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.

Short and odd track

Last Sunday I ran the Ladispoli's 6 km race along an odd track while the weather was sunny and pretty hot. The race started at 09:30, so we didn't run during the heat of the day. Although I enjoyed the race and my average pace was 4:35/Km, I've understood that I have to increase my speed. We ran about 1 kilometer through a soft "green" path and the garmin highlighted that the track was less than 6 kilometers. It was 5.8 kilometers! I'm sure that my friend Stefano will post soon an accurate report about that race on the Black Knight 's blog.
We are running the next race in September, 12 km in Grosseto (Tuscany). A nice week to everyone!

The night before the race

Today it was a wonderful afternoon and I relaxed with my family on the beach where there was a soft wind. Now I’m ready for the Ladispoli’s 6 km race which starts tomorrow at 09:30 a.m.
As you know, the night before the race we have to have carbohydrates. Some months ago we wrote about this matter on our blogs and we said that a lot of runners like pizza or potatoes the night before the race. This time I had pasta at dinner: penne arrabbiata, that’s its name. I write here below the recipe of this classic spicy pasta dish.
Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bacon (4 ounces finely diced), ½ small onion minced and 1 large garlic clove, minced. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon begins to turn pink and the onion is translucent (about five minutes). Add crushed red pepper and cook until the bacon starts to brown. Add tomatoes and a pinch of sugar. Season with salt and ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes and bring to a boll. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook partially covered about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the “penne” (12 ounces) in plenty of salted water until al dente. Drain well and return to the pot. Add half of the sauce and cook, stirring, for one minute, Spoon into bowls, serving the remaining sauce and the freshly grated parmesan.
The recipe above written is something you can make in 30 minutes or less and you can get ingredients in a supermarket.
I hope all you’ll have a running and relaxing weekend.

The lost luggage

21 days after we had come back from Paris, Air France Baggage Claim Center found my daughters’ suitcase. The lost luggage went from Paris to Skopje (Republic of Macedonia). Then it came back and Air France sent it us from Paris to Rome. I don’t understand why 21 days! But it’s important that my daughters are happy.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support about the lost luggage. In that suitcase there are all the presents and souvenirs which my daughters had bought when we were in Paris. After vacation time they’ll give those presents to their friends who come back from other parts of the world. Then, in the lost luggage there are some trousers and T-shirts which they bought at Champs Elisèes, where there were interesting sales. As a consequence, this afternoon my daughters were very happy when the lost luggage was delivered. All’s well that ends well!

The photo above shows the lost luggage and I can't describe my daughters' happiness while they were opening the suitcase which had travelled through Europe: Rome - Paris - Skopje - Paris - Rome. While they were opening their luggage they saw that everything was perfectly in the suitcase.

When I came back from Paris I forgot to show you some particular masks which we saw while we were walking through St-Germain-des-Pres. In this intellectual quartier of bistros, bookshops, coffee-houses, galleries and nightclubs, there are nice masks on the walls of some houses. The intellectual center of gravity of St-Germain des Pres is at the intersection of rue Bonaparte and boulevard St-Germain and I took some photos there. You can see above and below two of those particular masks which I saw in that interesting districs of Paris. I found other masks in the district of Marais .

The photo below shows Notre Dame on the river Seine.

Yesterday I ran 16 km with the running team and next week I’ll do a training with fast laps. I need it because I’m running the Ladispoli's 6 km race the 29th of August with Stefano and his son Paolo.

I hope all you will have a nice running weekend.

It's vacation time again

Hi blogger friends! I am happy to report that I have been on holiday until now and the vacation in South Italy has been AWESOME. In the first photo above you can see my daughters' rabbit.
After we had gone to Paris my family and I left for another summer vacation and I had not computer and internet use. The last week of July which we spent in France was beautiful but it's a real pity that my daughters' suitcase went lost. Air France haven't found it yet and I'll ask them to pay damages estimated at € 15 per kilo, considering that our lost luggage weighed 14 kilos.

South Italy's beaches were nice, the sea wasn't polluted and the weather was sunny and beautiful. Perfect! When we arrived we saw a burnt hill and it was a big damage. Unfortunately, a lot of olive trees had been destroyed! The photo above shows the burnt hill.
During the vacations I ate different meals. French cakes were very good: in Paris we had "pain au raisin" and "tartre aux pommes" at breakfast and in South Italy we had almond cake (you can see it in the photo below). Moreover, in August there're a lot of figs in South Italy and they gave a big contribution to my weight :)... as a consequence I have to lose weight now. At least 2 kilos! But this isn't a problem. Next week I'll begin a running plan and the 29th of August I and Stefano are running a short 6 km race. We'll run it as training.
I have just read that a lot of running friends of our blogger community are on vacation again. I hope all you enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer!