“It has been rescheduled to run from August 29-September 20. For the virtual Tour de France, Zwift is set to build new race routes, including one in Nice for the opening stage and another in Paris to mimic the traditional finale of the Tour de France on the cobbled circuit of the Champs Elysées,” according to Cycling News. For more details see here.
And double wow, there’s also a women’s tour.
There are no details yet except that there will be both a men’s and a women’s race.
Regular blog readers know that the absence of a women’s tour has been bothering me for many years. In my optimistic moods I hope the Zwift race goes so well that we have an in real life version next year. In my grumpier moods I think that it’s only now that the Tour has been moved to the virtual world that there’s room for women. Like many of us, in these strange times, I’m moving pretty quickly between hope and optimism and grumpiness and despair for all things. I guess this is no different.
Here’s some of my past thoughts on the need for the Tour de France to include women riders:
The Tour de France is one of the world’s biggest sporting events, alongside the football World Cup and Wimbledon. But so far, it’s only open to men. A group of female cyclists in France wants to change this.
Okay. Back to this year, to racing in the middle of a global pandemic. That’s only going to happen on Zwift.
What’s racing look like on Zwift? Here’s some footage from the Tour for All.
image description: Tracy selfie. She’s smiling, wearing a Buff on her head and a workout tank, upper left arm tattoo of flower visible, home workout equipment (e.g. running shoes, cans of beans, chairs, blanket, bin with resistance bands, yoga mat on floor) in background.
A few of us have blogged about participating in “220 in 2020,” which is basically a group where you keep track of your workouts, with a goal of working out at least 220 times in 2020. Cate and Sam started talking about it back in 2017, when they did “217 in 2017.” It got Sam to think more explicitly and more expansively about what counts. And Cate has talked about the motivating power of this type of group and how it’s altered her relationship to working out. I jumped on board last year, with the 219 in 2019 group that spun off of the Fit Is a Feminist Issue Challenge group that Cate, Christine and I hosted for a few months in the fall of 2018.
I just hit the goal of 220 workouts in 2020 on the weekend. It sort of snuck up on me. In fact, I didn’t even notice when I first posted it. It’s not something I “had my eye on” the way I did last year. I’ve even wondered whether it seems like a bit of an impossibility or something people view with skepticism.
Last year, using as my basic criterion “if it gets me moving then it counts,” I managed to get in the 219, with a few extra but not many. The vast majority of sessions I counted were either yoga classes, runs, or resistance training sessions. I had a sort of minimum time limit of about 20 minutes before I would count something as a workout. Yoga and personal training were always an hour. And most of my runs are at least 20 minutes and sometimes considerably longer.
By the time 2020, going on the momentum of 2019, I had successfully incorporated conscious movement into my routine every day. Sometimes, especially but not only while I was in Mexico in January and February, I would do something twice a day, like yoga and running, or yoga and a 10K walk. Starting with Adriene’s “Home” yoga challenge in January, I have actually done yoga almost every day since the beginning of the year. When I started to notice the numbers really racking up on my “count” in the 220 in 2020 group, I began to count two things in a day as one workout (like run+yoga OR walk+yoga) unless one of those things was super exerting or considerably longer than an hour). It’s almost as if I felt bad!
But the fact is, the goal of being able to record a new workout often did motivate me to get moving. And once I had yoga as part of my daily routine, I didn’t want to break that streak of daily yoga. But for me yoga alone is not enough — it counts, but I need to either run, walk, or do some resistance training as well.
Another woman in the 220 in 2020 group also hit her 220 on the weekend. And she asked me, “what now?” My first answer was “keep going.” Which is sort of obvious. I went on to wonder whether there is any reason to keep recording and reporting my workouts, though. The group has achieved its purpose for me — over the past 18 months of being part of a group like this I have integrated physical activity into my daily life in a way I hadn’t quite before. This is made easier this year by my sabbatical, so I am much freer than I usually am. For at least a few more months I get to set my own hours. That allowed me to kick into high gear in the fall, with hot yoga every day (oh, how I miss hot yoga! The pandemic has effectively taken that out of my life for the indefinite future). I made a smooth transition to Yoga with Adriene when I went to Mexico for the winter. That gave me a headstart on the transition to online everything that the pandemic has foisted upon us.
