White Orchid Melody Blog

I leave my house at about quarter ’til seven. I walk down the steep “traversa“, aka alley. When I get to the main road, I begin to jog against the nonexistent traffic. 1.7 miles later I have descended from the mountain and arrived at the nest. I stop. I stretch. I wait. I am early. 5 more minutes until my scheduled pick-up (kidnapping?). But this is Italy, so I wait another 20 minutes. My driver/host comes flying up the road, screeches to a halt, and I jump in. Back down the road for our other companion, the one who’d invited me along. She is late, we are late, because her cat has escaped. Off we go to Qualiano. We are late. How late? I do not know.

We reach our destination in a throng of traffic, search for parking, learn a new word “pazzo“. As in “pazzo traffico” or “io so pazzo.” I am crazy. But I am alive. We walk around a bit, find our numbers. I am a replacement runner, so today my name is Grazia. Grazia is not well. She is there to cheer on her team, but not to run. So, I run in her stead. But first, there is bathroom break, change of clothes, introductions. We bunny hop to keep warm. Alas, it is time. Herded into a corral, waiting. People speak to me. “Io sono Americana,” I reply. “ahhh, americana!” is the universal reply…and then silence, or a quick “gud lock” or “buona fortuna.” The Italian anthem sounds amongst “SHHHH! SHHHH!” the universal “be quiet.” And then a flourish of white doves and balloons at 1300 pairs of legs get ready to move. A “pop” and a rainbow of confetti, and we are off. What a celebration of life!

I begin very slowly. I know enough to pace myself early on. Race excitement can kill you, burning up your reserves too soon. Anxious and pushy runners pass me. I’m in the way. But that’s okay. I’ll pass them again later. Two 5k laps through Italian suburbia. The streets are blocked, the traffic builds. People get out of their cars to watch. A young girl hanging out of a van window cheers us on with a “pttthhhhh” raspberry, as in “I’m bored, why are we stuck here.” I laugh and the guys next to me laugh too. It is good to run and laugh and be alive. 4k, almost halfway there, speeding up, passing, motivating. 1st lap complete–28 and some change. Only one quick lap left. I can dip into my energy stores now. I like passing other runners. So, I keep doing that, chasing them throughout the second lap. I find a good pace and push myself, looking eagerly for the next set of balloons marking the kilometers. I young boy yells “ciao bella” as I go by. I smile. Running, smiling, pushing hard. 9k and I’m off. Sprint, push, go, only one measley k. Do it. 55:21. Phew.

Water. I need water. Where is the water? Cooler…Gatorade? No, it’s wine. Not exactly thirst quenching. I find my group. My group finds me water, and cake. Yum. I love Italy. What an amazingly fun time!

No run today even though it was supposed to be the long first run of my marathon training….Don’t worry! I have a good reason! Earlier this week I was running around a nearby lake and was invited by an Italian woman to come do a 10K race in Naples on Sunday. So, I said “sure, why not?” I am nervous and excited. Should be an adventure anyway! I’ll have an update tomorrow!

It is such a gorgeous day! If only all of my marathon training could be in weather like this!

As I was running around the lake this morning with my friend, some Italians asked to run with us. Fortunately my friend speaks Italian very well. The Italian woman was asking if I’d like to go run with their group at a race on Sunday. I think she was excited to see other women out running! So, despite the fact that I understand very little Italian, I am going to go run with a bunch of Italians on Sunday. If Brian can go biking with an Italian group, understanding even less of the language than I do, then I should be fine. Right?

I guess we’ll see. I won’t be an official part of the race, so I won’t have a number…unless someone drops out. It sounded kind of crazy. But I am up for an adventure. It is a 10K, so I have to decide whether I want to do my scheduled 8 mile on Saturday or not. Probably I shouldn’t. Maybe I’ll just do a mid-distance run on Friday instead.

All this blabbing about running, and I’m supposed to be writing about travel. Unfortunately we won’t be doing much travelling for awhile. We were thinking of going somewhere over Thanksgiving, but then I got the tax bill for our rental property. Ouch. And having vacancies for several months hasn’t helped with our balance sheet. So, there goes the travel money for a little while. We are thinking of doing a staycation, though. There are still plenty of things we haven’t seen in the immediate area. So, we’ll catch up on that list a bit.

It is a beautiful day. Alex and I had a nice run this morning, and then I dropped him off at preschool for the first time in two weeks. I was a little worried that he’d have a meltdown and we’d lose whatever ground we’d gained before. He cried when I took him in, but he got over it. He was playing with play-dough when I got there….I think he might have been eating it. Fortunately it was the homemade flour and water kind, not the fluorescent colored “non-toxic”-yeah-right kind.

On the run this morning, I was admiring the view around Via Panoramica, thinking how lucky I am to be here. Today was the first official day of Marathon training. What a blessing to be training for a marathon in this beautiful place! Every run will be full of beautiful sights. I love trudging up the hill and getting to the lookout for a stretch break. It is amazing that I live here and get to see that every day! What a wonderful blessing!

I guess I didn’t adhere to my schedule very well. To my defense I’ve had a sick child on my hands! But for the back-track-recap:

Saturday I had a great long run. My friend visiting from the states joined me and my local running buddy. He was much faster than us, but kindly stayed with us most of the run. The very last part of the run is a massive hill. I knew I’d be taking it nice and slow so as to make it to the top. So, I told him to go on ahead. “Just keep going up,” I said. “You can’t get lost.” Well, I didn’t think he’d be quite so far ahead. There was a turn off just before the top of the hill. He missed it, of course. So, we got to do a little extra for a total of 8 miles. (We had planned about 6.75) No problem. We have an 8 mile coming up for our first long training run, so now we have a good route!

