The day after the night before the day after the night before...

... and yes, it was a long one but I did manage to get to bed by 3am, I may not have slept much but I was in the best place at that time of night considering what I am about to attempt tomorrow! It took a while to pack, say goodbyes and get going but we were on the road in good time and arrive in Naas on time. The plan was to ride the motorcycles to Cork but that plan was hatched weeks before over a cold beer or two. Now that we have factored in running a marathon the next day it may not be the cleverest thing to do but in true man-style and after much debate we decided to do it anyway and worry later.

We spent so much time talking about it that we were now running late so we abandoned plans to ride the long, scenic route there and instead we'd take the direct and faster motorway route. The journey was largely uneventful but still a lot of fun. We did make a couple of stops, or bio-breaks as my American colleagues might call them... I won't go into detail but they can be multi directional and involve liquids, solids or both!! Too much detail??

The scenery was rich and varied, and half way along I realised that today was my fellow runner Monika's last day in Ireland before she heads back to Italy. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye but perhaps she'll be back, it's a very small world!

We had to make it to Cork City Hall by 6pm otherwise we would miss registration and time was flying by. We arrived with minutes to spare and were some of the last to get our packs. Just outside the city hall the owners of a gourmet coffee stall were just about to begin packing up and as they poured the last 2 excellent cappuccinos of the day we began to realise that we were here, in Cork and that tomorrow morning we would be standing less than 100m away in a long line of athletes about to start a 26.2 mile run around this undulating city... and now we were scared! The conversation turned to finishing strategies... we were going to finish but we just didn't know how. I had only ran 22 miles during the entire month of May... 22 miles!! Now that's asking for trouble!

The day after the night before...

Not the best preparation for a marathon but it was jolly good fun... did I say jolly? Anyway, it's a birthday weekend and we're staying in the gorgeous seaside village of Carlingford... gorgeous? Hmmm... Last night was great, we had divine dinner in a darling little restaurant followed by drinks in a handsome little pub on the... oh dear... divine, darling, handsome... crikey!

Anyway, after a late night and very little sleep we were up early this morning to keep the appointment we had made with a man from the Kayak trade. We struggled into our snug wet suits and after a short kayak/paddle orientation session we were on our way to the waters edge. It was a little smelly, quite gooey and very slippy but we were made of strong stuff and held it together until we were clear of the shore and into the deep blue. That's not altogether true, while the water looked deep it was in fact very shallow, no deeper than 4 feet as I accidentally found out... a number of times.

Our instructor was a man who obviously loved his job which usually makes for a memorable experience. Within the first 10 minutes he had us sitting, kneeling and standing on our kayaks. I think we all experienced several unplanned and very cold swims back to our kayaks having been separated by gravity, usually accompanied by a loud girly scream and that was just the men... there was nothing graceful about falling out, swimming to and especially getting back into our kayaks.

The session lasted for the entire morning and I was exhausted by the time we got to shore. I wonder what was in that water, I must have swallowed several litres and it left me feeling a little light headed, lighter than usual... might explain divine, darling and handsome...

Tonight is party night, and the party is in the house that I'm staying in, the same house that has several tall refrigerators stock full of beer, the same beer that will undoubtedly find it's way to me throughout the night and morning and tomorrow we drive to Cork for the marathon the day after. Am I worried? Oddly and perhaps sadly no... must be the water!

OK, just one more time...

It's Friday and with only 4 days to the marathon I just had to get one last run in before I officially rest so early this morning I managed to get 6 miles in. I've gotta say they felt pretty good, perhaps this marathon won't be a complete nightmare after all... having said that there are 20 more miles to do after the first 6... yikes!!

Last chance...

I couldn't sleep last night, the reason was obvious... I was awake. At 6am I gave up and went out for a run, I wasn't sure how far I was going to run but it was great to be out, so good that I cannot figure out why I have been so utterly rubbish at getting my running act together for the last few weeks... especially as the weeks leading up to a marathon are so important.