The running/walking + yoga combo was just starting to feel old when I discovered, through Cate, the online Superhero workouts with Alex in late April. That was just the thing I needed to add a new dimension of challenge to my fitness life. I had set resistance training and even running aside for awhile, having injured myself last spring and endured a very slow recovery. For me the perfect balance is a routine that includes yoga, resistance training, and running/walking. I don’t tend to take a day off, opting instead for active rest, combining a more restorative yoga practice with a walk.
This commitment to a routine that includes daily physical activity has also been amazing for my mental health. I have had a tough couple of years that culminated in the finalization of my divorce in early January. Sometimes it felt as if regular physical activity was the only thing I could commit to as part of a daily schedule.
When I stepped away from being a regular on the blog at the end of last summer, it was partly because I had very little left to say publicly about fitness. That still holds true, with the occasional blog post (I think I’ve blogged about 5 times since I “left”) and my daily progress tracking in the 220 in 2020 group being the extent of it. Once in awhile I feel compelled to make some social commentary (like my commentary on “the covid-19” weight-gain jokes, which aren’t funny).
As I hit my 220 target early, with almost half a year stretching out before me, I feel that it’s cemented what started when Sam and I embarked on our Fittest by 50 Challenge and started the blog in 2012. The big shift for me during our challenge was to a more internal and personal relationship with fitness. I realize full well, for example, that no one else really cares, nor should they, what I do. This isn’t to say I haven’t felt supported, encouraged, and motivated by the group. It isn’t to say either that I haven’t enjoyed watching the fitness lives of other members — their accomplishments, their routines, the adventurous and exciting things they do. It is to say that, in the end, I do this for myself. And I’ve experienced the benefits in my life.
So the answer to the question, “what now?” actually is, “keep going.” Not to accumulate a higher number (though I will, if I keep reporting in the group), but because it’s now a thing I do that is a positive part of my life. And recognizing that, it makes no sense to stop. I also think it’s pretty awesome, and I’m not going to worry if that makes me sound boasty or whatever, because sometimes I think we are not boasty enough. We minimize things we do that are actually awesome. And since (as noted above) no one else really cares, and since I definitely do care, well…it makes sense for me to regard reaching this fitness milestone about 5 1/2 months early as an actual achievement. [high-fiving myself now despite slight discomfort at what I just said, which discomfort highlights that I’ve internalized the message about how women shouldn’t be self-congratulatory about what they do even though I actually think we should]
So that’s my “challenge group” story for 2020. Do you have one? If so, let us know in the comments how that helps you (or, if you fly solo, why that works best for you).
CW: some talk about body weight, fatness and feelings that anti-fat micoaggressions can provoke.
tl:dr version:
NEVER.
N E V E R.
Never. that’s all.
Context: many/most/all of us have found ourselves in the gym, on a bike, running, or doing some kind of physical activity (or any activity, for that matter, but I digress), when we get told by some stranger, “great job! You keep it up! You go, girl! You got this!” or some such infuriating fit-splaining-ness.
As a person who identifies as fat, I have experienced this more than a few times, and also heard and read about it in many social media and other groups. Samantha blogged about hating people cheering her up hills, explaining why.
Now that you’re done reading her post, here are some modified examples commiserating on “good job!” unsolicited comments (I mean, there’s always unsolicited):
I was heading down from a hike and some people were like, oh don’t turn around, you’re almost there. I’m like, wtf, I had already been to the top… and now I’m heading back down.
I have done a lot of run/walking… Sometimes when a run interval is over and I go to a walk people yell “don’t stop keep going”. Like, leave me alone…
I once had a woman stop me to ask me if my heart was okay to run. Sigh…
I used get this hiking… “You’ll make it!” “Keep it up”. I wanted to pick them up and throw them off the mountain. Was hiking summits 3x/week. I take my time because I care less about speed and more about enjoying the hike.
We were walking around a small lake in a park, and a slim woman and her daughter stepped aside to let us pass. She asked if we were ‘walking around the lake’ and we said ‘yes’. She looked us up and down and said- oh, Good For YOU! We kept walking, looked at each other and realized we’d just been – I dunno, fat congratulated on our walk.
Someone told me I was “really good” at yoga. And then added, Especially for someone my size… she could’ve left that part out and also, yoga isn’t a competitive sport so I’m not looking for feedback, thank you very much.
