Marathon Training....in Rome

So, its been a while since my last post, and contrary to popular belief, I have not killed the kids yet, nor have they done so to me, so all-in-all we are surviving summer vacation. While Richard has continued his marathon of travel, and training for the "ultra marathon" he is doing in September, I have been spotty in my training. Hard to get out of the house with no childcare help! But, on those days where I run, I have seen some of the more amusing people and passed some incredible places, including the list I created in my head on this morning's run and have attempted to recreate below:

--my personal favorite was the woman running in a string bikini bottom and halter top...with wedge flip-flops! I wasn't sure if she was running from someone, or out for a run (it turned out the latter - as a man in proper running clothes met her along the way), but seeing her made me speed up during a hard run, as she damn well wasn't going to beat me!

--this morning I saw a man running in normal running attire, with a rosary in hand....he ran by praying the rosary out loud.

--on many a morning there are various couples and men dressed in work clothes, shoes and all, walking their dogs off lease.

--there is a pack of small breed dogs that seem wild (i.e. with no owner noticeably near-by)...the kids have learned that while we don't want to test the saying "their bark is worse than their bite", a rock thrown at them while wildly barking will help ensure no bites happen!

--you can always tell which men are the Italian men running....more than the tanning booth tan, the style for men here seems to be to run in spandex shorts and shirts......use your imagination!

--while seemingly mundane, there are numerous people who use running in the hot sun as a way to intensify their already bronze face and shoulders, leaving many people running without shirts (purposely not stated as men without shirts). It seems that large-breasted women here don't need bras......as a good tan will suffice?!

Now that I have been completely culturally insensitive, the amazing parts of my runs are the things that I run by, and the beauty that I see. Being here makes me understand the clouds in many paintings that never seemed real....those that seem to glow....they are abundant here, and startling to see! I am constantly amazed by the ingenuity of the Romans, and of how long things have been here. I run by a place called the "Capo de Bove", which while running by is merely a gate. Upon entering for the first time yesterday, a vast maze of ruins were reveled that spanned from the 20th c BC to 1400 AD...i.e. people used, augmented, improved, destroyed and kept running the baths for that amount of time! Incredible. But, before entering, it was the "almost 3 mile marker" for my runs:)