I've been tagged

Well, Thomas has tagged me, so I better play along and answer the questions, if I don't I guess that hordes of wilderbeest or plagues of locusts will be set upon me from Kerry, ok, maybe not, but it's good fun anyway. Here goes.....

4 Jobs I’ve had:

Barman
Bank Official
Computer Security Administrator
Trade Union Official


4 Movies I watch over and over:

The Shawshank Redemption
The Sound of Music (and I'm not joking!)
Life of Brian
Moulin Rouge


4 Places I have lived:

St Albans, England
New Mills, High Peak, Derbyshire
Banbridge, Co Down, Northern Ireland
Dublin, Ireland


4 TV shows I watch:

The West Wing
Boston Legal
Judge John Deed
Two and a Half Men


Places I’ve been on Vacation:

California
Malaysia
Poland
Mexico


4 Websites I visit every day:

Cool Running
Runners World UK
Stockport County FC
Kick


4 Favourite Foods:

Mexican
Chicken Anything
Stir-Fry with Rice
Ben & Jerry's Ice-Cream (See I can be honest!)


4 Places I'd rather be right now:

Germany watching the World Cup
Phoenix Park running well
On a beach without a care in the world
At the Lotto HQ collecting my winning millions


4 Favorite Bands/Singers:

Dixie Chicks
Neil Young
Keith Urban
Bryan Adams


Bloggers I'll tag: (but don’t feel obliged!)

Jill
Sarah
Dawn
Sister Smile

A New Arrival

As followers of my ramblings will know, I have been a little absent in recent weeks with one thing or another. Well, the house is finished, and I have a couple fo pictures to post of the lovely floor we have restored, so that excuse has gone. The World Cup is drawing to it's conclusion, with only 8 teams left, and seven matches to watch ;), so another one almost gone, but the best one, excuse that is, finally was lost last night, when Aaron Brian Treacy entered this world at 9:21 pm, the beautiful son of my step-daughter, Lynn, and her partner Dave.

Hopefully, if I have worked this picture lark out correctly, his little face should be beaming from the top of this post. He arrived weighing 7 lbs and 10 oz, and mother and son (and the dad aswell) are doing fine, and will be home on Saturday. I guess that makes me a sort of Grandad, a step one mind, but one that will be equally as loving as I will be when my two offspring decide to start a family of their own.

Now it's back to the running, and hopefully, no more excuses.

Knocking the rust off

You know when something gets old as the rust starts to appear around the edges. Then gradually the rust spreads, until eventually it falls apart. How do you halt the spread, you can buy sprays, you can chip away, but unless you are very careful, the rust has overtaken your hard work and things do fall apart.

Well, my running has become rusty since Prague. I took a rest to recover, and the rust started to appear. I had a few runs, just light jogs really, but the rust had started to take over, and until about 10 days ago, I was in danger of falling apart. So, how do I stop the spread? The weight had returned, notably around that special male area of "Dummy Tummy", and I felt unhealthy. There are no sprays to clear this bodywork, just the appliance of hard work.

So last week, I recommenced training, rather than simply running. It was hard. Those first few runs did little to inspire confidence, had the rust taken hold? But, unlike the old banger parked on the drive, this old runner knocked a few spots away, and now I feel ready to re-apply myself to my goals. There is still some lingering around the edges, but another few days and I can start to apply the wax to the bodywork. By the end of next month I'll be shining new again.

You may not be able to turn back the path of time, but you can hold it in check a little - It just gets harder as we get older.

P.S. OK, that's Ecuador fallen by the wayside, so it's on to cheer Portugal next Saturday, and Spain tonight -

Slow and Steady

Like most things when you have been away for a while, it takes a little time to get back into the swing of things. Ring-rust they call it in boxing parlance. It's the same with running, although, as I said before, I am suprised how unfit I have become in such a short space of time.

But the road to recovery and getting back to form is mapped out in front of me, and now that things are settling back down at home, I can get back into the swing of running. Slowly and steadily, no need to panic, I still have 18 weeks to prepare for my Dublin run. On Thursday night I managed an easy 4 miler with Kieran, my training partner for Connemara, and yesterday I had a gym session with a 3 mile dreadmill run at a shade under 8 minute pace, feeling comfortable again, far better than Wednesday's thrash.

