Thursday, April 13, 2006

Where is the Year Going?


Dateline Thursday April 13th, or Maundy Thursday as it's known as this is Holy Week.

Yes, it's Easter already and with e-mails from friends planning their graduations this summer and thoughts ahead to vacations in the sun - in December!, the year is slipping past. I used to think that it was impossible for time to move faster, but certainly as age has crept ahead of me, it seems that way. This year is flying by.

This Easter has seen my son, Liam óg, down from Queen's University for the holidays. It's great to see him here, and how I envy his ability to be a student on vacation and lie in bed until 2 in the afternoon, get up, watch TV, check his email, watch TV, eat something, watch TV - Basically, do nothing! The joys of being a student on vacation! When I was his age, I couldn't wait to get up and explore, do something different each day, plan where in the world I could go to next - Things change - Then again, when I was 20 I didn't run either, now I do - and I still want to explore the world!

Anyway, this is meant to be a running BLOG (spelt right this time!). so what have I been up to since Sunday? Very little actually. Monday and Tuesday saw me take a couple of days off work. I had to do some chores and planning for my Law Course, so I decided not to run, and allow the tiredness in my legs to clear. Wednesday saw me head back out on the road, despite the weather turning a little wild. I hadn't actually realised how windy it was was until I got out on the road.

It was a nasty early evening, still light thanks to DST or whatever it's called here in Ireland, and I went out for a 5 miler. The wind was right into my face for the first two miles, then just as I turned out of the wind, it started to rain - great, all I needed. I should stress I'm not a fair weather runner, but I wasn't too prepared for this, only had a light wind jacket on, and was wearing my glasses, so climatically an unpleasant evening. The rain continued, and whilst I had the wind behind me on the climb between miles 3 and 4, I couldn't see too much as my glasses needed wipers, so I just put my head down and ran.

Ironically, the last mile, back into the wind, felt the smoothest running. I had got into my rhythm, something that often happens with me. I struggle to warm up, legs feeling lethargic etc, but after 4 miles or so, I descend into a running tance-like state and just maintain. I got home in 38:45, around about 7:45 pace, feeling wet, but pleased with my run. Belfast is only a little over two weeks away, and I need a couple of long runs before then, tied in with a few races locally as well to stay sharp -

The summer series of races are underway already - where is the year going?

11 comments:

Jack said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I see your weather is pretty close to ours in the moment. I know quite often I will read Thomas's blog where he will talk about the weather and we will get similar weather a day later (depending on which way the highs and lows are travelling).

p.s. I love your blog header!

Liam said...

Thanks guys. I'm going to be running the Belfast Marathon on May 1st, quickly followed by a marathon in Prague on May 14th. Now, I won't be running both flat out, obviously, but I hope to be inside 4 hours in Belfast, then take Prague as it comes.

I'm attempting the Irish Grand Slam this year, we only have 4 Marathons here, one down, Belfast next, then Longford in August and the main one in Dublin at the end of October - Thats where I am aiming for 3:35 and Boston 2008!

Brendan said...

Yes, the year is flying by--I can't believe that it's already April. Boston 2008--Great goal! I'm looking down the road at least into 2007 for my next marathon.

Bridges Runner said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Anyway, I can't believe how fast this year is going either. I stopped for a minute and thought about it...after my marathon last fall I thought "man next season is so far away"...hmm it's here!

And I hope to see you in Boston '08...I'm looking to qualify next year:)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog, Liam. Your extensive list of marathon experiences is impressive! Keep up the running - I will look to your blog for motivation as I train for my next one. :)

Anonymous said...

Ditto on time flying by. Best of luck in your marathon. Sounds like you've put the work in, so all you can do is get out there and run like hell.

I'm just about to finish the last of the Sheridan's coffee and cream liquier I brought over from Dublin in January. I don't suppose you know of anyplace in New York that sells it?

DawnB said...

Thank you for visiting my blog the other day. You are quite the accomplished runner good luck with you upcoming events I certainly will keep taps :) Happy holidays

strewth said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. Can't believe you're running TWO marathons next month! Oh boy, do hope you recover from Belfast before running in Prague! That sounds very close to me. Best of luck with your training AND your recovery. I'll be following your blog entries with interest. Last July we visited Dublin and went on a musical pub crawl. It was fantastic - you sure know how to have a good time! Oh and incidentally we spent a week in Southern Ireland and it didn't rain once!

Michelle said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am happy to have found yours. I love reading about other runner's experiences.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sweets, recognized the Og-Man in the pic... keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

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