unironedman

Well, there’s not a whole lot going here at the moment. Lockdown tends to put a stop to your gallop. The race I should have been gearing up for (Gael Force West Adventure Race in Connemara) has been postponed.

The only structured training I am doing at the moment is running, and even then, ‘structured’ might be a stretch.

Still, having huffed and puffed a lot, there might be some signs of recovery.

I think the Connemara 100 last August really kicked the shit out of me. Perhaps more than I thought. I followed that up with the Dublin Marathon at the end of October, and then a half marathon at the end of the year. By the time I reached that particular turning of the wheel, the axle was very squeaky indeed. Since then, I have been struggling.

Maybe I’m just getting old…

Anyway, after a less than stellar few months at the start of 2020, when the legs were heavy, the knees sore and times poor, things may finally be coming together. An 8 mile run this evening through the park and along the canal (observing social distancing as best as possible) and which (sort of) circumnavigates the town, produced a 4 hour marathon pace of 5:42 (or 9:09, if you’re old school).

I had no plans to keep that pace, and indeed the first two miles were slow, but then once through the park and away from the gradients, the pace seemed to pick up all by itself and, there ya go… a decent enough run for a change.

As part of our local newspaper’s nod to the front line services, a photographer came to the station and took some photos of the crew. Not sure why I was scowling so much; maybe we were trying to look mean and moody? Anyway, thanks to Austin Crowe for letting me use the pics.

In other news, there is Loki. Loki has landed and life will never be the same again. Loki is well-named.

This is Loki with the other house funster, Saoirse. Do the dogs get onto our bed? You bet they do. They don’t sleep there at night, mainly coz’ the combined weight would be about 57 kilos, and there would simply not be enough room for humans. Odi is managing with this young whippersnapper. They have some great games of ‘bitey-face’. Odi probably longs for the days of Freya when things were quieter.

Anyway, here’s a picture of rape seed to brighten up your day. I took it on the run this evening. Shame the internet doesn’t have scratch and sniff yet. Useless technology!

Stay safe out there.