Porcari Corre, 15 Feb

This morning's weather was the coldest we've encountered, frost in the fields, as we set out for our first "gita sociale" (social outing, i.e. marcia outside of our local area) in Porcari, a little town not far from Lucca, about an hour drive away. Not knowing what the course was like, I decided to wear my cross-trainers instead of running shoes (recall the wet, slippery slopes of past runs). This marcia offered varying distances: 3, 5, 12, 17, 20 and 25K, which means that entire families can participate. You can tell this is different immediately by the fact that there were hundreds of people everywhere, volunteers controlling traffic and a general festive atmosphere. We had to park quite far away, as the huge field which served as a parking lot was already full. We signed up in the crowded registration area (for only 2 euro each), asked for a map (there was none, we were told to follow the arrows) and set off. I soon found out it was a bad idea to have left my running shoes at home: most of the first 6K or so was on asphalt; after only 2K my shins were hurting. However it could be due to the fact that it was so cold, both Debi and I had problems warming up enough to stretch. I finally warmed up and found my stride after about 3K and began to enjoy the surroundings. We jogged up, towards the distant hills until we were among olive grooves and vineyards (bare vines at this stage), at one point we caught up with a tractor on the road. The clear sunny weather was perfect for picture taking. We actually found the course clearly marked (wow!), blue arrows on the road, blue signposts at intersections where the different distances separate, even km markers in several places. At one point, there was a big blue NO! marked on a path to indicate that we were not supposed to go there. If only all marce were so well marked! There were a number of memorable moments on our 12K route: crowded drink stations where they served water, hot tea, hot chocolate, coffee, cakes and some delicious fig tart. At one part of the trail, some people dressed in costumes greeted little kids -- this being Carnevale season and there was a Carnevale festival scheduled in Porcari later in the day. At one point we almost got lost, there was a confusing sign saying 20km which we thought pointed to the longer route so we went past the turnoff. We were not the only ones, but another group of walkers behind us figured out that the turn off was the correct route. So, signage at this marcia wasn't perfect after all. At the last major intersection we had a choice of taking the natural route or scenic route with a challenging descent. Both provided awesome views of the town below. That later part of the route also provided some consolation on my choice of shoes as we had to go down a steep hill slope made muddy by melting ice. We returned to the starting point at about 11K by our Garmins, not 12K. Goodies on this marcia were obvious since finishers were walking around with 6-pack paper towels. We also got some other freebies: playing cards and cotton puffs. I think these were sponsored by a company that makes paper products in the area. We ended the day with a walk around Lucca town to meet up with Debi's young friends, Marta and Anna, who were visiting. We had lunch, did some shopping/window shopping and looked around the antiques market.

Marina di Carrara, 8 Feb

It was rainy most of last week--did some workouts in the gym at work, 4-10K on the threadmill, alternating with 30-min on the elliptical. But exercising on machines was not much fun. The weekend was supposed to be a washout too, and I spent a wet Saturday morning cleaning out moss from the courtyard and stairs. Ended up with extremely sore arms and shoulders--that took care of upper body workout for the week. Surprise, surprise, this morning the sun actually came out for a short time. We grabbed the opportunity to try out the bike/pedestrian path in Marina di Carrara, starting late morning. Parked in a quiet street (no doubt this place would be hopping in the summer) next to the ocean at the end of M-d-C. We were confronted with an interesting sculpture just across the road, then saw another in front of the beach property where we parked the car (photos above). This is Carrara after all, home of the famous Carrara white marble, used for centuries by sculptors including Michaelangelo, to produce masterpieces found in museums as well as on quite ordinary streets. Other interesting sculptures encountered on our run today included that of a worker carrying a slab at the entrance of the waterfront where blocks of marble await loading onto ships; and an interesting piece at the entrance of an open beach (right).

Back to running--we took the sidewalk for bikers and pedestrians, and found ourselves heading back toward the car after only 7.7K. We decided to veer off to the road toward Carrara town, heading towards the hills that were dark with storm clouds, passing warehouses with cranes and huge blocks of marble in the compound. The return route to the car gave us a total of 10K. After the run, we drove down the other fork of the road that leads to Pisa and found there was a decent jogging path along the road heading into Marina di Massa. We agreed that would make for a longer run next time. As we turned back toward La Spezia, the skies opened up, our timing was perfect although the run itself was slower than usual. But we did get in our run for the weekend. Looking forward to resumption of the marce next week!

Marinella run, Jan 31

No marcia scheduled this week, so Debi and I made a plan to run in Marinella again. Weather was nice and sunny, supposedly the last day of good weather for rain is forecast all next week. After some shopping at the Saturday market in Lerici, we took off toward Marinella di Sarzana in the late morning. The jogging path, a popular exercise venue for many others, is actually an unpaved road around a private farm. The flat path takes a figure 8, with both loops adding up to about 4.9 K. At one section where the cows are kept, the smell can be quite "earthy", especially when the wind blows your way. Part of the smaller loop runs parallel to the autostrada A12 and offers a view of the Alpi Alpuane. In the evenings, when the setting sun hits the marble on the mountains, the view can be awesome. Since the past 2 days were rain-free, much of the path has dried up. After the first round, we decided to get off the path and explore the neighbourhood, hoping to find the biking trail along the beach. Unfortunately there was no defined path in that area, and running next to the main road with cars zipping by was no fun. Give us cow smells over car fumes any time :) Not to mention the risk of being run over. We found our way back to the farm and jogged another 1+ loop to complete 12K. Good work out for the day!