Where I Run and What I See

So, this latest post was intended to be a VIDEO post but do you know how hard video editing is with a sad, shaky video camera phone? Moving mountains with that mustard seed would be easier. I seem to be missing that gene the rest of my generation possesses which allows them to effortlessly upload hours and hours of homemade media footage. But not I. I think I'll manage to put-up some photos. But that is the extent of my audio visual skill, for now...         

Castel San Angelo 

Anyways, 4 days a week I run on the Rome Tiber River from one end to the other and back, varying the distances to accommodate 6, 8, 10 and 12 mile runs. The lengths of the run includes seeing Rome landmarks, sculpture adorned bridges, tree canopy covered pathways, railway tracks and ancient Roman arches. My runs also usually include seeing a trumpet player, roosters and chickens, serious road bikers, and men peeing on the walls.           
Sreet Graffiti on the River

First, let's discuss the lovely architecture. I do feel lucky to run in such an ancient and lovely city. I don't even mind the loads of graffiti, in fact I think it can be really cool. Part of the running path turns the white striped lines, which demarcate the path like a road, into male and female stick figures. Who wouldn't love that? The Castel San Angelo is a great road marker, letting me know I am on the last leg of my run. Plus the end of the path becomes much more lush, lined with trees and park benches. You even see roosters and chickens (why I don't know. Is there a farm on the river somewhere? So many questions)

Look, It's Road Girl!

Okay, now let's talk about what I do not like about this path. First, WHY IS THERE ALWAYS SOME CREEPY MAN PEEING ON THE WALL?! These walls are hundreds of years old and they are being eroded away by urine. As I woman, I don't understand this. There are dozens of people on this path, people running, cycling, families walking (think of the CHILDREN!) and these d-bags decide to just whip it out and mark their territory. And it's always in the same place. It's like this corner of the river has a special gravitational pull for skeevy 20-30 year old bladder challenged men. Ugh.



Creepy-Men-Peeing-Free Zone                                      
Second, there are these bikers. These Lance Armstrong-wannabe bikers. They have on the full spandex outfit, streamlined helmets and shiny angular shades. They travel in packs, spinning down the path at break-neck speed on their state-of-the-art million dollar feather-weight chrome-blinding bikes. They are the worst. Like a pack of evil gazzells they race past me. I am trying to run on this little pathway and they think they are actually competing in the Tour de France. Do you know where 99% of all bike races happen? On a real road, not a 6 mile length river running path. You do not impress me.Clearly all that spandex has cut off the circulation to your brain.

There are a lot of birds on the river. It can be a little Hitchcock-esque

Was that enough complaining for you? It's just my way of garnering attention. In reality, the river running path provides more enjoyment than not. One time, when running, a man on a bike (those bikers!) was cycling past me and instead of keeping his eyes on the road he kept following my bouncing, um, upper body...and then he fell off his bike. Totally bit it. You can't pay for that kind of personal entertainment. And yes, the biker was fine, for you bleeding hearts out there. In reality my hate for bikes comes from the time when I was living in Florence and I was crossing the street on my bike (ironic I know) and a city motorcycle scooter type thing ran a red light and hit me. HIT ME! Ever since then I have been wary of anything two wheeled. Also, the driver of that "motorino" as we call them threw a fit and called me a witch telling me I had damaged his bike. So yeah, not a fan of bikers (no disrespect to my brothers who are major biking fans. To my knowledge they have never run over a nice blonde girl and called her a derogatory name, so, they are O.K. in my book).

Rooster Friend


So, that's just a little taste of what I experience on the river. The running part of it is really boring. I just....run. I keep moving my arms and legs, keep taking in oxygen. Drink water. You all know what running looks like. I do that at a rate of about a 9-10 minute mile. I hope to get that down to 7-8 by the marathon.


More to come soon enough....

Let the running begin

Let the running begin....or rather continue as I have already trained for and completed the Rome Half Marathon in November 2011 (see awesome photo to the right in About Me). Now, let's be clear, I am not a professional runner nor is this blog meant to serve as a How-To regarding marathon training. Don't follow my running advice. The little voice I listen to in my head continually repeats "KEEP GOING!". That's it. Nothing inspirational. So, the most significant piece of running wisdom I can impart to you is KEEP GOING! And get good shoes, but mostly it's just suck it up and keep moving your legs.

This blog IS meant to shed some light on the world of autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune disease is when the body attacks itself. Scientists are still uncertain about what triggers healthy immune cells to attack health tissue instead of a damaged cells or dangerous bacteria, like immune cells are supposed to do. Over 23 million people in the U.S. suffer from one of the dozens of autoimmune diseases and it is estimated that 1 in 12 worldwide have one of these chronic conditions.

There are over 80 different documented types of autoimmune disease, the most common being Thyroid disease. Some are organ specific, like Type 1 Diabetes (attacks the Pancreas) and Addison's Disease (attacks the stomach) while others are non-organ specific like Lupus an Rheumatoid Arthritis. What is most frustrating about these diseases is that they seem to strike without warning or precedent and each disease has it's own unique characteristics. For more detailed information I suggest you visit the American Autoimmune Related Diseases webpage: http://www.aarda.org.

Over the course of the next few months I will be writing about various autoimmune diseases and how you can help researchers find a cure. I will also be contributing some of my adventures in my quest to train for the marathon which takes place on March 18, 2012. Rome is a lovely and wacky place to live, so prepare yourself for stories both fanciful and sordid.

Now you may be asking yourself why I'm doing this. Well, over the past few years I have been meeting a lot of people, especially women, my age who suffer from these chronic conditions. All these people were previously in good health and lived a healthy lifestyle, many of them with no family history of their disease. Plus, a lot of these people were, are, or have recently come to be friends of mine and, as their friend, I want to help. How can I help? First, I can raise awareness through the spread of information, thus the blog. Second, I can dedicate a small portion of my physical life to the cause, thus the running. I hope that both my brain and my body can in some way contribute to the public understanding of these diseases. Raising money to advance research would also be awesome so be on the look out for all the ways I try to get you to donate your time and/or money to help fight autoimmune disease. It will be fun!

Finally, seeing my friends take ill reminds me of my precious health and how I take it for granted. I hope that by pushing myself to run all these miles over the next several months it will remind me of how blessed I am to be alive and possess such youth and strength. Maybe I can even inspire a few of you to get off your butt and do something with your life (was that too much? Sorry, my Dutch father sometimes pushes through and I get a little dogmatic).

I hope you will enjoy reading this blog. So far my running as been a mostly pleasurable experience and the knowledge that what I am doing may help others makes me even more determined to carry out my master plan.

Tally ho!