Running in Florence...

SUCKS! It is one of the worst places in the world for a serious runner to train. Its impossible to get away from the cobblestone. I consider myself lucky to find flat pavement. How sad is that? Whatever, I will try to make due. Its just really difficult when I'm trying to come back from an injury and the only thing I have welcoming my knees are uneven cobblestones. The fact that I overdid my first few runs probably didn't help either. My knee still hurts, which is completely my fault because I pushed it too hard in my first 3 days back. I'm trying to get back on the right track with some advil, ice, and training partners. I'm still working on meeting up with the running club in Florence. Today I just signed up for a separate running group through my Florentine school, LDM. I also have a training partner from Portland who goes to a different school here in Florence. He runs for the University of San Diego and was on the powerhouse Central Catholic high school team. (Yes, Galen Rupp's teammate as a freshmen). He has all kinds of stories about Galen, Salazar, and the rest of the Nike team. He's the only person here I can talk track with. It works out well because we're about the same ability level too. Now if only there were trails and grass around here...