I’ve been told, “Keep coming back!” at the gym. Yeah, I’ve been coming here regularly for years…
It’s hard to know how to respond in such situations.
WHAT AM I SAYING?! Of course it’s not hard to know how to respond. Here are my top 4 suggestions:
*uck you
F*ck you
Fu*k you
Fuc* you
Sorry/not sorry for the potty-mouthed list.
Seriously, it’s hard to know what to do in the moment because 1) you’re actually in the middle of climbing or cycling or paddling or running or lifting something very heavy, and you’re trying to concentrate; 2) these digs just show up out of nowhere, apropos of nothing, so take you by surprise; 3) they can provoke feelings of inadequacy, shame, fury, sadness, loss of energy– all sorts of things can come out.
Ignoring it is one tactic. Coming up with a snappy reply is another, but can be hard to produce in the heat of the moment. There’s my list, but it is rude and could provoke an unsafe reaction in the fit-splainer.
So, readers, what do or would you do in a situation like this? If you feel like telling us about a similar encounter and/or what you did, I’d love to hear about it.
In my house the pandemic began with a flurry of online shopping to create a home gym. Or rather, to round out our existing supplies.
We have a TRX and yoga mats, bikes and a trainer for Zwift, and even resistance bands with handles and a lone kettle bell. We’ve hung our punching bag. I’m feeling pretty lucky.
My son also bought a giant tire for flipping, and some sandbags and water jugs for lifting.
The most recent fitness tool we acquired are peach bands. They’re resistance band loops and they come attached to whole marketing campaign that’s got my feminist attention.
Peach Bands
They’re marketed as booty bands. Peach is both the colour of some of the bands and the desired booty shape that’s the aim of the workout. There’s lots of peach booty imagery out there and discussion of “peachy glutes.” Google it! Or not. Your choice.
The bands are incredibly useful for me because my mobility warm up is one I do with bands. My knee physio exercises use the bands too. And now I have some strength training that uses bands.
As a feminist I always have mixed emotions about workouts aimed at making some body part beautiful. What’s in the mix? Well, a healthy dose of “you do you” and “go girl” along with some sadness that the great feel good of moving your body and sports performance is reduced to mere means to aesthetic bodily improvement. Also, I fret that it won’t work anyway and then you’ll hate yourself and stop exercising losing out on all the good that movement brings.
Still, still, these exercises do help knees. And more women than men have knee issues. We tend to move in a quad dominant way and have issues activating glutes and hamstrings. These bands certainly help activate those muscles. So if younger women are motivated by booty-beautiful and end up with fewer knee injuries as a result, then why worry about the motivation?
Also, they are really nice bands with (for me) the right range of resistance. And they come in a handy (peach coloured) carrying pouch. The marketing campaign has a lot of empowerment messaging. See the pie chart above.
(CW: Very silly and irreverent photos and descriptions and gifs of people in T-rex costumes doing physical activities. I hope this makes people smile a little.)
It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and we’re all yearning to get outside and explore nature in all its forms. However, COVID-19 will be with us for a long time to come. Vaccine development is still in early stages, and our knowledge and resources for treatment are limited. So we’re left with what we can do: prevention. To reduce transmission, we’re social distancing. I blogged about sports and risk recently here. That means limiting or avoiding activities with a high risk of transmission, especially avoiding any sports or activities that involve contact with other people.
Not so for T. rex! Other than keeping a eye out for stray comets, Every T. rex is out and about, enjoying themselves. Boating is one of T. rex’s favorite pastimes:
On the other hand, many of us are screaming out for novelty these days; what better way to change up your exercise routine than by combining two favorite pastimes in novel ways?
Without a doubt a novel activity, but the chances of this catching on seem slim.
Back to reality: I hope you found some silly respite in these images. For me, a smattering of jokes fits nicely into my schedule of ranting, gnashing of teeth, hiding, crying, donating, letter/email writing, self-reflection and learning.
Finally, the inspiration for the T. rex post is from my favorite T. rex in real life: here’s my friend Steph and me before the Orchard Cross costume race a few years ago. I’m her second banana. Looking forward to costume cross races, picnics, swimming outings with friends’ kids, beach trips on hot holiday weekends, and all the other lovely things we all do together.
So readers, how are you getting out there this summer? Any plans? Any interesting protection ideas? Feel free to share what you’re up to; I’d love to hear from you.
