There are clearly many benefits to training for a long-distance race. After last year’s exploits with the Dublin Marathon, I was able to sling-shot off the back of all that exercise and get a PB in a half-marathon of 1.40:17 a month later. I hadn’t set out to get that time, but as the kilometres … More And so the race begins…
IN WHICH MONTHS OF TRAINING ARE NEARING AN END, AND WE CAST A COLD EYE ON THE DUBLIN MARATHON COURSE, PLUS AUTUMN THROWS UP A FEW GOLDEN MOMENTS… Well, that seems to have come around fairly quickly. My mate and I have been training for the Dublin Marathon (how do you know someone is training … More Taper time…
This unassuming patch of grass overlooking the Mill Lane, where I grew up, is at the heart of St. Mary’s Park. There are quite a few ‘old school’ housing estates like this around the country, where solidly-built houses surround an open space. If there were plans for these open spaces, it seems that these were … More For Matt
…when you’re busy making plans… Hell of a week. Last weekend, there was rugby and long runs. Monday started off with a gym session. There was work, as normal. Then on to Tuesday. And my Mum is at the door with a worried look. Dad is in the garden. He’s had a fall and can’t … More Life is what happens…
Regular devotees to this blog (!) will know of my fondness for Anemone nemorosa, or the Wood Anemone; that rather wonderful member of the buttercup family that literally takes over St. Catherine’s Wood every March and April before just as swiftly vanishing for another year. Once the first few pop up out of last year’s undergrowth, … More Third time’s a charm…
What’s seldom is wonderful, so they say. And they also say you wait for one red weather alert for years and then two come along together. Well, okay, that’s not strictly true. Storm Ophelia arrived mid-October last year. And now we have another Red Alert, in the form of the Beast from the East and … More Snow Day!
IN WHICH WE MUSE ON THE EFFICACY OF THE GYM AND PROMISE TO SET OUR MINDS ON THE RIGHTEOUS PATH OF GOOD HABITS, MANAGE A FEW PARKRUNS, AND FINALLY GET AROUND TO SIGNING UP TO ANOTHER EVENT… I really need to get back into the gym. Not that I like the gym, of course. I … More And in other news…
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth” The Road Not Taken Robert Frost This short post is an all-too-brief homage to my local running spot, … More The Path Taken
IN WHICH WE CELEBRATE AN ANNIVERSARY, CONTEMPLATE THE ‘HOLY TRINITY’ OF MARATHON RUNNING, BID A SLOW AND FOND FAREWELL TO THIS YEAR’S BOTANICAL BOUNTY, SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT GEL, AND REMIND ONESELF THAT THERE ARE OTHER SPORTS IN THE WORLD TOO… Well let’s get the training week out of the way first. Monday: the standard … More The Long Run
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 … More Whoa there!
