So, my prize for placing? A crate of food: plums,  pasta, canned tomatoes. Lots. I think this is Italy's way of telling me that after 3 years of living here I will like pasta.

Crummy Day

They're bound to happen and when they do, well mine seem to be big scale. Long story short I ended up in the cross-hairs of our CDRE today, not because he was upset with me, but because I happened to be the one in his office during his venting session. Granted, I am the one that identified the issue and presented a logical and simple (not to forget quick fix) solution which got him involved...but how was I supposed to know it would relay back to him? I mean, I'm one of those fix the problem before most people know it's a problem kind of employees.

But then I got to thinking about my cat filled house: Neeks crying out in panic as I carried the kittens out the door, baby kittens crying the entire drive to the vet, & poor groggy kittens that were fixed today. After a nap with all of them (well, once we all settled down and Neeks got over his hissing fit), I realized my day was nothing compared to theirs. And maybe it's because he's my baby, but Nico has had a rough week- having to share his momma and house with the little ones? And to make it worse, he's not trusted outside unsupervised anymore because of the patio window leading from a section of the roof to main stairwell, to the open street. Filled with speeding cars and scooters. A flat cat is not an option. And yes, this is how he feels about it all.

9K: Vesuvio Trail Run

Since the Rome Marathon back in March, running and I have been in an on again, off again relationship. Recently Lori and I decided to move forward with some of our running goals and started to map out our next few months of events and training. Well...that's the outcome. It really went something like:

Katie: Oh look! Registration is still open for the Rock 'n Roll Lisbon event at the end of September. You know, that's one I was looking into early this year and it gives us more time to train than Prague or Budapest...

Lori: Okay, well let's pick a few and cost them out.

Katie: Sounds like a plan. Oh! Check it out...the Madrid marathon is on my 30th. We can totally run 2 marathons in a 3 weeks time frame right? I mean, we're going to train a lot smarter this time.

Lori: April?

Katie: Oh and the Dublin half in next August so put that on your schedule too.

Lori: You're crazy.

Katie: What are you doing this weekend?

Lori: I don't know.

Katie: Want to do the Vesuvio Trail run with LPN? 9K. No time limit, let's hike it.

Lori: Sure.
- - - - -
Once we were committed, I was able to convince 2 additional unsuspecting individuals. But hey- I just saw trail run on Vesuvio so I wasn't expected a walk in the park, but I was also planning to hike it rather than run it. Two hours, no problem.

So this morning a small group of us LPN folks headed to the starting line. With the pack quickly escaping in front of us, our small group of hikers pressed on. The tree cover was nice, but still didn't negate the gravel/sandy path on the incline. Within the first few kilometers our group dropped in numbers as the incline increased significantly, but the volunteer chosen to bring up the last of us (TO make sure we didn't get lost out in the wilderness!) was patient with our stopping to catch our breaths or take a swig of water. Gianni was his name and he was continually reminding us piano piano, and telling us how many more kilometers until the incline was done.

Well, when the path switched to loose soil coated in pine needles while simultaneously increasing the slope to something between 50 and 90 degrees, the four of us started to question our sanity. Of course two very in shape guys heading down saying it was too tough, also played a major role in our doubts. Lori being the smart one (and gets the gold star award for knowing her limits and not being stubborn or competitive) headed back with Gianni, leaving me and Andrew the important message of catching up with Enzo, another volunteer that he had headed back.

Within 5 more minutes of heading up the trail, the idea of turning back crossed both our minds- but we were tasked with an important message! Somehow the trail got even steeper and with every few steps (or you know, clinging onto any shrub or exposed root) I found myself hugging a tree to avoid slipping and losing hard earned steps. So yeah, I hugged many trees today!

When we thought it couldn't get worse...it did. The trail became so steep that even quick feet up the cascading gravel wasn't going to work. So it really was a crawl/scramble up the hill. This is where we caught up with several others, including the woman that I quickly dubbed hazard as she would lose her traction and slide. It was a challenge, but we saw that the path leveled out above us. We followed a fire road for a little while, thankful for the well marked trail. At an opening we saw Enzo and relayed the message that we were the last ones. (Does anyone else see this sad but true pattern emerging in my running events?) He passed us off to another volunteer and we continued on. At first it looked level...and then we saw steps after we tromped through the plants growing over the path. Mamma mia.

Luckily, not too long after that last incline, we started our decent. Before too long we found ourself back by the clearing and Enzo was still there showing us where to go next. [This is worth noting because in so many of these Naples area races volunteers pack it in not too much after the winner crosses the finish line and that course are so poorly marked when you are bringing up the end you really question if you're one the right path or not.]