I have to head up North to visit my mum this weekend, so I'll ease off today and not run, but will get an easy run tomorrow up in Banbridge, before heading home to watch the World Cup game between Ecuador and England - How do you say "Come on Ecuador" en espanol?

I'll take some pictures of the new flooring etc., so you can see what we now enjoy.

When you don't have Computer Access...

It makes it very hard to keep your Blog updated.

For those of you who have logged on hoping to find some words of wisdom from me, I apologise (like that's ever going to happen). I think I mentioned that a few months ago we had a chimney fire and as a result had to have some work done on repairing the chimney breast and consequentially work done inside the house. Well, we took the opportunity to get our floor in the living room changed from a carpeted one, to exposing the wooden boards, sanding them down, varnishing them, and changing the whole room style - along with total redecoration. The PC lived in the living room in days gone by, but it would not be doing once the work was completed.

Needless to say the work took longer than expected, and my re-location to a bedroom turned into an office/study meant the PC was out of touch, and hence no updates to my Blog for a whole week - I felt isolated. At work, the firewall excludes "Blogspot" addresses, and whilst I could access certain sites, such as Coolrunning and Runners World, I was unable to get in touch and even tell folk why I was away.

Anyhow - I'm back now. What's been happening? I am still re-building slowly, just short easy runs to report, and my main worry is my weight, which has ballooned up towards the 195 mark, a long way away from the 175 I need to be to achieve my goals. That will be worked upon.

The World Cup is starting to weed out the men from the boys, and so far Argentina and Spain are my pick of the bunch. Today sees crunch time for the US and Australia, and maybe we'll see the Brazilian team come out of their shell and perform for us. England have managed to stumble through to the second round, but with few striking options available to them, they will struggle in the knock-out stages. On a more positive note, the Fixture List for Stockport County games for next season are out today, so maybe I can plan a trip over to watch them and take in the Robin Hood Half-Marathon in September, ideal warm-up for Dublin.

This will be harder than I thought

OK - Well, it's Day three of my "Train to Boston" goal, and this could be tough, I have just realised that I am not getting any younger :). Last night my programmes said 4 Miles, so off I went and 4 miles later I was back home feeling awful. A week away from running, just one week, has set me back 6! I felt jaded, my legs were like lead, and my mental state to run was seriously challenged.

All the time whilst I was running I was thinking of what will be, and how I can reach my goal. I maintained an argument with myself as to how I can do this, how I can balance my life with my running and achieve my goal. I was delighted to have read a new Blog fom an old friend, Jill over in Nashville, who is joining me on the Boston Train, and that kept me going, and won the argument as to why I was out there. Old friends, and new friends, all connected with running and a large part of the reason I run, the friendships made and the journeys made.

It will get easier again, the excess weight, added in the past month since Prague, will fall off. In a few short weeks I will read this and wonder why I wrote it - For now, it's grit the teeth and work hard - I never said it would be easy.

PS - World Cup Update. So far, having seen 28 of the 32 teams in action, I have been disappointed. Brazil won, but were a shadow of their former selves, France were appalling, England won but need to improve to stand a hope. The best sides so far have been the Czechs, the Italians (in fits and starts), and the host nation Germany. Last four sides play their opening games today, Spain versus Ukraine should be an interesting match up, and more will be revealed as the tournament starts to get interesting as the second phase of matches commences.

The Journey to Boston starts today

OK - I've had my break from running, taken my rest and recovery time, enjoyed a few beers in that time, but today, Monday June 12th, sees the start of the journey to see me line up in Hopkinton in April 2008. It seems a long way ahead, but I've noticed how time has a habit of flying along when you are training for a Marathon. Just as you think you are getting into reasonable shape, you check and see that your Marathon is only 7 weeks away!

Well, for me, the first step will be Dublin in October this year, exactly 20 weeks away from today. I have some hard work to do, no doubt I will have set backs along the way, but I am determined to be there on Patriot's Day 2008, I hope you can come along for the ride.

