Hashing in Buenos Aires

It's Monday morning and my legs are certainly feeling the aftermath of yesterdays Hash run with the Buenos Aires Hash House Harriers. Many who may see the words "Hash" will only think of the drinking side of the a Hash group. Let me say right now, that I enjoy that side of it too, but in my experience of hashing in different parts of the world, the running does not play second fiddle at all, and although most hashers may not be competitive runners, they equally enjoy the run.

Yesterday, it was the 536th time that the BA Hash has got together, going back to 1993, and for me, the last few times have seen me walking, jogging a little, and even taking a lift back when the gout was severe. With the running that I have been enjoying in the last week or two, I decided that I would want to run the macho trail - the longer run. All hashes set trails to suit all abilities, and here we have a macho and a wimp trail, which I guess are self explanatory. Yesterday, the macho trail was around 10 Km in length, and while broken up into segments, it still meant a lot more distance than I have been doing.

The trail took us down to the river, the Rio Plata, in a very nice part of the city in Nunez/Vicente Lopez. The riverside walks are well laid out, and the weather yesterday was ideal, with many locals out enjoying the autumn sun and warm weather. As we ran along, kites were flying, and at one point I was buzzed by a model aircraft, it was a pleasure to be running. Once the trail came off the water, it was into up and down climbs amongst the up-market real estate of the area, before a steady run back to house we were running from.

All in all, a run of around 10Km, and today my legs certainly know that they travelled the distance. Having said that, I don't have any other niggles, so really pleased with the run, and whilst I won't venture out today, I look forward to tomorrow, and maybe a nice easy 5 Km will be on offer.

Saturday Running & Football

The weekend came early this week, with the two Public Holidays on Thursday and Friday, and after a very enjoyable parilla and fiesta at friends on Thursday evening, followed by Frinks at Breoghan's in San Telmo on friday night, it was back to normal today, and after preparing my classes for next week, it was time to relax with the weekends sport.

The morning saw England wave goodbye to the cricket World Cup at the hands of Sri Lanka, and then I listened in to hear Stockport County actually win a game and come off the bottom of the League, at least for a few hours anyway. Then it was the turn of England and Wales at football, with England comfortably winning in Cardiff. Now I have to say I didn't watch the England games, but kept an eye on line with the scores, I did have work to do.

But as the afternoon wore on, and I did have two matches I really wanted to watch, I thought about a run. Should I go before the Ireland game, or wait till it was over and go out before the Argentina match starts? On the plus side, if I went before the game, I could sit back and relax with the two matches, on the minus, it was 4 pm locally and still in the mid 20's, a couple of hours and the temperature would be cooler. OK, I decided to go before the game, and enjoy the sun.

The build up has been steady, and today I was looking to extend the run a little. The same basic route along the main road, Belgrano, and pushed the turn around point further by 5 blocks, making a run of 4.2 Kms, a Kilometre more than previous runs. It was warm under the sun, but I took it easy, at around 8:40 pace, and although feeling the extra distance, I finished the run in control, and at 22:25, it was a steady run, and another step nearer the first goal on the re-birth, to complete 5K.

Now I am settled down and watching the football. Ireland are already 2-0 up against Macedonia, and I have a brilliant streaming feed today, the wonders of the Internet. At 8 local time, I will watch the Argentina v Estados Unidos match, which is a friendly, but should be interesting. Damn, as I type that Macedonia have pulled a goal back, right on the stroke of half time. Think I'll put the kettle on at the break.

Tomorrow, I will be out Hashing with the Buenos Aires Hash, which is always fun, and I'm hoping I can run the Macho Trail this week - we'll see.

Feriado Running

Having missed a planned run yesterday, I was itching to get out and shake my legs this morning (surely a sign that things are going in the right direction). Today is a feriado here, a public holiday, as is tomorrow, making it a four day weekend, and no classes, either way, until Monday for me.

So, at 9.30, on a clear sunny morning, with temps slowly climbing to turn the 20's, a much more conducive to running temperature, I was out on the quieter streets and turning the legs over again. I ran the 3 Km route from Saturday, an out and back urban run, and felt comfortable easing into it. I have a slight discomfort, stiffness, in my right upper leg, but it eases off once I get into the run, and while I will keep an eye on it, it isn't affecting me at the moment.

Enjoyed the run, and the pace was a little faster than Saturday, but that isn't important. What is may be that I am ready to add a little more tomorrow, as I aim at the goal of 5 Km in a week or so. I also have a Hash on Sunday, and hopefully I will be able to run the macho run - we'll see....

Another week, another Kilo....

