Vermont was my next landscape to explore on foot. Spring offers ever changing shades of green, budding maples and warm sunshine. Perfectly beautiful experience with the right i-pod sound to complement the occasion. I discovered the most beautiful routes to be in the Mad River Valley, Ripton, Middlebury and Basin Harbor. (see two triathlon training entries here)
But the running continued. And despite having a distant goal in sight, I made sure to always find beautiful places to run. The joy of the journey makes the destination that much sweeter. And the experience of building up to long runs is worth pursuing when each run is a fun sightseeing adventure.
In June I ran along the valleys of the Carnic Alps (border Italy-Austria), along the Ciclabile di Tarvisio
A week later I found myself running among colorful fields in Val D'Orcia, Tuscany (San Quirico D'Orcia: ginestre, papaveri, sole, campagna estiva) ...
followed by some further steps on the hillsides of Gubbio, Umbria,
in the very early morning.
The Mediterranean is beautiful in every season. I began running by the sea in Trieste, ending each run with a relaxing swim ...
(lungomare dal Castello di Miramare)
...which continued in Porto Ross (Slovenia)
and ended in Lignano (vicino a Venezia).
I also ran in the city, which requires slightly more planning. Milano, a city where elegance is still a must, is surprisingly amiable to runners in the very early morning, shortly after sunrise. In general, the surprise of seeing someone in shorts running around tourist attractions forces locals to smile and say hi. Not bad for a city of 1.3 million. Once at the Castello Sforzesco, runners abound and paths are clean and well manicured.
More to come ...
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