Tues 27th May – Wed 28th May
I awoke on Tuesday morning knowing how I'd remember the following hours: the most beautiful run of my life. Bevan had been up hours earlier, gathered together his camera gear and was walking somewhere along the lake hoping to capture sunrise.
One of Bevan's photos from his dawn walk
It was around 7:00am and despite the early hour, I voluntarily threw on my running clothes and i-Pod, locked up the van and started running south. As I exited the campsite, I turned up the volume on Eddie Vedder and stared out over the water wondering how running could ever ache or hurt when you had an amazing view like this.
Running Lake Maggiore, Cernobbio
I'd been a slug for the previous 2 months and could count the number of past runs on one hand, but running at Lake Maggiore was like stepping into week 13 of marathon training. I just didn't want to stop. The air was so clean and the high of passing such inspiring scenery erased all sense of distance or exhaustion; until I reached the edge of town and realised there was no road shoulder. Campervans, massive semi-trucks and even tiny smart cars screamed towards me as I ran along the 3-inch shoulder. I lasted 2.5 minutes before I turned around and ran back towards Cornobbio, cursing that vehicles could command such an area that could obviously only be appreciated at the slower rate of a runner or cyclist. It was still the most beautiful run of my life, even if I had to do 2 laps of town to equal 3 miles.
After showering we ventured into Cernobbio and grabbed some picnic food. At the edge of town, a tiny shop was hiring kayaks at 19 euros for 2 hours. We decided to go for it, mostly because the shop owner had a Colorado license plate as a clock and seemed really excited to have customers in May. We paddled along the coast at regular 30 second sprints / 10 minute rest intervals until we'd covered the Cernobbio coast line and felt like we'd expended enough energy to warrant a few beers and a gelato at a harbour cafe.
It was the perfect day... if only we'd spent less time at Lake Como and stayed here.
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1 comment:
My god that's incredible. Might even get me inspired to move! It's so hard when you're on the road!
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