MADE in Milan: Marathon Edition

Age 12: I remember having to run around MLK Middle School in 7th Grade and hating every second of it.  I would be out of breath, have pain in my legs, and despise the kids that kept shooting by me.  I hated finding out that I didn’t meet the time requirement, and that I would be one of the unfortunate kids having to repeat it the next day.

Age 22: I still hate it.  The act of running.  What I do love-it relieves tension and stress from practicing.  It makes me feel strong.  It also makes my skinny jeans fit nicely-more fitted, less snug (meaning  my lower half will explode out if my button breaks)

Rehearsals and research take up most of my time and I need a stress relieving outlet-running is the perfect answer

Pros:

• It’s FREE
• Relieves Stress
• Pushes your mental and physical strength
• You can do it ANYWHERE
• Again, it’s FREE
• Achieve a lean, mean, STRONG physique

My research will be taking me to several different cities over the next few months.  Therefore, I crossed out the idea of a membership at the nearby luxurious gym/spa/PALACE.  The last thing I need after being indoors with all things flute and Fulbright related, the last thing I need is to go into yet ANOTHER building to workout.

I enjoy the show MADE (on MTV).  Laugh all you want. It’s the only show broadcast in English with Italian subtitles (minus Jersey Shore).  I learn a lot of Italian watching (and reading simultaneously).  So far, I’ve seen obese  girls MADE into ballerinas and figure skaters, nerds MADE into jocks, and shy kids MADE into popular kids.

I’m going to be MADE. Into a Marathoner.  My coach will be my own stubbornness and muscle tension from my daily lifestyle in Italy.  Running a marathon has been on my BUCKET LIST for life (along with building orphanages in Uganda).  Something I planned on doing in the future (not sure when the future is-just not now) What I learned when I moved to Italy, is that to accomplish something (like learning to live in a foreign country) it requires one (or all) of the following:

1. Money
2. Blood/Sweat/Tears
3. Willpower

I’m not willing to sacrifice money for this goal (perhaps because I have none), but I can definitely afford to sweat a bit and push my willpower to it’s limit.

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the breakdown:

Goal: 16 weeks of training in Italy.  Running my first marathon when I get back home to the States.  I am not going to try and discourage myself with a time-goal.  I want to finish. Simple.  Just cross the finish line with my legs in tact and maybe a little bit of grace?

Current Level: I can run 3-4 miles easily. I define “easily” as non-stop running without getting the “jello leg” feeling.   The furthest I’ve ever run is 9 miles and it took me days to recover.

 

5Ker to Marathoner?

I will blog about my fitness journey of training for my first marathon!

xOxo Michelle

I bought a fresh fig.

I thought figs were tiny.  I’ve only eaten fresh figs once in Bellingham, WA (during Marrowstone Music Festival) This giant thing is also a fig? It was pretty expensive (7 euro/kilo) so I just got one.  Now what?

Truth: It made me a little sad to see pictures of family gatherings, fun, and FOOD.  For a few weeks, I wondered about how I would spend my Thanksgiving here.  Spoke to several people around here about the possibility of throwing together a mini feast (with other Fulbrighters)…the thing is, it’s really hard to do that when you’re in a country that doesn’t even know about our American tradition.

I had an amazing Thanksgiving.  I woke up and got to Skype with Alicia while I ate breakfast.  I had a great morning rehearsal.  I went grocery shopping and bought a huge FRESH (piping hot) Ciabatta loaf.  It was FREEZING that day, and I saw the same old woman (perhaps in her mid 70’s) standing outside on the same corner of the Corso Garibaldi shopping strip.  This 4 foot 9 little woman holds her frail and shaking hand out begging for money.  As a non-native Italian, I always wonder if the street beggars are actually gypsies, and whether they’ll try to take all of my belongings when I try to help.

We made eye contact.  Her eyes screamed out of desperation and sadness.  There was no ounce of evil in her.  As I started walking over to her, I had no idea what I would say or do.  Something happened.  Soon, I found myself asking her what her name was (she muttered something like Luciamariana…) I had to ask three times (and still I’m not sure, so she’s Lucia) and told her how she can manage to have such a long name.  She started to laugh.  We started talking, and I asked her where she lived and whether she had family around.  She said she lives down near the station (not such a peaceful area) and that she doesn’t have a family.

That tore my heart.  Anyways, long story short, we got to talk a bit, and I showed her my fresh bread, and asked her if she would like to break it together.  She was ecstatic!! So we tore her off a huge piece and immediately she started munching away.

Breaking bread with the less fortunate made my Thanksgiving Day magnificent! I feel so blessed that God gave me a beautiful opportunity to serve.

I came home to a letter in my mailbox (well on the ground actually) from my mommy!Talked to my friends and family =)

What did I eat?

Lunch=What was left of my ciabatta loaf after sharing with Lucia and another woman/dog, red bell peppers, spalla (ham) , fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, yummy sprinkle of fresh rosemary (that I forgot to rinse, so I probably ate some dirt too)

For dinner, I had a dessert, salad, then another dessert the neighbors made me! For my first dessert, I had an overripe kaki (persimmon) that I peeled and it was sitting in the fridge.  At the market I also reached over to what people were grabbing by the dozens (pane di zucca) pumpkin bread (1 serving’s worth).  I thought it would be similar to pumpkin pie – nutty, spicy, sweet goodness.  No, this bread was like King’s Hawaiian Bread (sweet bread) but it wasn’t very sweet.

So, I made a persimmon reduction (simple sautee on a hot pan), crushed some toasted hazelnuts, threw in a few plump white raisins for sweetness, added a spoonful of fresh ricotta, then finally added the pane pieces into the mix.

Voila! a delicious (not too sinful) bread pudding ish dessert.    No picture.  It was THAT good.

Cooking Adventure Pictures:

A unique Italian mushroom? It’s very meaty…I don’t know the name.

Finally found a good purpose for my Espresso maker: Garlic Shmoosher

After letting the onions and garlic sweat and sweeten up a bit, added the mushrooms

Quick Balsamic Reduction, quick sauteed red peppers, and BAM! Amazing pasta!

Oh yes, by the way, cooking pasta for one is really difficult, portion wise, but I finally have it down pat.  It’s one handful worth.  It’s weird, because it doesn’t seem nearly enough in boiling water, but that’s what one HEALTHY serving is.

Yum Yum! Rigatoni with roasted picadilly tomatoes and skim ricotta

 

Basta with the food.  Today marks the beginning of the Christmas markets!! It was so much fun talking to vendors, seeing holiday spirit everywhere! Christmas just puts everybody in a great mood, segundo mio (in my opinion)

This is nougat (an Italian specialty) So many different kinds! Not quite my cup of tea, but it looks pretty!

Everything you can imagine, sold in one little piazza!

The cutest little french-italian bakery that I pass everyday =) The first time I went in, I saw HIGH prices by the Kilo (A LOT) and couldn’t really predict how much the bread would be, so I finally asked for three little rolls.  About five minutes had passed, and I couldn’t leave empty handed.  She looked at me like, “that’s all?” All I could say was, “Troppo dei carbi!” Too many carbs…lol

Total: 19 cents

LOL well that signora sure remembers as the silly American girl.

Brrrrrrrrr…..tis cold =(

T-7 days till my concert in Roma! I’m getting excited! PS yesterday was the first snow day! It lasted for 2 hours, but regardless, SNOW!

xOxo Michelle