Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

I did this lovely road race on Monday. It’s a two-and-a-half lap closed road circuit around Tallaght village and the TUD campus. Nice and flat. I decided to have a go at a fast one and should have started nearer the front to avoid the traffic. But even with that, I finished in:

21:24

That’s my fastest 5k time in three years so I was very happy. Plus they had a great spread of sandwiches and cakes the for the runners after.

I wanted to push myself on distance, so I allocated last Sunday as my all-day long run. I was out for seven hours, of which six hours was moving time, and covered 53 km. I had some junk food for lunch, thinking real food would settle my stomach instead of just bars and gels but it just made me feel anxious. I kept going though and was happy with the job. I think this is the longest training run I’ve done that wasn’t an event.

It’s been an exciting time to be running Marlay recently. First, Paul Sinton-Hewitt (parkrun’s founder) made a guest appearance a few weeks ago. A got a five-high and a handshake. Then last weekend, they celebrated their 500th event. I wasn’t in photo and there wasn’t cake but that’s understandable given they would have had 688 runners plus volunteers to feed.

Wouldn’t say it was the best year. The Eagles took care of The Chiefs easily so no historic three-in-a-row after all. Why couldn’t thir offensive line have collapsed last year when they were playing the 49ers?

Also, I really scaled down the amount of food I made and still ate too much.

Another Virtual Race Series has come and gone. Fourth this year. Just of the podium. Well done to JP, Paul and Naomi. And also a big thank you for JP to organising.

Since November I’ve been losing weight, mostly successfully, and getting back into longer runs. It has given me a chance to explore a bit further afield and while I still end up often doing laps of the park, I am at least lapping a different park now. So far, I’ve been feeling good, which has surprised me a little, so that has been lovely.

Last week I was thrilled to complete the parkrun obsessive challenge. Which is the achievement you get for completing 50 parkruns in a year.

It’s a tough ask, although New Year’s Day and Christmas Day mean you can miss up to four Saturdays if you complete those. I made it to 45 in 2018 and 2019 and then 46 last year. But around September I realised I had only missed two so far and if I could be consistent, I could get to 50.

That made for some nervous times with multiple storms, including Storm Darragh cancelling 16 of the 20 parkruns near me including all of my locals. But I made it! In fact, I managed to end the year on 52. parkrun has been such an important anchor over the last 18 months and I’m looking forward to plenty more in 2025.

For the final club swim of the year we did a video analysis session. It’s so much easier to work out where you can improve when you can see yourself swimming. So we did just that and took the footage to the pub for a Christmas drink and video review.

I’m really pleased with my overall body position. Lots to improve, of course, and some great action points for my hand entry, catch and pull.

On Sunday, Iveagh Sports Ground launched their junior parkrun. I was quietly hoping there would be cake. There wasn’t, but there was lots of very friendly and encouraging volunteers. The course is two laps on grass. It’s flat but still has a few lumps to make it interesting.

Another weekend trip. This time, our first one to County Wexford. Gorey is three laps of a the local park. It’s flat, a nice park and a cafe with toilets in the centre for post-parkrun snacks. Ticked off another G for Staying Alive and my 59th for Cowell Club. Lovely to be there for their 8th birthday and thank you to all of the volunteers.