Friday, July 27, 2007

It's all good

Inclement weather photos
Because of the inclement weather here in Canberra today, I thought I'd post a couple of photos from our holiday, when we encountered similar weather (except it was a helluva lot warmer!)

This was taken outside our accommodation near San Gimignano, in Tuscany. The wind on this particular day was unbelievable, it blew over the umbrella and chairs, as well as a huge terracotta pot.

Piazza del Campo, in Siena. It was a grey day that threatened to rain. The Piazza has been the town's civic centre since the mid-14th century. In July and August each year Il Campo becomes a racetrack when horses and riders representing 10 of the 17 town districts compete for the palio (silk banner). We were in Siena 2 days after the Palio and saw people from the successful town district parading through the town with their banners.

Looking out from Vernazza, one of the villages of the Cinque Terre, Italy. We walked along a path to the next village, Monterosso later in the morning.

Vernazza again, looking back towards the village. To the left is Chiesa di Santa Margherita, which has stood since 1318.

Lucca, in Tuscany. It was a very brief storm - some lightning and thunder, a bit of rain and then it blew over.

London - we encountered all 4 seasons in the 3 days we were there. The rain forecasts had started for southern England and it was only going to get worse.
***********************
Friday Total: 11k
Week total: 28.1k
Month total: 65k
Year total: 1,356k

Time: 63min
Av pace: 5.43min/km
Av Temp: 10.6*c (9.27am)
Rel. Humidity Av: 82.9%
Wind Spd Avg: 22.5kph (WS)
Started with: Twisted Transistor - Korn
Finished with: Kick in the door - Skunk hour

Because it had rained overnight it wasn't as cold this morning - in fact it was a positively balmy 10.6*c when I headed out the door. (TA, glad to hear the snow's been brilliant - I'm still getting reacquainted with frosts and maximum temperatures of 10*c!) The sky was really black and threatening to the north, the direction I was heading, and I was mentally revising my route, partly because I didn't want to get caught in a downpour but also because I was in two minds about how far to run. So I elected to stick to the cycle path that's not too far from home and has a couple of underpasses to shelter in should it rain.

Ok so the running is getting a little easier each time I set out but I still can't believe how crappy I've felt while running this week. I feel as though I haven't run for 6 months rather than the 2 measly weeks I missed. I would make a granny with a walking frame look good at the moment. And Ewen, I don't think I will be passing anyone on Sunday, let alone while going up a hill! I just hope people don't have to hang around too long waiting for me to finish - after all I am in group 36!

I went to the gym yesterday - this time in the afternoon. It was great - its a lot quieter and I don't have to wait to use any of the machines. The body is feeling a little tender today but I guess its telling me I have muscles somewhere under the wobbly bits! Might up the reps (thanks for the advice Tesso) next week when I will go to the gym THREE times.

Good luck to everyone taking part in the Bush Capital events tomorrow - hi Liza! I'm sorry I won't be there but at the moment my running is just crap. Running Mt Taylor on Sunday will probably finish me off anyway. If there are no further blog entries you will know why!

7 comments:

Jen said...

Welcome home! Wonderful photos CJ. It sounded like you had an incredible time. More photos please !

Tesso said...

Great pics CJ. Its just amazing to think about how old some of those buildings are. Its almost impossible to imagine what life was like in those days.

Good to hear you are getting back into the swing of things. Will you be at C2S this year?

Ewen said...

OK, post bad weather photos of Tuscany and Cinque Terre to try and subdue our jealousy. Sorry, didn't work.

Time yourself and blog the result so everyone can get home for lunch. Don't get lost! I might run the handicap in the morning (just to check out the wobbly bits).

TD said...

Must be hard coming back to earth after a trip like that. What's happened to Strewth? She doesn't seem to be blogging.

Anonymous said...

Photos are wonderful and I can almost picture myself there ... a few years yet.

Run went okay, but I am a shocker of a runner when it comes to hills.
Kim did the run too - his longest race so far, so he's wrapped. It was a great day for a run and I must admit, I was glad to be doing the 16 km, rather than the 25 km like last year -

Are you planning on running the HM in August?

Liza.

IHateToast said...

thanks for sharing all those photos. it makes me want to go out and marry a guy in tights and a codpiece.

wait, i got the tights thing down. all i need it to convince him that a codpiece and tunic would look great. so now!

Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.pi7.ru/foto/1524-smeshnye-parodii-11-foto.html ]Девушки,какую фигуру вам бы хотелось иметь? [/url]
Котятам срочно надо сыскать доброго и заботливого хозяина!!! Одна белая как снег пушистая кошечка( 1,5 мес.) непрезентабельная и очень ласковая. Второй котик( 2,5 мес) голубого окраса с коим точно не соскучишься, он такой шустренький когда играет и абсолютно спокойный, лежа на коленях и мурлыча. И еще трое восхитительных котят(по 2мес): 2 двухцветных( серые с белым) котика и их сестренка белого с черным окраса. Если Вас они заинтреесовали напишите, пожалуйста, мне на почту( ан форуме я редко) бываю и я подробнее отвечу на все вопросы.