Still running, but even slower

Lots of interruptions since my last posting back in May. Weather got increasingly hot, was busy moving to a new apartment, went on travel a few times for work as well as vacation in June/July, caught the H1N1 flu during July trip in the US. All which were good excuses to take a break from running, although out of guilt, I put in a few short 5-8K jogs in Lerici and Marinella (this was after the flu). And then it was August, when most people in Europe go on summer vacation. I spent almost 3 weeks in the US with family. Connie and Franco, friends from Italy who are marce regulars came along. We took an RV tour of the Gulf Coast, from Florida to Texas, difficult to do much running when RVing, especially in the hot and humid deep south. The last 5 days of vacation were spent in Washington, DC where the weather was surprising fall-like. I did a 1-hour run/walk around the capital, re-living old times when I used to jog from the Union Station area, through the Mall, turning back at the Lincoln Memorial, during lunch hour while training for the 2005 Marine Corp Marathon. This time I started from our hotel in Georgetown and just ran around the war memorials since we walked all over the Mall the day before. It was extremely slow going, but felt great to be back in the groove. There were so many people jogging all around DC! Incidentally I heard in the news that a female jogger suffered serious injuries after being hit by a Metrobus at Dupont Circle that morning.

Was supposed to do the marce this morning in Lerici (where I used to live), but due to too much eating, dancing and staying up late at the Sagra della Fritella di Baccala (Festival of the Fried Codfish) in Carnea, an ancient hilltop town near Follo, it was impossible to get up for the 8:30 registration. Instead at 10:00, I went on a "marcia di solo" from Pitelli (where I now live) to Pugliola, along undulating curvy roads. Weather was great, cool and sunny, and parts of the route had nice views of the ocean. No photos, though, forgot my camera. Completed 8K very slowly, walking towards the end, but it did help to assuage the guilt from calorie built-up over the past few weeks! Due to lack of preparation, and the shortage of annual leave, I have decided to bow out of the Dublin Marathon (but Debi is still going for it). Hopefully we will get back in the marce schedule in the coming weeks. Next big event is the Run to the Tower 2009 (i.e. 12K from Camp Darby to the Leaning Tower of Pisa).