A lazy weekend wedding invite to the stunning Italian Umbria countryside, full of glorious sun shine, all day lunches and ever flowing bottles of fantastic wine resulted in one of the hardest runs of my life... 

The morning after I was consumed with a slight guilt trip on the all day over consumption and decided a morning run is due. What could be better I thought, It would set me up for the day with a detox and some great Italian scenery to enjoy.

The sun is starting to break through the morning cloud and being a Saturday morning in Italy the small medieval town is still, so I head off thinking life can’t get much better with great views to absorb, running fast and feeling like I could go on all morning. I am surprised by my pace and put this down to the clean air and relaxed weekend.

20 minutes later the run starts to slow a little and I then realise I have run downhill all the way and I am now running through the next small town at the bottom of the hill! I stop, turn around and look up to see the very small town perched on the top of the hill that now looks more mountain like…  I look around for a solution to the massive uphill slog I have to endure to get back but nothing springs to mind. Not sure what I was looking for anyway, perhaps a taxi stand?

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