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)!

Marine animals killed by plastic

According to the Australian Marine Consevation Society, more than one Million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals are killed every year by plastic. When plastic breaks down into smaller pieces, marine animals suffer by eating them.

The two pictures below show a dolphin and a whale both made of plastic recycling. They have been made in the middle of a Rome's square.

Water pollution

As request by Christina  I show  the picture of the water pollution mentioned in my previous post. The pollution was caused by two pottery factories which had discharged waste water containing zinc, cadmium and plumb into a small river. The photo below shows the illegal emission of waste water into that Italian small river located at 60 km North from Rome.  

    

That illegal behaviour above mentioned causes significant risk to the environment, human health and economy. The polluted river has been significantly altered and it flows across the Treja valley which is a protected natural area: http://www.parks.it/parco.valle.treja/Eindex.php  

In addition to this, illegal emission of substances into water provides for very high profits for perpetrators. Criminal law in the field of environment  needs to be implemented in an effective way.

I hope I haven't bored you with these ecological posts. In any case, I think that most runners love environment.

Nice green weekend to all my blogger friends!

Awareness about water resources

Since last week I haven't been running as much as I should! I did on Monday 1 hour relaxing run and on wednesday 45 minutes tempo run instead of 4 x 6 minutes repeats. Yesterday I did 15km long run on my own. I'd like to go back to the pool and swim at least once a week because it might be a good stretching exercise.    

I was really delighted to read my  blogger friends' comments about  fast food: with regards to my last post, most friends wrote that if they were abroad they would want to try the local food.  For instance,  Christina explained that people go to fast food when there are lot of local restaurants to choose from. In my opinion typical restaurants are more beautiful and cheaper than fast food chains.

As I mentioned in my last post the weather is hot and humid here in Italy and I'm still compelled to drink a lot of water after running. I always change water's brand although the tap water is drinkable and the water bill is half the typical cable TV bill. People who live in developed countries still think that water is unlimited, while water bill in European countries is going to increase slightly. In the meanwhile, millions of people, who live in the third world countries, every day walk to get water.

People who live in developed world don't care about water resources.
The photo below shows a water pollution crime that I discovered last year. Unfortunately, the Italian Environmental Code contains only few specific penal provisions regarding activity dangerous and the environmental liability in case of  water and  soil contamination. What's missing is political will!

Do you usually drink tap water or bottled water?

Running in vacation mode

I haven't run any race since July, 14th, although plenty of races are held here in South Italy in Summer. The weather is hot enough and I like hiking and swimming. On the running front, I am trying to maintain my running shape with three training sessions per week: 1 long run, 1 tempo run and 1 relaxing run. In other words, I'm running in vacation mode. I wrote my last post last month, after I had run the Santa Marinella's 10km race with the International running flag of friendship. It is now in Phoenix, Arizona and last Saturday Christina  ran a 21km race with  the International flag that will be probably  sent back to Europe soon. She will send it to a French running friend as soon as possible.

The water isn't polluted  here in South Italy, because this year some beach resorts aren't at capacity. Along the beach one can meet people from Nigeria who sell everything: toys, balls, goggles, swimming caps, nose clips, swimsuits. There is also the possibility of walking or running by night along the beach and to see the sea illuminated by the moon. Wonderful! 

In the photo below you can see my daughters and I and a cart with beach items, such as life belts and small rubber dinghies. Other people sell ice creams along the beach and I think that next to Naples we can probably see the most unusual beaches of anywhere in the world.

And how can we forget to pick blackberries? After my daughters and I had picked blackberries we made four jars of delicious jam.

In the main square of the small town of Itri, 8 km from the sea, I saw that old Italian motorcycle, which brand is "Moto Guzzi". It was built in the 1950s. The last photo below shows my niece, Nadine, in my mother's garden. She's 5 years old.

I hope my blogger friends will have a great  running, hiking and swimming weekend!

16 km long run

Last week I didn't run from Thursday to Saturday because I went to Frosinone, where I followed the conference about liability for environmental damages. So, today on a cold and sunny Sunday, I did 16 km long run.

This morning thousands of runners (over 8,000 participants) ran the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon which is the historic race  from modern Rome to the shores of the Roman Empire’s ancient port. The Black Knight ran that half marathon and enjoyed it. After he had run the race he sent me a text message, so I know that he did a great race. I look forward to reading his race report.

As request by  Ewa, I write something about the environmental conference above mentioned. The aim of the European Directives has been to create a code able to contain a complete discipline for the protection of the environment. The code contains specific provisions regarding activities for the environment and special provisions about the environmental liability in case of soil and water contamination.

In a global perspective, there's a great uncertainty regarding the international legal framework for the period following the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol, that could discourage investment in emission reduction projects.  

The photo shows a polluted river situated 50 km North of Rome, next to an industrial area. It's an environmental crime. I took that photo two years ago and after the legal protection and the punishment the river became clean.

  I hope all you will enjoy the rest of this Sunday.

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!

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!

Civitavecchia's landscape

In theese days local politics of Civitavecchia, where I've lived with my family since 1991, are trying to attach importance to the surronding landscape. I posted an image which gives a picture of the territory above mentioned. It is now in a wild state. Local politics suddenly think it may be used for biking, running, riding, trips to the mountains, archaeological tours (there are some Etrurian ruins), etc. It's a great idea. Fortunately they don't try to build something or detroy this beautyful landspape.

Nowadays, economists and ecologists say that landscapes, which are a part of global environment, are considered as commodities, goods and rights. We have to shrink the environmental impacts of urban areas. Although global environmental problems are typically considered part of national and international decision-making, it is now much more important to consider the environmental impacts of urban areas, because a rapidly growing proportion of the world's population lives in cities.


This week I've found a terrible environmental crime in my town and there's a personal liability too. I've posted the following image of this environmental offence which consist in water pollution. But I think that our European legal system concerning criminal sanctions linked to environmental offences is not certain and dissuasive. I hope politics will decide to develop environmental law to protect the equilibrium of natural system and human health.