Sunny week after the storm

After a stormy weekend we're still enjoying a sunny week ... but  this Summer which is going to an end slowly. 

Still enjoying the water & sun in the afternoon, although the daytime light has been becoming shorter and shorter, due to the tilting of the axis away from the sun. 

Glad to see that many areas of the Italian coast aren't polluted.

The picture above shows that we can find white sand beaches also here in Italy. Italians (and European tourists) don't need to go to tropical islands or caribbean resorts :-)

Enjoy the rest of this Summer (Nothern hemisphere)!

Assumption of Mary, 15th of August

Today, the 15th of August, we celebrate the day the Virgin Mary entered heaven. It's a public holiday all over the Christian world, and in many European countries. The holiday always falls on the 15th of August, no matter what day of the week that happens to be. 

Today 15th of August, 2022, is Monday. 

Many Italians who are already on holiday don't go abroad this Summer. The sea is increasingly gathering people on its beauriful beaches. 

Have a nice week!

different colours of the water

We had a particularly cloudy days here in Italy, as the sky was full of clouds last week. It wasn't ideal for a trip to the beach. 

On the contrary, today is a sunny Sunday and water is translucent. We can see through it.

On this sunny Sunday I have seen two police officers while they were travelling by jet skis. I didn't expect police officers to do that.

Have a nice Sunday :-) 

Sunny Sunday on September 5th

 

Water is still fantastic on Sunday, September 5th. Today the sea is warm and temperate along the Thyrrenian coast, with translucent water, and almost no waves. It's perfect for snorkeling (Santa Marinella, Italy).

The school ship "Amerigo Vespucci" has just left Civitavecchia harbour. The ship was named after the name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci, and usually carries 24 sails, for a total surface of 2.600 square metres.

Have a nice Sunday ☀️

Lunch at the beach

Since early March 2020, epidemic spreading, lockdown measures and social distancing rules have changed everything. And while big tech multinationals are trying to destroy middle class' retailers, people have no choice but to buy online many products and services they need.

In late 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread across the Northern emisphere, Amazon had announced a pilot program for a virtual medical clinic. The virtual clinic services would consist of video visits with doctors and registered nurses. It wasn't Amazon's first step outside its confort zone. 

As it is konwn, in 2019 Amazon was, and still is, a grocer, a fashion venue and its own delivery provider. As mentioned by many experts, considering Amazon's pervasive presence worldwide, no company is ever truly safe. But Amazon, Google, and Alibaba Group will never be able to serve us a fish dish at the beach on a sunny Sunday.

Have a nice Sunday and stay safe!

Cloudy Sunday

Just to show four pictures, which I took this morning on a cloudy Sunday here in Central Italy. 

                             A Sunday on the beach without sun

                                                                             Cloudy sky

     Fodder transport (someone is working on Sunday for cattle and other livestock)

                                                                 Fodder production

Sorry to hear that since next month some Italian regions will probably adopt lockdown measures ... once again.

Have a nice Sunday! And stay safe!

Running along the seashore and next to ancient Roman ruins

I continue to show the route that I usually run when my running session lasts more than one hour. It's a running track along the seashore and next to ancient Roman ruins (on April 24th I showed other Roman ruins).

The pictures were taken when the water flows away from the shore (Ebb tide).

With regard to running, I've got two pictures of  the12 km race which I ran last month. I was running I wore the red outfit. My running pace was 4:40 min./km

Spring weather makes me feel fine, but just a little tired. That's why  I haven't been running any race since April 2nd.  The following picture shows how I was tired while I was running the 12th km.

Two months ago my son and my two daughters gave me some goji berries, and since then I have been having them at breakfast in addition to other food, such as honey, walnuts and yogurt.

I have learnt the antioxidant power of goji berries. With regard to my Spring weakness, I am looking for some food which berries could be helpful. Have you ever been tired in Spring?

Nice weekend to everyone!

snorkeling close to ancient roman ruins

The Spring temperature this week gives me the opportunity to go running. It's definitely good to be outside! The two pictures show the route close to the sea, where I sometimes run with my friends. Ancient Roman ruins are still there in the sea, although people don't care about them. It is a good place to go snorkeling and have a nice underwater adventure. The water is so clean, and the ruins  are located 60 km North from Rome. 

The pictures were taken from the helicopter, and a colleague of mine gave them me.

Sunny beach in September

Hello blogger friends, just to say we are still enjoying sunny beaches here down on the 42nd parallel North. Water is so clean and resorts are not crowded as you can see in the picture. I can go swimming twice a week, and I do the same on the running front. I'll increase running sessions in Autumn, as soon as Summer goes to an end, and I don't go swimming in the sea. 

