Ivrea

Orange Festival in Ivrea
The Ludus crew enjoyed a fun and busy day dodging and throwing our fair share of oranges. The little town of Ivrea is about 1 hour north of Torino in the northern part of Italy. The idea of the orange festival is that there are about 9 teams (about 3500 people) in about 6 squares (piazze) around the town all throwing oranges at the guys in horse-drawn carts. The guys in the carts pay 400euros to be in there, and the guys in the teams pay 150 odd euros. The festival takes place over 4 days. It was a fantastic day and I was happy not to dislocate my shoulder while throwing so many oranges.

Torino winding down

The Torino 2006 Winter Games is officially in 'winddown' mode. You can feel it in the streets, in the number of people around town and the general atmosphere of Torino. Ludus has one more full day of their tours and then they shut everything down with a big Ludus Party ready to go off on the 28th. I hope to post some pictures on here. Running has been put on the backburner since Gava 1/2 marathon as I have not run a step since the race. My left ankle has been too sore in the morning (when I usually get my run 'out the way') and I decided to soak up some of the Olympic spirit while still in town.

Gava 1/2 marathon 2nd 1:06.23
So I flew back to Barcelona, from Torino, for this important Barcelona Fit race. A good team turnout added to 2000 odd runners. A few personal bests were recorded, but with the wind and rain that pretty much covered the course along the waters-edge, the times were not really relavent. The effort, race and team environment was the name of the game today. For full results of other Barcelona Fit runners please go to the official results page.

The Tour

We are still rolling on well here in Torino. We went to our first competition last night, the pairs figure skating shortprogram, and it was fantastic. I have never seen that kind of sport live and it was a good night overall. Jen and I went with about 6 other Ludus(ites) and so the night was filled with some laughs during the performances. The Russians pretty much dominated, with the Chinese up there fighting for the minor medals. Los Americanos are about 6th or so. More soon.

Winter Olympics TORINO 2006

Ok, so I am flat chat here working for Ludus Tours here in Torino for the XX Winter Olympic Games. Today is the first day for Tour clients, so you could imagine the mayhem around town for the Ludusites. I will keep everyone informed on what is happening throughout the weeks here. I am in Torino until March 2nd, but head back for a 1/2 marathon in Barcelona on the 18/19 Feb. My training is going fine but I need to get my daily training done before all the work starts each day: this means hitting the streets about 7:30am. I know that is not early for some people who read this, but it is generally too early for me! Anyone want some gifts?