It's Monday, and the start of a three day week here, as Thursday and Friday are Feriados here, basically it means Public Holidays, so we get a 4 day weekend next. Whilst ordinary holidays are not high here (except for teachers!), there are an awful lot of feriados in the year, and it's hard to keep track of them all. This weeks is el dia nacional de la memoria por la verdad y la justica, which started well on Sunday, when a football supporter was killed at a local game between Velez and San Lorenzo, apprantly by the police - no doubt "truth & justice" will get to the bottom of it all - So sad....

Anyway, on with my slow re-build, and this morning I was up early before it got too warm on this first day of autumn, where the temperatures still are hitting the high 20's (that's high 70's to low 80's in farenheit), and I ran the shorter 2 Km route I was running last week. Whilst making no attempt to run faster, just taking it easy as I ran, and with a couple of busy crossroads to naviagte with the morning traffic, I still managed to run some 10 seconds per kilometre faster than last week, and as I say, that's without trying. Augers well...

On the second front of my target to regain fitness and running respectability, I have been dieting and cutting out the worst offenders of weight gain, and gout. When I returned to Argentina from Ireland in February, I had reached a gigantic, by my standards, 98 Kgs (216 lbs), and without question that is the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I have set a target of getting down to 80 Kgs by the end of June, thats 176 lbs, some 18 Kgs, or 40 lbs to get rid off. A lot will depend on the running, as once I can get that up to a moderate level of consistancy I know the weight will be less of an issue, and the target will be attainable.

I weigh myself on a Monday morning, and on Feb 28th, I was at the starting weight of 216 lbs (98 Kgs) - Well, today, week three into the plan, and I am already down to 205 lbs (93 Kgs), a loss of 11 lbs, or 5 kilos in three weeks - an impressive start, but as I was carrying excessive "holiday weight", it was expected. The target is a kilo a week, that's 2.2 lbs, and from here on it will be interesting to see how I manage this.

All in, I am happy with the start, and all being well this week will see a little more mileage into the legs, and further positive news as I progress.

Well, it is a Running Blog, so.....

I went and had a run.

After the delight of the rugby, I decided that I needed to loosen the legs, and so, with the temperatures still around the 23 degrees mark, at 6 PM, local time, I laced up the shoes, and out I went. I had managed a couple of 2 Km runs this week, and with no side effects being felt, I went a little further today, extending the out and back route by 5 blocks, making a total run of 3.25 KM, which is more or less 2 miles.

Felt a little heavy on the run, and the legs are having to put up with all this extra weight, but, aside from it being a slow pace, I was pleased with the run and the way that I felt whilst running. While I have a long way to go, the journey has to begin with these first steps.

Annual Slaughter Maintained.......

OK, I know this is meant to be a running blog, but as I re-invent myself as a runner, and as a blogger, I feel the need to post about other things that have my interest. Today, it was the Rugby. I love the game, and over in Lansdowne today, the English arrived with the belief that they only had to turn up to complete the Grand Slam in the 6 Nations Championships.

Well, somebody forgot to tell the Irish, and once again, England leave Dublin with their tails between their legs - OK, they may be Champions, but they were humiliated in front of the Irish Crowd, by a tremendous performance by the Boys in Green, and the resulting scoreline of 24 points to 8, flattered Martin Johnson's men. From the very first play of the game, to the final whistle, Ireland ran them ragged, and my only regret is that I wasn't listening to the commentary from the BBC - I wonder what the excuses will be this time.

I can say "This Time", as this is the 7th time in the last 8 seasons that we have beaten the English since they won the World Cup back in 2003.... Whilst the overall performance of Ireland in the 6 Nations wasn't great, they saved the best performance to the last, and with Brian O'Driscoll scoring his 25th Try in the 6 Nations, he becomes the Highest Try Scorer in the history of the Championship.

Roll on the World Cup in New Zealand in September.... We can build on this performance, and the future looks bright, the future is Green!

And now, I think I will go for a run .....

This would be hilarious - If it wasn't true....

It does say in My Blog Title - Ramblings.... So, this post has nothing to do with running, but I felt the need to write it anyway. normal service will be resumed soon.

As most of you know, I relocated to Argentina as part of my sabatical from work, and have been living here for nearly 18 months now. The place is different to Ireland, obviously, but also there are differences that begger belief.

Many that have known me for, (too) many years, will be aware that I used to work for a Trade Union, back when I lived in England, and I have always been pro-union, and believe that Unions serve an essential roll in protecting their members from the worst employers. However, I have always been a progressive trade unionist, and I understand the need of the employer to create the jobs in the first place, and there is little place in a modern society for Unions to exert a political control on the economy. In general, that's how Unions work today in the UK, Ireland, and (Wisconsin aside), the US, with Partnership being the key phrase.

