Rome in late Autumn

This week, on a rainy thursday in late Autumn, I went to Rome for job once again. I hate wet socks, that's why I put in a change of socks while I was there. It seems people who live there are able to ride those manual scooters also on rainy days 🛴 ... but abandoned manual scooters along Rome's sidewalks were so dangerous.

I soon noticed that Christmas decoration were already there along many streets and squares. 

On the way back, while I was walking along an historical alley of the town, I saw a Citroën 2cv on the cobblestones. It's an old car manufactured in France from 1948 to 1990. In the late 1970s the Citroën 2cv was a very popular car. It has always been so colorful, al least two colours.

I also took the next two pictures in Rome:  refurbishment of a historical building (Ministry of Finance) and an urban green space, which provides psychological relaxion and supports physical activity.

The last picture above shows that on the 42nd parallel lemons are already on branches. Lemon is an excellent source of vitamin C.

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!

Cabbage and Vitamin C

I've spent the weekend with my mother who lives in Naples, 220 km South from Rome. First of all, I noticed thet her recovery from femur surgery is going well enough. She sometimes walks very slowly along the sidewalk surronding her house. I was very happy to see that. 

Secondly, I put on my running shoes and ran 50 minutes  through Naples' streets,  next to old fruit and veggies markets and along the old side of the town. The picture below on the right shows one of these old markets located along the street.



I saw a lot of cabbage which is a very good food for runners considering that it contains the highest amount of vitamin C. On the other hand,  if cabbage were to be boiled it would lose about 50 per cent of its Vitamin C. With regards to veggies, I've just left a comment about this topic on Fran 's blog as she shows her weekly beebox containing  savoy cabbage, red cabbage and cavolo nero.

On the way back I had a pizza in Rome while I was waiting the train to Civitavecchia.
Next Sunday, February 9th, Stefano and I will go to Rome once again as a 5 km race starts at 09:30 am.

I have read that most blogger friends are compelled to run on the treadmill because of the weather conditions. The weather is rainy also here in Central Italy, as  you can see in the following picture which I took in Rome two day ago.

Happy running/walking!

Carbs, proteins and vitanin C

Last week a Dutch Blogger friend of mine, Fran , wrote on her blog that she's going to follow a new training plan.  She'll try to do some things, such as lose weight, add yoga, drink less wine and eat as healthy as possible. That last suggestion inspired me this post.

As you know, we, runners, always need carbs to restock energy, proteins to repair muscles and vitamin C to protect muscles. Of course, we have to put the highest quality fuel into our bodies.

Local farmer’s market offers fruit and vegetables that are often organic and have been harvested in the past 24 hours. Food products from farms near our towns can contain more vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus than fruit and vegetables that are shipped from far away.  

Farmer’s markets sell food products which come from small farms and those vegetables are not only healthier, they often taste better, too.

In this perspective, if the produce we eat travels an average of 1800 kilometres to get from the farm to our table, important nutrients get lost along the way. I’ve read that we, runners, need: vitamin C, which is useful for cellular regeneration, iron, which helps make red blood cells and transport oxygen to the muscles, magnesium, which helps muscles contract and relax and phosphorus, which helps regulate heartbeat.

Now, I've planned to go to a local farmer's market, situated 25 km from my town, once a week.  Eating  food  products from farmer’s markets makes  improve my speed  J I hope! J

Nice training to everyone!