Me (on left) and Steph, before the Orchard Cross costume race, held every Halloween weekend.
I started out the pandemic riding inside, a lot, on Zwift. What’s a lot? I rode enough that I got my unemployed badge for 14 days in a row. It’s now changed on Zwift, thanks to the pandemic, to the “working from home” badge. What’s that in distance? More than 500 km a month. So far this year I’ve ridden nearly 2000 km (not including fat bike riding or commuting.) I’ll be curious to see how far I ride this year. I used to aim for 5000 km. See here and here for discussions of cycling distance goals.
Well, good but weird. Like lots of things these days. We packed supplies. We did all the right things. We brought our own stuff–food, drink, and things to fix flats. We were not reckless speed demons. I gave several QOM attempts a miss. We had someone at home to call for a ride in case something worse than a flat befell our bikes. We brought masks in case something unexpected happened.
All of that stuff is pandemic related. But it also felt weird because it wasn’t Zwift! Along the way, in my head, I started compiling a list of the ways in which cycling in the real world was different than virtual cycling.
1. Cars: In the real world, you share the road with cars and trucks. In Zwift, it’s all bikes and runners. Since cars and trucks can kill you this is an important difference.
2. Animals: There are critters in Zwift, some real and some magical, but they don’t run out in front of your bike. Unlike chipmunks and squirrels which here in Guelph so make the occasional dash.
3. Traffic lights and stop signs: My average speed is higher in Zwift and in part that’s because there is never any reason to stop. There are no stop signs and no traffic lights.
4. Downhill: In Zwift I never brake downhill. I’ve got some amazing top speeds. There’s no way to crash so need to worry. Just zoom! You can super tuck in Zwift to recover on long descents but that’s for race strategy reasons, not safety. You still go very fast. Here’s a how to descend guide for Zwift. No braking involved.
Someone, not Sam, doing a super tuck in Zwift.
5. Wind: OMG. I’d almost forgotten about wind. There’s a draft advantage in Zwift that’s a big deal but you don’t feel the wind in your face the way you do in real life cycling. The Zwift wind is also the same everywhere. There’s no headwind on the way out, tailwind on the way home. There’s also no good and bad wind days.
6. Cornering: There’s no skill in cornering in Zwift. You hit a corner at speed and the bike takes the corner. In the real world, that’s something you learn how to do as a cyclist. I have memories of crit racing and the turn we called “collarbone corner” for a reason. Sunday Sarah sprinted for a light and then realized at the last minute she had to turn right and the bike wouldn’t just do it. Braking and turning was required.
7. Speed versus Power: On my road bike while Zwifting the number I care about is watts or watts per kg. Rides aren’t announced with speeds. They’re announced with watts per kg. I know my cruising pace in watts per kg. I know my time trial pace in watts per kg. But in Zwift I don’t pay attention to km/hr. In the real world, I don’t have a power meter and I don’t know my watts. My Garmin tells me my speed and average speed, distance and heart rate, but not watts.
8. Brakes: There’s a lot of braking in the real world. None in Zwift. Except when the ride is over.
9. Uphill: I’m better uphill on Zwift. I can spin slowly. In the real world, I rarely do that. I’m not that comfortable shifting to a spinny gear and going slow. I think I worry about falling. In Zwift, up Alpe due Zwift, speedy runners pass me.
10. You’ve got to make it home to stop: When you’ve had enough on Zwift you just stop. That’s it you’re done. Sadly in the real world you can’t stop until you make it back home.
On the left, Sam’s Zwift avatar. On the right, actual Sam riding in the real world, in Florida in January. Also, another difference. You need to dress for the weather in the real world. In Zwift, it’s always bike jersey weather!
Bonus: I’m ageless in Zwift. The avatars all the look the same not matter what your age. Some people have their ages in brackets so you know. (J.Smith 12 YEARS OLD) or (B. Anthony 70+). I’m never quite sure why people do that. Only at the extremes which is interesting. And related to age, in Zwift you never get a sunburn. No sunscreen needed.
A couple of weeks ago, I went out for a run and it felt great. I did my usual 6k loop in the same amount of time I’d managed to keep up throughout the second trimester of my pregnancy. A few days later, I had to cut the same run short after 5k because I was getting uncomfortable. And then, last Sunday, I got as far as the bottom of the hill from my house before having to stop. The muscles and ligaments in my belly were uncomfortably tight and I was in more pain than I was willing to push through. As I was walking home, the pain went away, but I realised that perhaps running was over for me. I’d made it to what was officially the first day of my third trimester.
