unironedman

After the excitement of the Athy triathlon and the prospect of kick-starting the marathon training programme, my body (and mostly the legs department) gave me a reality check. I had done a few decent runs in the week after the race, culminating in a parkrun. Heavy legs; slow times. No issue with that, and indeed, running on tired legs is not a bad thing, as long as you don’t overdo it and pick up an injury.

Well, I could feel the strain for sure, so last week was very much a trimmed back one. A 10k on Tuesday confirmed the legs were in need of some TLC so I skipped Pilates on Wednesday and just decided to enjoy the good weather.

So instead of slaving over a hot pavement, I did some nice things instead. I had heard a great song on the radio last week; took a fit of madness and ordered the CD online, and then discovered the artist in question was playing Dublin this week. Serendipity indeed. Check him out: Dermot Barrett.

Also finished up a project for a friend of mine who studies Early Mediaeval leatherwork. He has access to museums, archaeological digs, and he writes reports. You can check that out here too, if that’s your bag. And that IS an in-joke 😉 And speaking of jokes, the project was to make a replica of a shoe last found in an Irish crannóg, so this I did with ash timber, freshly felled from a neighbour’s garden (they were clearing out some trees). According to Dr Google, the word ‘last’ comes from ‘laest’, Old English, meaning footprint, and that sounds good enough for me. Of course, there are numerous jokes you can make about this, so off ya go… I’d say they’re already taken!

The weekend just gone has been a busy one. Still great weather, so S and I managed a nice walk yesterday and met up with an old friend who owns a barge along the Royal Canal at Confey, so after dawdling and chatting for a while, I just couldn’t take it anymore and I got in for a swim. I admit I had my goggles and a towel with me, so it wasn’t exactly off the radar as an idea 🙂

It sure was lovely. And a welcome break from the work of the brigade. We had a busy weekend with five calls, and on top of that, I had spent Friday night doing cover in another station, which is never that restful.

I did chance a run yesterday after our long walk, and that was a mistake. A planned 10k was scaled back to a 7k as I crossed the Liffey on one of my normal routes, and then pared back to a survival-mode 5k as I returned. With the heat, tiredness, lack of sleep due to fire calls, and feck-all food in my belly, the run quickly went pear-shaped. As an exercise in reinforcing how tough a run can be when everything goes south, it was a timely reminder. But it also points out the importance of rest in any training programme. One thing any marathon runner will tell you: during training, you are very fit. And very tired. At the same time. It’s an odd place to be, but such is the way with a programme that constantly ramps up the miles.

So, along with some advice from my mate Ciaran, who does a lot of running, I am going to take it relatively easy before we kick in to the real stuff in July. I am starting off with a good base anyway. I will still be running; perhaps just not so much of it, or at any great pace.

A belated Happy Father’s Day to any Dads out there. The whole concept has been bastardised as these things often are. Check out this post for more.

My daughter gave me the best card ever, along with this pic. Thanks T!

And finally, Holly. Because, well, Holly. Our gnarly Cocker Spaniel will sleep anywhere, anytime. She has taken to the new seats I built in around the stove, which normally have cushions on them. As these had fallen on the floor (her fault), she simply moved to the floor along with them. Can’t fault the logic, I guess…