NB - So the World Cup is up and running. Eight games gone, only 56 left to see who will be crowned Champion. Only half the teams have played so far, and from what I have seen I don't think the eventual champions have laced up their boots yet - And no, I don't mean the USA - It's just like watching Brazil :)

THE World Cup starts today!

As I'm sure everyone is aware, including those of you reading this in the US, the Football World Cup starts today in Germany. Now, I deliberately used the word football here, becasue that's what it is. It's not soccer, it's FOOTBALL! - OK, that one out of the way.

Every 4 years, as a football fan, I look forward to the staging of the World Cup, and 4 weeks of back to back games. the 2006 event kicks off tonight with Germany v Costa Rica, and I will be glued to the TV at 5 pm (Irish time) as the ball gets rolling. I do have a quandry this year as to who to support. We failed to qualify this time, and so th epassion will not be in my support. It stiicks in the throat to support England ;), but as a Liverpool fan I will be cheering on their players, and with 4 Liverpool players in the England squad, I'll certainly be cheering the lads on. Spain have three "Scousers" in their squad, so they will get a cheer as well, and even Australia will get an eye from me.

Irrespective of who I will be cheering to victory, I am looking forward to seeing the best players take the stage, and despite Brazil being favourites, this year could see anyone of 5 or 6 teams vying for the title. Argentina are a good side, Italy will be there or there abouts. The French will be disciplined, and despite Germany being out of sorts, they are at home and will be expected to do well. England could do well, and maybe one of the African quintent will spring a suprise. Can the USA shock everyone and win a match?

All will be revealed over the next few weeks - I hope I can managed to get some running done between matches as well, my rest period is almost over, and Monday sees me working hard to achieve my own goals, and my attempts to qualify for my own World Cup - BOSTON!

Apologies to one and all

Still being relatively new to this blogging game, I have to apologise to friends and new readers for the gaps between posts in the past couple of weeks. Things have been a little hectic since my trip to Prague, and I haven't had much time to get on the PC. Added to that, the past weekend, the weather has taken a turn for the sublime, with temperatures well up into the 70's, a beautiful sun, and a garden begging for attention. So, I succumbed (is that how you spell it?) -

Before my hiatus from filling you in with the details of my life, I had been having some thoughts about potential US Presidential Candidates from the Democrats perspective. This was fuelled by the re-emergence of Al Gore into the public eye. I am a keen sophologist, and follow American politics closely (well as closely as someone from 3000 miles might), and thought that Hilary was a shoe in for the nomination. Now I know that she has her haters as well as her lovers, and I was wondering what my American readers take on this is. Irrepsective of your own leanings, would Hilary make a good candidate, or are many democrats looking for an ABH candidate (Anyone But Hilary), with Al Gore's re-birth seen as a God Send. I wonder?????

Back to running, and my Dublin build up officially starts next Monday, a 20 week programme, and I will get back to that later in the week. Just in from an easy 3 mile run just to turn the legs over, and now back to that garden :)

Flaming June - Alright!

Well, June in Ireland has got off to a wonderful start. Temperatures were well up yesterday, and things look good for this weekend, a holiday weekend over here, so no excuse for me not getting out and running.

Thursday night saw me meeting up with Kieran in the Phoeniz Park for a run, and we were joined by Jo, who I have been chatting with on the UK Runners World site. She's doing her first Ironman in July, in Frankfurt, and joined us for the run. It was one of those evenings when everything combined to make for a pleasant run. The weather was beautiful, we ran off-road, the deer in the Park are in season (mating that is, not hunting), and the craic was mighty as we ran along, picking up the pace as we passed a few miles. I love working the hills in the Park, and tested myself a couple fo times, finishing our 7 miles strongly, anbd feeling great - Ah!, the beauty of running free......

Aside from running, life has been getting back to normal after my vacation. Work piled up on my desk during my absence, so plenty to do there. My mum has gone into a respite care home for a couple of weeks, and is finally starting to think that living alone at 92 might not be for the best. My daughter is over from England, staying with her University based brother, and on Sunday he flies off to Spain for the summer to work, and she goes back to her studies in Sheffield. As I say, life goes on......