Archive for October, 2023

We were hosting my parents this week. It was lovely to see them and have them here. We did a birthday meal at the Step Inn. I was too ill to enjoy it unfortunately but the food was delicious. We also managed to fit in a trip to Johnnie Fox’s and plenty of walks, too.

Last weekend the Worfolk family took on Marlay parkrun. It is the biggest one in the city and very well organised with plenty of marshalls, a PA system and an organised warm-up. It is also a single loop with only one realy hill in it making it very attractive.

Everyone laughed when England made it through to the knockout stage. But we were minutes from beating South Africa and ultimately came home with the bronze. Well done, lads.

Just wanted to say a big congratulations to my mum who ran her first ever 10k at the Abbey Dash yesterday. She also raised over £500 for Age UK! You can continue to contribute to the fundraiser here.

Yesterday I did St Anne’s parkrun. It’s a trek up to Clontarf but it is also one of the most popular runs in the city, averaging 344 runners per event (second behind Marlay). The course is a tarmac paths around the perimeter job, but with some lovely bits through some trees and past the duck pond. And one edge of the park looks across the bay towards the mountains.

Very well organised with a big finish funnel and plenty of friendly marshalls.

This is a hidden gem of a parkrun. The Sport Ireland Campus is based on a former country estate and contains a mix of historic buildings and new state-of-the-art sports facilities. The parkrun course varies but is usually a couple of laps all run on grass and trail. It’s so scenic you wouldn’t even realise you were in Dublin. And there is tonnes of parking and a public toilet, too.

The Thursday Murder Club is a murder mystery novel by Richard Osman.

It was pretty good. I listened to the interview with the author after the book and it won be around, or maybe made me feel stupid for not seeing how much the book has to offer. It does have a lot: there is incredibly character depth and a beautiful human touch in the way it explores life in a luxury retirement village. There are some twists and turns and a lot of story going on. And I finished the whole thing willingly.

That said, so many books are described as “unputdownable” these days. I could put this down. In a way that was easier to put down than The Trial or Neverwhere. I always picked it back up again but I was happier to read a bit and then go to sleep than trying to balance whether I really needed a full night’s sleep or whether I wanted to start the next chapter. That is no fault, though, and maybe just a reflection on how much I enjoyed the other two.

I am alo not against reading further books in the series so it was enjoyable.

Lovely beach outaide of the bay so you get proper waves, and they have toilets, too.

It’s been a while since I’ve done much in-person yoga but I’ve finally found a new yoga studio I like: Yoga Lab. They do gentle flow classes which are great because they are relaxing but also have a sufficient level of challenge that we’re not doing nothing.

After four weeks of not running it is good to be back! I’m still not feeling great but I managed to run the whole thing so I was pleased with that.

The parkrun itself is nice enough. Three laps around a field, so nothing to write home about (although I am writing about it here) but the marshals were friendly and everyone had a good time. Not to be confused with Waterstown which is, ironically, next door.