It was a nice easy run, an average pace of 9:47 over 40 minutes brought me a little over 4 miles. I reckon I'll be OK on Monday... see, still not bothered!!!

Mid-week melodrama...

OH MY GOD... there are only 5 days to the marathon... this is not going to be fun... it's been a full 2 weeks since my last run, 2 weeks... yikes!! I think it's finally sinking in... I'm in big trouble and, unlike my legs next Monday, time is running out fast!!

Weekend-end...

...it's Sunday night and exactly a week to the Cork marathon. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but... I haven't managed to get out for a run since the 13 miles in Spain 2 weeks ago. It's not looking good, in fact it's looking bad.... really, really bad BUT even so I am still confident that I'll make it around the course without any difficulty... how odd?

Friday night...

... in the pub is never a good time to plan a trip, and to prove it here's a summary of what I found this morning scribbled on bits of beer mats:


View Larger Map

... and back of course! In the cold light of day it looks a little adventurous... perhaps it was bike talking??

Jazz-tastic

Yes, I'm taking more singing lessons, this time Jazz which I find unbelievably challenging as it demands a lot of tonal improvisation, as in you're encouraged to wander around the tune while somehow making musical sense, if that makes any sense... Tonight was week #5 and we're already half way through the course.

I feel like I'm on a musical roll and have decided to take some Guitar and Piano lessons later this summer, just to see if I have any talent in that department. From what I can see it's not that hard, it's simply a case of plucking a string or pressing a key... the trick is doing it in the right order!!

Beeming...

Tonight I just picked up my new motorcycle, for those in the know it's a BMW R 1200GS, for everyone else it's wow... that's a big bike! Frankly it's an awesome machine and a world away from the CB500, it's going to take some getting used to but it'll be a lot of fun doing it!

Reconnected

While in Spain I had been electronically disconnected from the outside world which was very, very nice! It was an absolutely fantastic few days away and I spent it with the most fantastic bunch of people you could imagine! On the running front I did manage to get some miles in but only on the first day (Wednesday) when I ran 13.1 miles along the seafront, here's the route I took: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/6206573. It was tough and I did mean to follow up with a couple of short runs but they never happened. Now that I'm back I need to think about that missing 20 miler... is it too late? The marathon is only 2 weeks away... by doing it this close to the big day would I effectively shoot myself in the foot?

The rain in Spain...

...will hopefully fall far, far away from Marbella! We're off to Spain for a few days, I'm looking forward to blue skies and constant sunshine! I've got to say I'm feeling a lot better and will be taking my trainers to get some miles in; I've been told that there a cycle/walking/running track that runs the entire length of the coast from Puerto Banus to Marbella and beyond. Speaking of miles, I haven't done any running - at all - so far this month... this is going to be a really tough marathon, any training I get in from this point on is not going to contribute much. And yet I'm not particularly bothered... how odd!!

Weak from hell...

I think I'm finally getting over this flu/cold thing that's been beating me up for the last week and a bit. I lost a couple of weekends and consequently a couple of long runs including the all important 20 miler last weekend. I haven't been running since the 6 miler on the 29th of April and I'm a little worried... but considering there are only 3 weeks to the marathon I probably should be really, REALLY worried but I'm not! Bizarrely I have faith that it'll all work out.

It's quite remarkable. You see I know it's not going to work out, in fact I know (this is a fact for I have been there) that if I don't get those big miles in 3 weeks before the big day it will be torture, particularly the last 6 miles but there is some kind of cerebral cushioning going on that will not let me recognise even the most simple and obvious facts. Is this how religion works? Is there a trigger that switches off our ability to reason, question and recognise the obvious when we really want to do something, believe in something, or have worked long & hard for something?

Woof woof...

I feel even worse today... yuk!

Woof!!

I feel as sick as a dog!! I think I've got the flu! I woke up feeling like someone removed my insides and replaced them with goo! I was supposed to run 12 miles today, maybe tomorrow... boo hoo...