We followed the arrows and tape to an area on the side of the hill that must be a mess come winter time with all the rain. The fine gravel and dust was easily a foot deep and after our initial steps we concluded that trying to keep it out of our shoes was pointless. Without the fear of sliding down since the gravel enclosed our shoe with each step, we finally picked up some speed. With the dust flying behind us we joked that we were walking on the moon as our legs rejoiced over a different movement. After a few minutes into this, shoes were filling up with gravel and my poor (already abused) toes were packed in there. There was also a strange burning feeling around my ankles. It took me a few more steps to realize that the hot gravel was making this experience even less pleasant and made me wish I really did have some cardboard to slide down the hill.

At the end of the "landslide" area we parked on some rocks while we pour mounds of dirt and gravel from our shoes. Apparently we weren't the only one with this issued; at least one pair of discarded socks was there with us.

Our next terrain was a very organized pine tree grove, as in all the trees were perfectly spaced. As the land leveled out we figured we had to be near the end of the trail. When we reached the end of a wood walkway, a man sitting in the shade of a tree offered us water, and we started to chat with him. After a minute of chatting he informed us that the finish line was just down the road. Are you kidding me? So with one last chug of water we finally decided to make a run for it. Well, a downhill jog with extremely tired legs.

In true form, our group was still waiting for us- even if the inflatable arch had already been deflated and put away. Worse part? We took 2 hours longer than the finisher's 51 minutes.

Yeah, 51 minutes for a 9K. This course was crazy.

Or Maybe Not?

"Always be prepared," a motto you hear oh too often in the scouting world and yes, even in the military world.

So I was.  Ravi's nearly full tank of gas powered me on home on Sunday. I have enough milk, bread, and other necessary grocery items to save me from the extra long commute to the other base during my normal day of the week. My trips out were planned.

Monday I got word that only a fraction of the major trucking companies were going through with the strike.

Today, notification that it was cancelled.

Oh well. Just another day in Italy.  

And yes, I did head out to the other base after work today.

Here We Go...Again.

Remember a few months back when I was stuck in traffic for what felt like forever? Well, looks like it just may happen again- or so claims the continual notifications popping up on our computers at work: The truck strike is still scheduled and expected to begin Sunday, July 8, and run through July 13.

Fabulous. Maybe this will keep the beach traffic away? Actually it's more like the guarantee that traffic will be worse than the beach traffic migrating to my peninsula each day.

4th of July

4th of July. Happy Thanksgiving!

[Insert awkward pause]

...I mean Independence Day! 

I guess that just about sums up Italians and knowledge of our holidays...which can pretty much be said about Americans understanding all the Italian holidays. This guy was joking but seriously, today really just felt like the date on the calendar,  4 July.

Good thing I have my adopted family looking out for me! With the date confirmed, and the reason for the glorious day off from work remembered we met up with some other families to rent boats to go out on the portion of water I see from my house, near Procida.

Once loaded up in our 4 boats (yeah, there were lots of us), our group left the port and headed towards Procida, traveling along the calm water. There were few boats out on the bay- it was a Wednesday morning after all!

The day was spent with the boat parked in various coves off Procida, with food being passed from boats, frequent dips into the oh so salty water to cool off, and lots of sunscreen! On our boat, my official job was working the anchor. I got an arm workout in, that's for sure! Then again, I didn't pull the boat via treading water...so maybe Andrew got more of the work out?

During our relocation, we passed under a bridge connecting two parts of the island. At the time, some crazy kids were jumping of of it. Well, when we turned back to port some of the "kids" we were with decided to jump and some of us not so kids also did. It always sounds like a good idea, but no matter how many ladder rungs or steps I take up, standing on a platform still makes me wonder "why am I up here?" with that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach...of course that's when I jump off.

So yeah, I jumped off a bridge cause everyone else was. Well, actually they weren't. And they missed out.  Plus, with fireworks being an every day event here I think jumping off a bridge just be my new 4th of July tradition...just as long as there is plenty of water below me!

It's Nico Time!

Yes, I agree- too many posts have passed without Nico updates. I know you all think that I'm crazy for how much I talk about him (and to him), but it's been confirmed by my siblings- he's a kooky cat with lots of personality.

Although I think it's the heat getting to both of us we had some good "mommy & me" time this afternoon sitting on the living room floor (the tiles are cool) while the AC shot cold air down on us. I know he's feel good because we had multiple toys brought out of their safe hiding places. Then again maybe he is hoping that his aunt and uncle reappear?