Barletta

Here's our spacious accommodation in Barletta. We are now officially 57km from Bari. Day 1 was a short stage of "only" 36 miles. It was flat, it didn't rain much, and the wind was mostly at our backs. The route was a mixture of scenic Italian seaside towns, ugly industrial complexes, and long, straight country roads. I'm tired and my legs are sore, but nothing too bad. My blood pressure reading at the finish was 90 over 60 - no wonder I felt like I was about to keel over again! Apple juice and a seat helped.

At one point today, a policeman stopped me and asked where we were going. I respectfully addressed him as "Signore", described the countries we were passing through, and our destination, Norveggia (Norway). He was duly impressed, and even drove past us later and gave a friendly wave.

I ran sensibly and conservatively today, let some faster people like Mike Friedl and Hans Damm go at halfway, and finished in a middle-of-the- pack 6.5 hours. Coach Claire should be proud! OK, now I'm really hungry. Dinner is in one hour. I could eat a veggie horse.