Have you never bought a watermelon so heavy? It is more than 16 kg. After I had bought that watermelon I carried it by motorbike ... my daughters' motorbike. In Summer I  sometimes eat a big slice of watermelon after running: Made up of 92% water, watermelon is a great snack to have on hand during the hot summer months to prevent dehydration. In addition, it provides vitamins and minerals.

Happy running/walking to everyone!

A beach covered with stones

Despite we have beaches with sand here, located at 5 km North from the town, I go swimming next a small beach covered with stones. As you can see in the picture below, the beach isn't crowded, and the water is so clean there. I am also running three times a week, although I've not planned  any race. 

Fortunately, this Summer has been never too hot ... until now :-)  

The beach here below in the 2nd picture, covered with sand, is located in South Italy. I visited it last week. The sand is quite white there.

And last but not least, swordfish sliced cooked on red-hot stone, and my mother with her 79th birthday cake.

Nice walking/cycling/running to everyone.

Summer is coming to an end

On Friday, 26th, I did a relaxing 18 km long run with Stefano who is following a marathon schedule. He is running the Florence marathon on November and have planned a long run every week. We are running the next long run on September, 2nd.
Last Saturday and Sunday  I went swimming and surfing although Summer is coming to an end. In the photo you can see my daughters and I on the beach. I swam one hour while my daughters were surfing and they enjoyed it although the waves weren't big enough. That beach is situated in the Southern side of  the town, five km from my house.

As you can see in the first photo above, that's a particular beach with small stones on the ground. We couldn't walk barefoot on that beach, so I wore old running shoes and my feet were pain free. Used  running shoes aren't waste! Some people  wear used running shoes while they are working in their garden or countryside. Otherwise,  we could find recycling and donation alternatives for  our used running shoes: http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/
Do you consider your used running shoes as waste?
 

In the two photos above  you can see my daughters, Laura and Simona.
Nice week to all my blogger friends!

Cherry on top Award

The end of this beautiful and sunny Summer is near and talian boys will go back to school next week. In the image here below you can see a cloudy sky. It shows that the Summer is going to finish.

Thanks to Anne who tagged me with the "I'll take that with a Cherry on Top" award. She's a "nice writer" of our blogger community and I remember her interesting post, which she wrote five months ago, about lifestyle changes. She wrote "every chose is a new beginning! Your lifestyle is the sum result of all the choises you make, both consciously and inconsciously". Thanks again for that Anne .

The deal with this award above mentioned is you gotta do these 3 things:
1) Answer this question: if you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
2) Pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the persons that they have got this award.
3) The third and the final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.
I got my political science degree when I was 40. If I could change something I would get my degree about 16 years before.
The tagged bloggers of our running community are: Char , Ewa , Christina and Sherri who are running women, martin briars who always posts reports of his triathlon races and Alexandra who sometimes shows us wonderful images of that special part of the world where she lives.

Nice running to all my blogger friends.

Motivation

In this half of the world that is North of equator it's summer time now. This means biking, riding, beach and swimming. Of course , swimming on the sea. Although I'm not running a race in July and August I wouldn't want to lose my speed. So I'll do only one quality workout per week and in the same week two days of easy work. Moreover I'll sometimes run a long run.
Now I feel that I have to maintain my desire to run. In this perspective I go swimming once or twice a week. I think that if our running isn't fun, we have to make same changes. For example, run fewer days (during this summer I'll do it), try trail running or join a running group. We always need to find motivation which is a powerful force that can help us enjoy our running more. Motivation is more than a feeling. It's important that we'll feel better after a run than before it.

I hope you'll enjoy the rest of this weekend.

Swimming on the sea

This week I ran three times and I swam once. Yesterday I swam on the sea 20 minutes at 06:00 p.m. after working. The water wasn't polluted and the beach was wonderful. Perfect! Next Sunday I'll swim again on the sea and next week I'll do a long run training. Of course, I always choose a different route on long run. If our training is stimulating we'll enjoy it. What I'm trying to say is that we don't need to run the same 16 km on the same course at the same time of day as always. In other words, we could refresh our enthusiasm and we would have to change the distance, the speed, the route, the landscape and the hills. Moreover, new hilly paths make us stronger :)
In the pictures I show the beach which is situated in the Southern part of the town. In the photo below I'm on the right and the skin of my friend is more tanned because he is on holiday :)

I hope that all you blogger friends will have a nice running and swimming weekend!