Finally used a voucher my Mam gave me for my birthday back in 2024! It’s for a local menswear shop in Leixlip; one of the few outlets to stand the test of time on a main street that’s been ravaged by trends in retail. Turns out working in a labour-intensive job five days a week … More 32, baby!
IN WHICH GARY AND I TAKE TO THE HILLS IN SEARCH OF SNOW AND TELECOMS MASTS, AND I WONDER HOW HARD IT WOULD BE TO CATCH A DEER… We have had yet more guests over with us in the house this week; this time it was Noel, Saoirse’s older brother. No issues, of course – … More Peak bagging and the birth of marathon running
IN WHICH WE STUMBLE BACK INTO SOME FORM OF… FORM, I DO SOME CROSS-TRAINING WITH A CHAINSAW, AND S AND I HEAD TO THE POSH SIDE OF TOWN FOR SOME SERIOUS FASHION… It seems like a lifetime ago that I mentioned how marvelous Brigid’s Day was; the first day of February. It was calm and … More Dressed for success
A gag has been doing the rounds recently, online. It features an American gentleman on tour in the old sod, and he asks a young girl holding a ‘brolly if it ever stops raining in Ireland, and she replies ‘I don’t know… I’m only seven.’ Ho. ho. Well, it feels like it has rained forever … More At a loss
My finagling of running data continues. Last week’s post-run description of the event as a ‘tempo run’ was excusable, but this week’s ‘progressive tempo run’ was rather shameless. To quote the great Roy Keane: fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. I did, I suppose, speed up throughout the event on Tuesday evening, managing 5k in … More That time of year
IN WHICH WE COMPLETE THE FIRST WEEK OF (UNOFFICIAL) TRAINING FOR THE 5K ATTEMPT WITH TWO VERY DIFFERENT RUNS OF SIMILAR DISTANCE, AND GO THERE AND BACK AGAIN AS CUPIDSTOWN DRAWS BACK HER BOW… Another busy week at work, and with the dark evenings, it’s still (psychologically) tricky to convince the body to get out … More Cupid has the last laugh
IN WHICH WE LEAVE IT VERY LATE IN THE DAY TO TACKLE THE ONE PEAK WE HAVE FAILED TO SUMMIT TO DATE, AND WE ENLIST THE HELP OF SOME VERY ‘SUPER’ FRIENDS TO ASSIST IN THE ENDEAVOUR… Firstly, I should acknowledge straightaway that the 39 steps are in fact 39 seconds. With an average stride … More 39 steps
IN WHICH THE OLD YEAR IS POSITIVELY LOCKED UP WITH OUR TRADITIONAL COMMUNAL RUN ALONG THE CANAL BANK, THE BAND PERFORM A MUSICAL VERSION OF D-DAY DOWN IN PORTLAOISE, AND THE NEW YEAR STAGGERS IN LIKE A DRUNK UNCLE AT A WEDDING AS IF TO SAY ‘WHAT? YOU THOUGHT THE NEW YEAR WOULD BE DIFFERENT? … More Consider it locked up!
It’s that time of year when time itself gets a little bit nebulous. Most of this comes down to the whole Christmas season when we get stuck into dinners, get-togethers, parties and various other commitments to the point where we genuinely forget what day it is. Indeed, we even begin to lose the basic language … More The Grand Stretch is… complicated!
I WHICH WE, SORT OF, RECAP THE YEAR… WELL, FINISH WARBLING ABOUT THE YEAR MIGHT BE A BETTER WAY OF PUTTING IT… ANYWAY, ON WITH THE SHOW, I SUPPOSE… So what’s with the title, I hear you ask? Well, I’m glad you did. It is, for you Eurovision-lovers, an easy single down to long on. … More What’s Another Year
unironedman 