unironedman

Okay, who’s the wise-guy with the click-bait headlines? Well, that would be me.

So thanks to The Idle Cyclist, I am now forced to run at least 5k each day for the month of December. I say ‘forced’… in truth, it doesn’t take a gun to my head to slip on a pair of runners and head out the door, but a little extra motivation is never any harm. Thanks for the suggestion.

I admit I hadn’t heard of the Marcothon challenge. It’s named after Marco Consani, a Glaswegian runner, who figured a run each day for a month might give him back his mojo. It appears to have been a success for him and his good lady wife, and the idea caught on. That was 2009. Today, it’s more popular than ever. 3 miles, or 25 minutes seems to be the only ‘rule’. Being a metric kind of guy, I make that 5k.

I was lucky too, because I nearly missed the run on the first day of December. But as we stand, I’ve managed the first week. Of course, I am loathe to even type this. I know the running gods are up there somewhere, up to no good. There will be mischief afoot down the road. Challenges will be set upon my path. Such is the way.

Indeed, on Saturday morning, my alerter went off about ten minutes into a run, and I had to sprint back to the station for a call. It was a suspected cardiac arrest. Fortunately for all concerned, it ended up as an assist for the ambulance crew to get a patient to hospital, so that was a positive outcome. When I returned to the station, I realised I hadn’t reset the watch, so I put the running gear back on and knocked out another 5k or so on top of the impromptu speed work I had already done. And I suspect that will not be the last spanner thrown my way over the next few weeks. But if all goes well, we’ll finish the year in style with a half-marathon along the canal.

In other news, I had a few pleasing wildlife encounters. On a run in the park at the weekend, a Buzzard flew overhead in the woods and perched on a branch not far above me. The bugger flew away before I could get the iPhone out, not that it would have made a great image, but even just to have the moment. Then yesterday, on a drive down to Wexford, somewhere near Wicklow I spied a ‘wake’ of Red Kites. These marvellous birds of prey were introduced into Ireland about ten years ago.

It’s been a cold and foggy few days. This image above was taken in Wexford. The fog came and went like something out of a horror movie. Blue skies one minute; dense fog the next. But charming in terms of visuals.

Above is a pic of my local park, in rather subdued form. But it’s lovely to run in, as long as you remember to wrap up. Gloves and hats are a must.

And of course, 5k a day. Don’t get out of bed for anything less…