stramilano: my first 10k!

i just got back from a wonderful 8-mile run along the adriatic sea so it feels rather appropriate to post about the stramilano in milan on march 27th! 

me and my roommates are running in the bavisela half-marathon here in treiste on may 8th!  march 27th was around the halfway point in our training so V and i decided to sign up for and run the stramilano 10k in milan as well! 

now, you might be wondering, "uh liz...i thought you hated running?" yep. i did too. it's true what they say about the bora here in trieste, it makes you crazy. and during this past winter - it was not hard at all to convince me to register for both of these races (we signed up in late january).  feeling lethargic and just BLAH after a winter of being trapped indoors due to the bora and suffocating downpours, it was exciting to think about getting outside and running.  

however, the beginning of our training (really, the entire month of february) was sort of fake because the weather still ha fatto schifo.  but after returning from february break, when march was in full swing, we began running.  it was slow and hard - we ran before, during, and after school - and i definitely was slacking off during every single run.  there is no way i could have even pretended to successfully run these races without the pump-up spirit of V! 

so! we made it to milan on march 26th, had a lovely day of sightseeing and carb-loading and then ran the race sunday morning!  we ran together the whole time and it was hysterical.  thankfully, V had her camera with her during the run....  

me and V before the race in front of the duomo a milano

throughout the race there were signs counting down the kilometers - i got excited at every sign. eventually, we began making up songs to go with each countdown. 

among our fellow runners were: pink afro, rollerbladers, and multiple young children. [not pictured: men smoking during race and men entering cafe during race to get coffees]

finished! me insanely red faced, per usual. 

so now, here we are. 5 weeks until the half-marathon, training has become legit (thanks to the very welcome spring weather!), and i just ran 8 miles along the adriatic sea.  it's exciting to think that each of my long runs (each week going up a mile) will be the longest i've ever run!  today -- it was hard making it to barcola (the strip of boardwalk along the water) but once i did, i inhaled the most amazing sea air and was revitalized!  even though today was a bit gray, the beginning traces of sunset along the water were still magical.  as i turned around to begin the 2nd half of my run, staring back at the city where i live, i couldn't help but smile while thinking, "i live here!" 

x!