Venice

There are 409 bridges in Venice. These bridges are not flat affairs since the boats, notably the gondolas, need to be able to pass under them and so they tend to rise steeply with short steps and then flatten out before descending rapidly with more steps on the far side. These bridges are beautiful to look at and form part of the charm of the city. But boy, are they are bugger to run over.

Laurence and I went for a run this morning around the city. We're staying in a flat in the Sante Croce district of the city, almost in the centre and I had a plan to run to the quays on the southern side of the city in order to avoid the crowds and have as much space as possible.

We set off at 9:45 am which was too late really, since the sun had already been up for a couple of hours and the temperature had risen to the low 30°Cs. We headed off to Piazzale Roma and then down to Dorsoduro and Zattere. We just ran easily and I was really enjoying the sights and the sounds of Venice at a comfortable pace when my left shoulder muscles tightened and spasms started. It was like a torticolli in my shoulder, causing intense pain every time I tried to move. I carried on with Laurence but I had to drop my arm in order to find a comfortable position in which to run.

We ran 7.4 km all up in 46:01 and Laurence didn't suffer from any pains in her knee which was good. The bridges were hard and worth any amount of hill training. Lovely city and holiday is going very well.