Months of running ...

A few months ago I decided to pick up running. Having done it as cross-training for years, it is not an easy sport when speed and distance become a goal. I began outdoor running in March, in NY city. No other location is as encouraging as Central Park, where runners of all abilities are permanently present (see entry here)

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 ...

Buenos Aires

During my recent brief visit to Buenos Aires, I was lucky to catch the fantastic plastic arts experiment of MUSAC (Museo Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon) at the Museo de Bellas Artes de B. A. (Museum of Fine Arts), an exhibit titled Huesped














Worth a revisit was the Coleccion Fortabat, gathering an exquisite number of art work by Argentine artists and housed within a perfectly designed space (by architect Rafael Vinoly)















in Puerto Madero













And of course I found plenty of opportunities for running, swimming and dinning.
It was in August I began considering I just might be able to attempt a marathon before the end of 2009, so I modestly began working on speed and longer distances. A new training plan, at Club de amigos .

Training for a triathlon

A few months ago I came to the astonishing realization that I was not getting any younger. So I decided to complete a few

pending things, one of them ... a triathlon.
Training for a triathlon required I sharpen my skills in swimming,

cycling, running, build endurance in all three sports and strategize how to perform them sequentially.

Vermont is an ideal location for conditioning for a Tri, hills to climb, lakes to swim in, little traffic and gorgeous views.
I began conditioning in May, sporadically. I later ran and swam frequently during June, and started training 5 days a week in July. Next I will target proper training with a structured triathlon plan.





Goal: Lake Dunmore Triathlon, 1.45 km swim, 45 km bike, 10 km run, early August

Val D'Orcia, Provincia di Siena

Views from Bonello (A on map)

















The following Goolge map includes scenic local mt bike itineraries, each letter marking a point of interest.


Ver mapa más grande












Getting up around 5:00 has many advantages. One of them is viewing how the early morning light changes the landscape.













The other is beating traffic (and just about everyone else) when running along country roads




First light, Pienza in the distance





























Pienza, evening light (B on map)























Papaveri rossi...
provocano ancora l'emozione di un tempo (U on map)






Sant'Anna in Camprena (C on map) Monastery dates to 1334, restructured XVth century, paintings from XVIth century























Sant'Anna's abbey from the rd to Castelmuzio

















(H on map)







From E to F on map San Giovanni D'Asso













Lucignano D'Asso (G on map)

















































to San Quirico D'Orcia






Road to Bagno Vignoni (M on map)