I was a bit bummed and sad, I’ll be honest. Given that just a week and a half earlier, I’d been able to run just fine, I was surprised at how quickly things had changed. There was a sense of loss that I hadn’t been quite prepared for. I consider myself a runner, but running isn’t my main sport, so I was astonished how much the thought of not being able to run any more bothered me.
The thing is: in times of Corona and pregnancy, with both swimming and bouldering out of the question and cycling to be approached with some care and trepidation, running had become my main sport. It was now the thing I turned to for clearing my head and getting peace of mind, and now it’s gone for the time being. I may still give walking with running intervals a try just to see how it goes, but I’m fully prepared to have to stick to walking.
A person (not Bettina) doing laps in a pool. This is also probably not what Bettina will look like doing laps in a pool after three months of no swimming at all! Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash
But it’s not all bad news! The same day, I learned that pools in my area were going to open back up. Next week, 17 June, is opening day for the first public open air swimming pool in our town! And then the next day, I learned that my lifeguarding club was getting back into action this coming Tuesday! We have a mind-boggling set of hygiene and distancing rules to follow, but I’ll happily obey them. Most (though not quite all) of them make sense. And it actually feels safe. We’re lucky enough to have so few cases of Covid-19 where I live now that I think it’ll be ok. Who knows, I may yet end up eating my own words, but for now things are looking up.
I’ve missed swimming so much, I’m beyond excited. I. CANNOT. WAIT. to get back into the pool!
I haven’t swum since mid-March, which was when everything around here closed down. That was early in the second trimester for me. I had only barely begun to show. The last training session before the lockdown was when I told all my teammates I was pregnant. So things will certainly be different when I get back in the water. But I’m so excited! Considering that a few weeks ago there was a real possibility I wouldn’t be able to swim at all before I’m due, this is an immense improvement. And it’ll give me an outlet and a way of being active instead of running, hopefully right up until the end. I’ll report on how it went next week!
I participated in a company organized workout via Zoom, today (led by Maneki Fit). Typically I do my Zoom workout a few times a week with my regular gym. The company organized workout was scheduled around the same time as my usual workout. I wasn’t sure if I should do it, or follow my regular routine. I’m glad I shook it up a bit. Not because I don’t love the typical workout I do with Move Fitness Club. But, because it’s worthwhile to switch it up every once and awhile. Also, today felt like a bit of an ego boost. I am not above admitting that an ego boost can go along way in amping up the good feels derived from a great workout.
The Move workout typically involves 2 or 3 sets of EMOMs (every minute on the minute) or Tabatas, along with a warm-up or a cool down. We use whatever weights we have around at home for a lot of the exercises. It’s always a good, sweaty workout.
The Maneki workout was a warm-up, followed by 5 sets of 3 exercises (100 scissor jumps, 8-10 push-ups and 12 sit-ups). That’s it. Simple. I love repetitive things, whether in exercise, baking, making pasta, etc. Especially simple moves.
I was one of the few participants on the Maneki workout with my camera on. Since I am used to being on camera for the Move workouts, I wasn’t worried about it. I think many of my colleagues were not as used to participating in virtual workouts, so they chose to be off camera. So, the coach was often calling out me and a couple of other people that he could see on camera.
If I were doing Bulgarian split squats, or step-ups, it may not have been a good opportunity for my ego to shine. But push-ups and sit-ups and scissor jumps. Right up my alley. And the coach noticed. He called out my great form for the push-ups a few times. He liked the fact that I used one of my weight plates for the sit-ups. I enjoyed the shout-outs. I enjoyed being recognized for being good at these fitness things. It helps remind me, when I still have Imposter Syndrome, that I am a dedicated, and regular exerciser (still not sure if athlete qualifies).
Who couldn’t use an ego boost these days? A reason to feel as though you are not in an exercise plateau. Because things are starting to feel a little too similar day-in and day-out. It’s nice to have a distraction from the idea that maybe you are not doing enough in the world with the talents you’ve been given.
That’s it. I enjoyed the ego boost today through fitness. I hope you enjoy an ego boost today or soon, in whatever form it comes in.
Nicole P. is riding a wave of happy push-ups today.
