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Monday 23 March 2020

Malonno FlettaTRAIL March 2020 "racing around my back yard"

All the races for the foreseeable future cancelled? No problem - just race around your back yard!

Malonno is the home of mountain running. There's been a mountain race here ever since 1964. But this is the March 2020 edition of the classic mountain race, Malonno FlettaTRAIL - like you've never seen it before!

Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post to watch. I hope you enjoy!

MALONNO
HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS
HOME OF MOUNTAIN RUNNING
RESTIAMO A CASA

Stay happy & healthy
Andrà tutto bene 🌈
Sending positive vibes to you all

Heidi

///

adidasTERREX kit worn during this video

AGRAVIC WIND JACKET
AGRAVIC ALL AROUND CROP TOP
AGRAVIC RACING SHORT
SPEED LD TRAIL RUNNING SHOES

@adidasterrex #createdwithadidas #oneteam

(with special thanks to guest star Guido Johnny Mariotti)


Thursday 12 March 2020

life inside lockdown

The sun is rising up over the mountain tops. Ever so slowly, and then all at once - the golden rays hit the earth. Birds sing overhead – melodies full of joy at the awakening of this new day. Flowers carpeting the forest floor stretch out their petals to feel the warmth. The sky above is an endless rolling blue. Snow twinkles in the sunlight on the mountain summits and there is a trickle of water all around as winter melts and spring advances forward. This is a paradise.


Except it's really not. Instead we're stuck in one of those dystopian future films full of doom. Just the setting isn't quite right. How can a place so beautiful be enduring such grave times?

This is life in Italy. This is life with the threat of the coronavirus lurking behind every handshake, every hug, every kiss, every touch. This is life at least one metre away from another human being. This is life inside lockdown.

It's March 12th and it's over three weeks since the Coronavirus first arrived in Italy. When we first got the news it was the week of the carnival celebrations and it seems so ironic that a time that was supposed to be full of joy and happiness was over shadowed with so much confusion and anxiety. The virus first put eleven towns and villages in Lombardy, the region around Milan, and Veneto in the red zone meaning that a total of 55,000 people were in quarantine and told not to leave their homes or towns for two weeks as the Italian authorities tried to contain the spread of the virus. At the start here in Malonno - schools, gyms, swimming pools and other public places were shut and the bars were only allowed to open from 6:00 – 18:00 in a bid to limit the crowding of people in public places.

Now over three weeks on, things have drastically changed. In the beginning there were just 400 cases isolated to the northern region of the country. Now Italy has over 12,000 cases and the whole country has been put inside the red zone. The authorities have ordered us to all stay at home. Everything is shut beside food shops and pharmacies and only one person per family is permitted to enter these places. Any travel throughout the country is strictly prohibited – the only exceptions are on special request and have to be movements motivated by proven work needs, situations of necessity or health. If you don't follow these rules and your movements are deemed unlawful - you could face up to 3 months of arrest, a fine of up to 260 euros and even between 1 and 12 years in prison. These are serious times and Italy is doing all it can to halt this spread of this virus. But is it too late?

I remember a few months ago here in Italy, I was teaching a class and a few children made a joke about the coronavirus in China. I suppose back then we didn't really think anything of it. It wasn't really anything to worry about as we went about our daily lives as normal. Going to school, going to work, going out to a restaurant with friends, going to a bar for your breakfast, being able to shake hands, hug or kiss someone else. Maybe we didn't see it coming but here we are - in lockdown just like China.

It's true the virus is only really fatal for old people and people with very weak immune systems. But we all have to make these sacrifices to preserve life and limit the spread and enormity of this problem. The hospitals are overflowing. It's a crisis for the health system. There are numerous campaigns here in Italy seeking donations from the public to provide the hospitals with the materials they need such as masks to keep the staff from contracting the virus.

There's a post on Instagram that is trending. A young nurse facing this health emergency writes that she's scared not of going grocery shopping – she's scared to go to work. She's scared because the mask might not fit her face well or she may have accidentally touched herself with dirty gloves. Her message is that “We young people are not immune to coronavirus, we can get sick too, or worse we can make you sick. I have to go to work and do my part. You do yours. I ask you please. Stay at home.” The hashtag #stiamoacasa (#weareathome) is trending as people recognise that staying at home is the only way we can combat the growing spread of this virus.


View this post on Instagram

Sono i un'infermiera e in questo momento mi trovo ad affrontare questa emergenza sanitaria. Ho paura anche io, ma non di andare a fare la spesa, ho paura di andare a lavoro. Ho paura perché la mascherina potrebbe non aderire bene al viso, o potrei essermi toccata accidentalmente con i guanti sporchi, o magari le lenti non mi coprono nel tutto gli occhi e qualcosa potrebbe essere passato. Sono stanca fisicamente perché i dispositivi di protezione fanno male, il camice fa sudare e una volta vestita non posso più andare in bagno o bere per sei ore. Sono stanca psicologicamente, e come me lo sono tutti i miei colleghi che da settimane si trovano nella mia stessa condizione, ma questo non ci impedirà di svolgere il nostro lavoro come abbiamo sempre fatto. Continuerò a curare e prendermi cura dei miei pazienti, perché sono fiera e innamorata del mio lavoro. Quello che chiedo a chiunque stia leggendo questo post è di non vanificare lo sforzo che stiamo facendo, di essere altruisti, di stare in casa e così proteggere chi è più fragile. Noi giovani non siamo immuni al coronavirus, anche noi ci possiamo ammalare, o peggio ancora possiamo far ammalare. Non mi posso permettere il lusso di tornarmene a casa mia in quarantena, devo andare a lavoro e fare la mia parte. Voi fate la vostra, ve lo chiedo per favore.
A post shared by Alessia Bonari (@alessiabonari_) on

