The real reason for the hold up on the #FarewellTour

As promised, a little note to bring things up to date, and let you know why things have been put on hold for a wee while.

After the Dingle Trip in early September. I ran my last BHAA race of the season over in Newbridge, for the Pfizer 5K. A great flat course, and a reasonably decent time of 24:14, so things were looking up. This didn't last too long, as the following week I had a mare of a run in Rathfarnham, and things were slipping off the rails. I passed on the Dublin Half Marathon, and the ankle niggle, and the core issue really began to become more of a problem, and one that would need a break from running. Difficult to take a break when you're like me, and enjoy running and racing so much, but needs must.

We took a wee holiday over to the US in October, and I took part in the Brooklyn Rock n Roll 5 Miler, which was great fun, and although my time of 43:12 wasn't spectacular, it was an enjoyable, if hilly, run, and a few more runs in Central Park while in New York certainly had me smiling when we flew home, hoping I could get back into running well again.

Then the Big Story Hit!

As part of the retirement and emigration plans, I have been having a series of Health MOT checks, with everything coming up rosy so far. Just before we went to the US I had the last of my checks, a colonoscopy, and on returning home I got a call into the hospital to go through the results. Then the proverbial hit the fan. They had found a small amount of Cancerous Cells in a polyp that they had removed, and the histology had shown some vascular transfer into the bowel. !!!! To say the least, I was in shock..... More tests were to be needed, including a CT Scan and an MRI. For a few weeks my head wasn't quite in it, as I awaited the results.... Running took a back seat, and to be fair, most things did, and I apologise if I was short with anyone at the time.

Thankfully, I received pretty good news last week, and the cancer cells left are minimal, and while I may need a little surgery to clear things, followed by more scans, it seems I am pretty clear, although there will always be a risk, albeit low. I kept all this from public knowledge until I got the positive results, and thankfully, the scare, although very real to me, was, on a scale of 1 to 10, at the bottom of the scoring charts.

What this has meant is that we had to delay our departure into the New Year, as I want to be completely clear before we head away. With little running in the anxious time, and a lot of stress eating, I managed to put on 5 Kgs and starting back to running has been tough itself. I ran Poolbeg parkrun last week, and as those that know me saw, it was a struggle to get round, and 28:41 was a tough effort. A couple of gym sessions this week and Hartstown parkrun in a 2 minute faster time have me on track, but the ankle niggle is still prevalent, so the journey back to fitness will be a long one, but thankfully, that is the only tough journey I have to make in the next few months. Next stop, Run in The Dark on Wednesday next, anything under the hour for the 10K will be satisfactory.

So, there you have it - The reason for the Delay, and poor running - Putting this behind me now, and looking forward again....