Well, here in Argentina, the unions live in another world - I like to think of it as Cloud Cuckoo Land... next Monday, there is to be a National Strike of the Transport Union here, bringing all modes of transportation to a halt - Trucks, Deliveries, Trains, Buses, even Taxi's, if it moves - it won't on Monday.

Why you might ask? Are the truck drivers under paid? Has their been a major employer conflict between Capitalism and The Workers? NO !!!!

No - The strile has been called because the Leader of the CGT (read TUC or AFLCIO), a guy called Hugo Moyano, is being investigated by the Swiss (yes, that's Swiss as in Switzerland!) Authorities for potential Money Laundering. He happens to be the leader of the Transportation Union as well, so naturally, in order to put pressure on the Swiss Authorities, the people of Argentina are to suffer on Monday, to protest about some judge in Sitzerland investigating a crime. The gnomes of Zurich will be quaking in their boots with this strike, there will be mass demonstrations in Geneva calling for the head of the Swiss Police, Basle will be brought to it's knees..... etc., you get the picture? - Yeh, right!, Like they will even notice, and certainly they won't give a damn......

Now, when I was young, you occassionally heard of strikes taking place, really as an excuse to have a day off, but next week, Thursday and Friday are National Holidays anyway, so effectively, next week will be a Two-day Week for many, thanks to the disruption that will be caused for NOTHING.... It beggers belief....

Here is a link to the, brief, story in the local english language newspaper
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/61938/more-cgt-unions-join-call-for-national-strike
Naturally, there is far more to this than meets the eye. The Union Movement is a Law onto itself here, and this is a Political move of the worst kind - Sadly, the people follow, accept it is inevitable, put up with it all, shrug their shoulders and life goes on... As I say, sometimes, it beggers belief.....

OK - Think I will go for a run now.... Rant Over.....

St Patricks Day, and a run.

As I am sure I do not have to mention, today, March 17th is St Patricks Day. The patron saint of Ireland, my homeland, and a day when millions around the world become !Irish for the Day". It's a regular feature in American cities, but surprisingly, here in Buenos Aires, it is also celebrated with much gusto, and green beer.

Obviously, the Irish ex-pat community, which is relatively large, celebrate in their own way, and last night I was invited to a reception held by "El Embajador de Irlanda". Today there will be official celebrations at the Cathedral and at Recoleta cemetary, where Admiral William Brown, founder of the Argentine Navy, and son of Mayo, is buried.

Tonight, the streets will be lined with "Plastic Paddies", all decked in green, wearing Guinness hats, and getting completely hammered. Me, well, I will be working this evening, but may grab a pint at the end of the night, to raise one to all the friends back home, who will all be tucked up in bed by then.

But before all that, I managed to get out for a morning run. Again, not a long one, just another little step as I regain some fitness, before starting to think about training, as against turning the legs over slightly faster than when taking a brisk walk. I ran the same short 2km as on Tuesday, albeit some ten seconds faster than then, although I am not trying to run for time, and I am glad to report no ill effects.

So, on with St Patricks Day celebrations, and to one and all,

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Now added back all my race results

Well, thanks to the SAVE button, I managed to retrieve my marathon results, and along with all my Race Results, over the 26 years (gulp!!!) I have been running, I have included them here for your delight (or in case you are suffering with insomnia).

The decline can easily be seen, but there are some fond memories in there.

While I have been away...

Well, having redesigned the front door, I thought I better explain a few things as to what I have been up to while I have been away from posting. The last couple of years have been a dry period, to say the least, in my running. Oh, I managed a couple of little races here and there, but in reality, I haven't even been going through the motions of serious training. With the latest upset (the gout!), and the arrival of another birthday, it's time to refocus, before it gets too late!

Whilst I haven't been doing any serious running, I have been keeping myself in some sort of athletic state, by becoming a regular participant with the Hash House Harriers. Firstly in Dublin, then when I moved to Argentina, I became a regular with the Buenos Aires Hash. Many purists, (Mick!) scoff at the idea of the Hash, and dismiss Hashers as a bunch of drunks, who maybe run a few miles, not helped by our own motto, that the Hash is "A Drinking Club, with a Running Problem".

Well, I can honestly say that I have met a lot of serious runners who enjoy taking part in a Hash event. They are sociable, enjoy the fun, and find it a relaxing way to run, away from the pressures of a HRM, Intervals, and trying to take a couple of seconds of their PB's. And lets be honest, how many serious runners don't enjoy a Pint after a hard race, or club training session? I like to think of the Hash as a form of Social Running, and I will continue to take part in the BA Hash while I stay living here.

So, I will report on my running, and, naturally, on my Hashing. They are inter-linked these days, and just so you can see that not all running has to be taken seriously - Here is a picture from last Sundays Pre-St Patricks Day Hash - No apologies for the apparel!