(CW — talk about body image and a brief mention of the fit of clothing)
It’s Friday morning, and it’s been a week. Trapped in the zoom for a million meetings, knee somehow bruised and misbehaving, missing a lot of my virtual workouts for various scheduling related reasons. Some nice new baby news among my immediate people, a whiff of hope in the bigger world. The sun is shining, and I am fine, but drowning in work and not super grounded in my body
So I am turning to Lizzo for inspiration this morning. If you haven’t seen this tiktok, watch it:
“I’m not working out to have your ideal body type. I’m working out to have MY ideal body type. And you know what type that is? None of your BLEEP business. Because I am beautiful. I am strong. I do my job. And I stay on my job. So next time you want to come to somebody and judge them whether they drink kale smoothies or eat McDonalds. Or work out. Or NOT work out. How about you look at your own BLEEP self. And worry about your own goddamned body. Because health is not just determined on what you look like on the outside. Health is what you look like on the inside. And a lot of y’all need to do a BLEEP cleanse for your insides.”
You know, no matter what happens in the world, Lizzo is there to ground the CRAP out of me.
So …. what’s my inspiration for my own health in the next few weeks?
Stay active every day, even when I’m super busy. It grounds me and creates a buffer of resilience to Just Deal. And lo and behold, when I run, walk or ride, I remember that there is indeed a big beautiful world out there.
Meditate for just 5 minutes a day. See: resilience.
Be kind to myself about the impact of the Indoor Cat time on the fit of my summer pants. I have summer dresses!
Remember that my body holds the self that wants to live with purpose, and when I honour that in myself, I stay connected to that sense of purpose.
What’s inspiring you to be who you want to be today?
Fieldpoppy is Cate Creede, who is going to try to take a moment to breathe this weekend.
In early/mid March 2020, all sporting events came to a screeching halt. No more college sports, pro sports, annual tournaments or races. No more kids’ sports leagues. No more swimming at the local pool. But sporting fans and participants around the globe will not be denied for long, and they are getting impatient.
Whether or not some reopening process for some particular sport in some location is prudent is hugely important. Lots of sports associations, government agencies and community groups (and sports franchise lobbyists) are working on putting together guidelines for returning to athletic activity. In early May, the Italian government released a 404-page report (in Italian) on “Safely Restarting Sports” (Lo sport riparte in sicurezza). You can find parts of the document here. It’s super-detailed, identifying dozens of features that affect the riskiness of sporting activity. Here are some of them:
how many athletes are playing?
are the groups consistently playing together or randomly put into groups?
Where is the play happening– outside, inside, how big a space inside?
What sort of physical contact is necessary, and what sort of contact can be avoided?
What sorts of equipment are necessary, and who has how much contact with it?
What sort of activity is happening– conditioning, skills lessons, training drills, scrimmage, game?
Who else other than the athletes is in potential contact (e.g. coaches, spectators, facility staff, other persons)?
In this document, there’s an analysis of various basketball activities. They are broken down into risk categories (1–8) and then there’s a table showing the activity (e.g. warmup exercises, fundamentals drills, game), its description, its level of risk, and ways to mitigate the risks (generally through sanitation, individual protection, curbing contact, etc.).
So, do we have reliable information about specific sports? Uh, maybe. This news article (the Dubrovnik Times) reported on sports that the report deemed safer:
Reportedly, sports that offer almost no possibility of spreading the infection are sailing, open water swimming, golf and tennis. As for tennis, it also has rules that recommend that tennis players wear goggles and gloves and that each player has their own balls at the service.
As for collective sports, water polo, which is in category two, has the lowest risk of spreading the virus, with the explanation that water polo is played in chlorinated water, which can disable the virus.
Football is placed in category three, while rugby, basketball, volleyball and handball are in the “most endangered” category four, as are all martial arts.
I’m cycling this summer, and buying a kayak this month so I can get out on the water. I do own a tennis racket, so maybe that will be in my summer plans as well. No yoga studio classes are in the offing any time soon, but zoom yoga has some virtues (among them that all classes take place in my living room).
Readers, what physical activities are you doing or contemplating doing this summer? What are you returning to? What are you substituting for activities you’re not doing? I’d love to hear from you.
p.s. the phrase at the top of the article, “Ognuno protegge tutti” means “each one protects everyone”. I like that.