Later Saturday, Alex came down with a fever. So, he’s not been feeling so hot since then. Yesterday I noticed little blisters on his hands, so we think it is hand-foot-mouth disease courtesy of his new preschool. This means no preschool until he gets better. Hopefully that will be soon. He won’t eat much right now, but has been drinking plenty, so I guess he’s fine.

Yesterday I drove my visitors into downtown Naples so they could catch a ferry to Capri. Then they will spend a few days along the Amalfi coast, which is just gorgeous! Brian and I did a hike out there earlier in the year. Breathtaking views! It was hazy and cloudy yesterday, but the rain came through last night and cleared things up. So, they should have a beautiful bus ride up the coast today.

I was pretty stressed out yesterday. A drive in Naples traffic plus a trip to the commissary plus a sick baby minus my better half equals “ahhhaaggg!” It was one of those days that brings out the negativity about living over here. Most days it is a blessing beyond any I could imagine. But some days I feel the lack of family support, the isolation, the frustration of the culture shock (which never really goes away). I guess managing a sick toddler by myself brought out the worst. I didn’t even have a chance to write my gratitude post, which is probably just as well! Although, I did go for a nice long walk in the late afternoon. I am grateful for the calming-stress-relieving aspect of exercise. I felt much better after our walk. Alex and I went to bed nice and early, and we both got a good night’s sleep. Hopefully he will be better soon (and hopefully I don’t get sick!).

Had a good run this morning. My friend Jen and I ran from my house down to Bacoli, around Lago Miseno, and then back up the big hill! It’s just under 7 miles. I have had terrible allergies lately, complete with inner ear problems, so I was rather out of it. I had to walk (cringe!) part of the way back up the hill. I really, really, really hate to walk when I’m running. I have to be really feeling awful to do that. And indeed, this ear thing is getting the best of me. I felt great after the run, gotta love endorphins! But after the runner’s high wore off, I was worse for the wear. Hopefully my allergies will be better before the official training begins in November!

I had a great 9 mile run this morning. My 6 and 7 mile “long” runs haven’t been kicking my butt enough, so I decided to up the mileage this week. That did the trick! Phew. I thought I was dying on the last long hill. But that was the effect I was going for. There is nothing that compares with completely exhausting the body. Good times!

I can say I’ve been running “regularly” the past couple weeks, thanks to my friend and running partner Jen. Looks like we have a good Monday/Wednesday thing going, so at the very least, no matter how unmotivated I am the rest of the week, I will have those two runs! Monday we ran around Lago d’Averno, nice and flat. Today, for the first time, Jen came out to Monte di Procida and we did the 3mi loop from my house, which is nice and hilly. Waking up knowing that someone is waiting for you is great motivation to get up! I am pretty sure that I would not have gotten up Monday morning without that motivation. Alex has been waking up earlier though, so that is helpful with getting me out the door on days when I’m not meeting anyone. I got in a nice run by myself on Sunday–a six mile loop down to Aquamorta (the marina at the bottom of the mountain) and back up. I did pretty well considering it is about 3 miles uphill. There were a few walk breaks on the way back up

Could someone please send me a care package full of motivation? Seriously. I’m so unmotivated to run! Alex is waking up at 8:30 and I’ve had no problem adjusting to that schedule! I’m up until midnight every night, which has been good for my art, but hasn’t helped me get up to go run in the morning. I don’t like to fuss with Alex’s schedule, so I hate to wake him before he’s ready. And truth be told, I’m much happier when I wake up at 8 than when I wake up at 6! It’s just the running that suffers.

I know it will be getting cooler soon. This always happens in the summer. It gets hot and I don’t want to go run. Common sense, no? But I still want to eat lemon pie and chocolate chip cookies, so run I must. Tomorrow I am going to wake up early and get Alex up and meet another mom for a jog around Lago d’Averno. Hopefully having company will make it better!

Sunday I set the alarm for 5:45 with every intention of going for an early run before the heat and before Brian left for his bike ride. But when the alarm went off, my brain said “what is that??? excuse us, we are sleeping!” So, I got up with Alex at 8:30 instead. I still went for a run though. I just suffered for it! I’m looking forward to some cooler temps in September. We went this morning too, again late. I end up taking walk breaks when I go so late. I simply cannot endure the heat. I remember training for the marathon in ’06. I’d get up at 4:30 to make it Forest Park by 5am, so that hopefully I’d be finished with my 20 miles by 9am! And even then it would be hot. I was in tears on at least one occasion. I hope training in a Mediterranean rainy season is better than training through a St. Louis summer. I guess I’ll find out!

On a brighter note, my mom is coming to visit in September. She has agreed to keep Alex for a few days while Brian and I go away. I’m so excited! It is our first trip away since he was born. We are going to spend 4 nights in London. I got a super cheap flight, so I splurged a bit on the room. Fun, fun, fun! I can hardly wait. Brian went to London for work last year when we still lived in St. Louis. I was so jealous that I couldn’t go. So, now I will have my chance. It will be nice to see museums and be able to go out at night–things we can’t do so easily with Alex in tow.