Back to the Phoenix Park

Slowly but surely getting back into it. After a busy start to the weekend with a trip up to house in the North to get the builder set as he makes good the water damage from last week, it was home and an early night after watching the first games in the European Championships from Austria/Switzerland. With no Ireland, and even England failing to qualify, it's open as to who to cheer for, and tonight sees a potential good game between Germany & Poland, I have a lot of Polish friends here in Ireland, including my builder, so I'll be wanting them to win tonight, and I have drawn Croatia in the sweep at work, but it will be Spain that I will be following most attentively, they have 4 Liverpool players im their squad, so Viva Espana!

I digress away from running.

This morning I met up with my training partener and friend Kieran in the Phoenix Park and we took a leisurely 5 mile run around the park, catching up on our American trips, as he ran Cleveland Marathon while I was in Cincinnati. He is in better shape than I at present, so I let him run off on me (truth told, there was no way I could keep up!) over the last mile, and I have a lot of work to do to get back into proper shape.

24 weeks to Philadelphia, with Dublin 20 weeks tomorrow - The clock is ticking!

Update and Up and At Them

Thought I'd bring you up to date with what has happened since my run in Cincinnati, and where I'm planning on going next. Well, after the race, it was vacation time in San Diego and Palm Springs, and I only managed a few little runs between pool time, but it kept me ticking over, and the relaxation gave me the chance to re-charge the batteries, and take stock of whether running was still in the plans - maybe it was getting too hard to keep the fitness levels.

Well, I took stock, and decided that as running is in my blood, there is no way I can relinquish the adrenalin that comes from a good run, or a race finish, so it was home, and the Dockland Fun Run over 7.75 Km, starting right outside my front door. I ran it steadily, clocking an unimpressive time of 39:44, but happy enough, and then flew off to Belgium to run the Brussels 20Km Road Race, as part of a team from Irish Revenue, where on a very warm day, and avery tough course, I ran 2:01:26, to finish around 12,000th in the race, but with a further 10,000 behind me! It wasn't the time that I had hoped for, and I have to admit that it is not a race that I would want to repeat, the course is too hilly and the numbers too high for the size of the roads, but I did enjoy my weekend, where our Belgian hosts treated us superbly.

I returned from Belgium with a BIG Blister on my right foot, so I took the whole week off running to allow it to heal - This was down to new shoes, that I thought I had broken-in, obviously not, so they will be discarded as running shoes, and I'll switch to my new Asics Gel Nimbus 10's, over those 9's -

June is here, and I have a plan. I was always intending to run Philadelphia this year, a Thanksgiving Vacation to Pa is a regular occurrance now, visiting family, and Dublin is 4 weeks before Philly. So, Starting on June 9th, I have a 24 week build up to Philly, with Dublin being my last long run before Philly, which I will run as a long training run, and hopefully help a pal reach a goal of his own at the same time. He can reach his goal, and I can contain myself and treat the race as a 2 minute slower than desired pace, training run.

I would point out that my weight has crept up to 196 lbs again, and this WILL be reduced to 175 by the time of the races, and with a summer of running to look forward to, I intend to make this one to remember. Last night I ran with the Dublin Hash House Harriers for a bit of fun too, and will continue to do this, and maintain the fun element of running alongside my serious training.