But it is not all doom and gloom. Despite the distances we have to maintain between other people, there is a unity as the nation and communities come together to battle these times of crisis. In the last few days all over Malonno, handmade banners with rainbows have appeared outside houses with the words "andrà tutto bene" (it will all be okay) - a reminder to people to maintain their hope in these times. We are still allowed to go out for a walk or a run as long as we maintain the distances from other people and it is heart warming to walk down the street and receive something so simple as a smile or to exchange a few words with a friend or stranger. The sun is shining and you can kind of pretend that this crisis isn't happening... until you turn a corner and see someone walking their dog with a mask covering their face and gloves on their hands. This is the reality we are living in now but it helps to try to remain positive.

For me I'm just so glad I'm in lockdown in such a beautiful place here in the mountains in Malonno. At least here I can still go into the woods and follow the paths up into the mountains where I know I won't meet anyone and I can still gain the headspace and moments of movement I crave in the open air. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for people in cities all across the country and for those who have contracted the virus and have to self isolate for 40 days. I know I am very lucky to live here – now more than ever.



View this post on Instagram

Non mi sento in forma ancora ma per fortunata il tempo é dalla mia parte... É solo marzo. Lo so che sono così fortunata ad essere qua nel paese della corsa in montagna. Sono eccita a lavoro con @andrea_sorteni_surte e lavoro con mia #malonnomagicians Siamo tutti insieme a costruire il più forte #welshwitch 🧙‍♀️🐉 sono così grata per tutto che ho nella mia vita qui a Malonno 💙 Keeping in mind my new favourite quote from @hooliganrun14 "you're not a nanny, you're a dirty muscled mountain runner" Allora andiamo avanti ⏩⏩⏩ Mountain running season - be seeing you soon but for now got some work to do. With the @adidasterrex #oneteam training camp scheduled for next week unfortunately cancelled due to the coronavirus & being stuck here in northern Italy not able to leave... The world has gone a little bit crazy but I'm grateful to be locked down in the place I want to be - here in the mountains. So in these times of uncertainty I hope you can all remain healthy and happy... Respect the rules - stay at home, drink some tea or maybe run away up into the mountains where you'll be free 🦋 sending lots of positive vibes to you all on this Monday evening 🌠 #mountainstateofmind #malonnomagic #dreamersdisease #homeofmountainrunning #corsainmontagna #welshwitch #adidasterrex #createdwithadidas #stepsandstories #heretocreate #findthelight #outdoors #homeofthechampions #italia #strongnotskinny #mountainrunning 📸 @luke_davies87
A post shared by Heidi Davies (@heididavies98) on


And to think about the impact that this virus has had on the up and coming mountain running season.... who knows what will happen? We have to just take it as it comes. The guys over at adidasTERREX made the difficult but wise decision to cancel the #oneteam training camp scheduled for next week in Fuerteventura and with all sporting events here in Italy prohibited until the end of this lockdown on April 3rd – who knows what will happen after that? Will we still be in lockdown or will life go back to normal? Who knows?


I had planned to go back to Wales for a few days in April to visit my family and then my grandmother was going to come and stay with me in Malonno to get a taste of the life I live here. Obviously none of this will be happening now. The flights are all cancelled and I don't know when I will see my family again. This makes me sad, of course it does. But I am also so glad that the internet exists and we can keep in touch. It helps to remain positive, so I'm using these strange times as a chance to concentrate on my training. It's a bit like a training camp but alone and with a strange eerie silence outside. I'm also using the time to try to sharpen up my Italian skills - maybe becoming properly fluent by April 3rd is a bit of a challenge but who knows maybe my next blog post will be in Italian!?


When this crisis is finally over and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, can you imagine how amazing it will be to be able to once again go about life as normal. To go shopping with the whole family, go to a bar with some friends, go to school, go to work, get in the car and drive to a nearby town for an ice cream just because you feel like it and all the other things. If nothing else these hard times are teaching us to appreciate the life we live. To appreciate what we had and what we will have again. To appreciate the little moments where the light shines in.


We are all making sacrifices. We are all living these crazy disturbing times. But we are all alive. What a wonderful gift that is. And so this morning I was inspired by a dandelion. It made me think... "what is my wish?" My wish is that we all stay happy and healthy. If you feel alone in these times just look up at the sky - look up to the stars. Someone else, somewhere on this wonderful planet is looking at them too. We are all connected and everything is going to be okay. 

"andrà tutto bene"

make a wish

With much love and positive vibes... bye for now
Heidi x