Holiday/Training Report, Puglia, Italy Aug 2020

I spent most of last week on holiday with my family on a little island just off the Puglia coast, in southern Italy. This was the first time that I trained while on holiday, which meant I not only had to fit training around my family’s leisure plans, but I also had to work around with types of workouts and intensity. I’ve dedicated most of the early mornings to beautiful structured runs up and down the island’s hills, which was quite a challenge, as I’m used to running on pretty flat courses. I also had time to squeeze in a couple of unplanned easy swims in the sea, and it felt great to go back swimming in clean, turquoise waters after almost half a year away from swimming pools. As for the bike, which is my favourite discipline of the three, we decided to put that on hold for some days, as the island is so small and unspoiled so it would be hard to ride around. Though I’ve missed cycling very much, it’s been good to switch it up a little, and focus more on other parts of my training...

As for training while on holiday, it’s been way easier and nicer than I’d imagined. My coach, Tim, helped me adapt the week’s training plan as soon as I told him, plus being surrounded by nature, wonderful views and amazing Italian food made it easier to find motivation to train!

Mirianna La Grasta