Tags
30 rock, fashion, husky boys, Italy, liz lemon, ragazzi robusti, running, slight, sweltering, underwear
Do you know what Summer looks like when you grew up around here? It looks like this:
Try as I may, I cannot remember the last time I was visiting at the start of summer / end of spring, and the sight of a corn field always gives me that “school’s out for summer” feeling.
But back to the subject of running. Here’s this week:
͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ | M | Tue | W | Th | F | Sa | Su | TOT | ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ | 5 | 5 | | 3 | | 9 | | 22 | ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞
I am pretty pleased with it, it’s bang on schedule and all that.
Having 10 miles done by Tuesday is hard work but it’s totally worth it. It feels good. I might try to do it again instead of doing 5 miles each Monday and Wednesday.
Here at Mum and Dad’s it’s 26 degrees with 85% humidity. It’s like living with a towel soaked in hot water wrapped around you.
After many attempts at drying my hair after a shower I was reminded of how I spent my teens convinced I had wavy hair. I don’t. It’s just the insane amount of humidity around here.
This is some of the worst weather I’ve ever run in. Plus I am staying in the countryside, so when you’re outdoors there is a cloak of not just sweltering heat but dust, dirt and insects that makes doing anything rather unpleasant, never mind sweating your way through a nine-miler.
I do not know for the life of me how I spent 20-odd years over here, with my last six years in Italy in Milan, possibly the only place where the heat is more cruel and the mosquitoes bigger.
Yes! The mosquitoes! After all this is a swamp. The town I grew up in was on average a ludicrous 15 metres above sea level and the underground garages of our house had a pump to keep them dry that broke pretty much once a year. When you are a child you think riding your bike in 8 inches of muddy water is fun! But only when you are a child.
The mosquitoes are the size of a Chinook but have evolved an amazing penchant for stealth. I have a 2-by-2 inch mozzie bite on my leg to prove it.
It’s not all bad though. Far from it.
Dad’s got a brand new bionic eye and it’s my usual Dad again, which is the best part.
Yesterday I watched most of Season 5 of 30 Rock whilst recovering from my long run, and I had forgotten how much I love that show.
The food is amazing, I got to see my friend and it’s nice not having to go to work for a few days.
I have even managed to get very tanned in 20 minutes of SPF50 – I still have vitiligo to worry about but it’s nice not to look Mancunian for once!
I shall leave you with another gem from the open air market, this one most definitely from Rico’s Husky Boys collection:
What man would want SLIGHT underpants?
But this is Italy, land of the overconfident male and of the non-existent foreign language teaching. And of Rico’s Husky Boys no doubt.
