unironedman

The run-up to next week’s attempt at a sub-20 5k will be overshadowed by the football and the weather. And no doubt, other things. Events, as British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was supposed to have said. Once the hamstring was tweaked, the all-critical interval speed work came to an abrupt halt, and since then, following a week with no running entirely, I have only done modest bits and pieces.

After last Saturday’s (foolhardy?) attempt at the parkrun in Dublin, I managed a 10k on the Sunday. I had been happy with the way the hamstring had held up given that I managed a sub-21 minute time, but after the very pedestrian run the next day, I was reminded that we are still very much in rehab. A niggling kind of thing. Not a show-stopper. But enough to give one doubts.

Three short runs during the week, with a keen eye on the injury gave me hope, so on Saturday, I pushed the boat out again (metaphorically-speaking, obviously). I headed out through the park around half-ten in the morning with the sun burning away the last few wispy clouds. Out onto the canal, and with everything holding together reasonably well, I pushed a little harder, getting it under 4:15 pace for a spell. Back off and repeat. This time getting it under 3:45. A third push around the 5:00 mark, and then one final push under the 5:00 mark.

I had just backed off the pace when I met a fellow runner/guitar player, so we stopped for a lengthy chat about, oddly-enough, running and guitars. As you do. He was out walking the dog, but he had wisely managed his long run that morning around 7.30, to avoid the heat.

All told, about 10.5k, and no ill-effects.

Sunday’s run was an easier 7k through the park and down into Lucan village before crossing the Liffey and taking the old hill back out of the valley and entering the park once more through the Clonee Road entrance. The sun is out in force again today, though there’s a stiff easterly breeze, so together with it being Sunday (and with a big GAA match on in Croke Park) it’s probably the perfect storm for some serious sunburn!

The football has been entertaining. Lots of good matches, a few surprises, and of course, the occasional VAR controversy. Norway knocked out Brazil, and then went down to England last night. On the whole, probably a fair result, though Norway had some great chances to win it. I kipped on the couch again, and set the alarm for the second half of the Argentina v Switzerland game. The Swiss didn’t particularly look like winning it, but they did take it to extra time, and with a man down.

I expect we will get some Las Malvinas references this week…

The gag today is that the assist for the first England goal will be credited to the roll of steel cable that carries the overhead spidercam. FIFA insist there is no evidence this happened. The same FIFA also presented Donald Trump with a peace medal and bizarrely suspended a red card for the US team. So, you decide…

Hopefully I can get through the rest of the week unscathed, and get down to Arklow on Saturday with a half-decent chance of a reasonable time. The training is all to buggery at this point, so I’ll just get in three short runs during the week, and rest up on Friday. I have actually being doing some exercises in the mornings. I pressed the Swiss Ball into service (nice! ed.) and decided to split up the sessions. Even with the 6.30 early start, I couldn’t fit everything into one session, so Monday, Wednesday and Friday are ‘leg days’ with various resistance band work to help with hamstring recovery and improve the core, and Tuesday and Thursday are more free weights-based to help with core and upper body. I feel like it has helped with the rehab. And thanks, Gary, for the tip about the ball.

In other exciting news, time trundles on. And one of my (many) recent to-do lists contains such excitement as pay my mobile phone bill (due to a direct-debit glitch), book a follow-up blood test with the doctor, re-apply for online access to the Revenue (the old cert ran out on an old machine), and finally, I have been ‘invited’ to take part in the HSE’s bowel screening programme, so I may as well do that. The government takes my blood, sweat and tears, so they may as well take my (okay, that’s enough! ed.)

Above, a smorgasbord of silliness and some poems. The Keylite poster caught my eye in a nearby hardware store. In musical terms, this is a suspended chord waiting to resolve. This poster will never resolve… The newspaper clipping is an old one, but topical given the match. You can’t beat the old switcheroo!