Going Native

"Sick of the bullshit  sick of the lies the bastards screw ye for the price of a pint,the rich get rich and the rich go blind and pure greed wins every time,one for sorrow two for joy I'd rather put my faith in the fuckin' magpie pretend to play the pipe of peace they're singing  tiocfaidh ar la in the fields and the streets"

T.a.L-Chasing Abbey

Not the week I had hoped for but even so in 7 days this month I've logged 35 miles......in the entire month of September I only logged 40...........

Monday October 12th A slow enough time of 44.14.1 off 8.38 mile pace but as I often say not every workout has to be  an Olympic final, the way I had drawn up the week was easy run today, a bit quicker Tuesday,quicker again Wednesday, easy run Thursday........ we make plans and God laughs  as the saying goes....A pleasant 74 degrees at almost 5pm,Hal the bollox Garmin  was up to his auld tricks when mile 2 came up too early so the subsequent splits were all off,I ended up running 5.12 to get to where I know the 5 mile mark to come in at the corner of Springfield and 50th St rather than take Hal's word where he was indicating 5 miles came in today.......lying lil bollox!!!!!

Thursday October 15th No runs Tuesday & Wednesday as work gave me the biggest arse fuckin' since Sodam & Gomorrah, fuck sake I couldn't see straight let alone run straight after those two days, the pounding migraines both days didn't help any either.........Given I'd lost my two chances for a bit of speed work along the Schuylkill River Trail and Sundays race was coming up I opted for something mid tempo today and got under 44 mins w/ a 43.55.5 off 8.47 mile pace.68 degrees and sunny....worked up a nice little sweat for my trouble,I have two more weeks of these conditions and the daylight as the clocks go back here in the early hours of Nov 1st, it will be a culture shock when I have to start running home in the dark  and to that end I'm pulling out half zip running tops and 3/4 length bottoms to get ready for that..... To my untrained eye it would appear the new swing bridge over the Schuylkill River to connect the Schuylkill River Trail to the Bartram Garden Trail is in place......how long we have to wait for it to be officially opened is anyone's guess.....if the city are involved fuck knows how long it'll take.......two and a half fucking years to work on the MLK Drive/W.River Dr bridge below the Spring Garden St bridge b4 it opened, the website continues to state " open in 2026".......newsflash boys there are only 11 more weeks in the year......., once that opens it gives me the potential to tack on another 2 miles to this route which would be nice

Sunday October 18th Fair to say I have a love hate relationship w/ the Market St 5 Miler/Run For The  Blue race,since it's inception in 2018 in mid to late October, in 2018 I finished 7th overall and 2nd in my age group, the following year I finished 3rd overall.......in 2021 I was runner up in the age group, I skipped 2022 and in 2023 I began to encounter  their utter bollox re bag check.Most if not all race supply the most basic necessity of a bag check, at a time of year when the weather is beginning to turn colder it's almost a given ye'll rock up for a race in warm up clothes b4 stripping down to race wear and then throwing on warm dry clothes after ye finish.........these hoors assume everyone who races/ walks the event  either A has a car to leave their gear in, B has someone to hand said clothes/bag  to while their running/walking or C lives w/in walking distance to the start/finish..........that's a hard NO for this wee Fenian bastard on all 3. When I last encountered their strict no bag check policy{their pre race literature  states in categoric  language "There wiil NOT be a bag check"!!!!!???? in 2023 I had to ditch an auld t shirt b4 the start that of course wasn't there when I finished which compounded the fact that sans phone I had no way of knowing the results till they eventually got around to the 50-59 mens results over an hour after I crossed the finish line.........4th, weeks b4 turning 60  where I would've walked the 60-69 age group.....2024 was right b4 Dublin marathon when I was on #249 and FUCK NO  I wouldn't give these hoors the satisfaction of being #250 and last year I went back out to Radnor for the much hillier but lo and behold a bag check Radnor Run  5 Miler......which sadly wasn't on the schedule this year, were I not on a mission to hit #300 in Cork in June and needing the medal today I would've continued my boycott of the event.

It was chilly when I left out at 6.30am and frankly not much warmer when I arrived at the Marriott Hotel at 7,10am........oh did I not mention the event starts and finishes behind said hotel??? are ye feckin' telling me ye can't set aside a Meeting Room,Ballroom,Conference Room for bags..........cop the fuck on!!!!!! It was that chilly that I along w/ a large number of other runner sought the warmth of the hotel hallway  to warm up and stretch pre race b4 finally braving the chilly 43 degrees that felt like 37 degrees when the siren sent us on our way at 8am.Given this like other races on the schedule  was a 10 year  age group 60-69 rather than 60-64/65-69 meant an age group award/bonus medal was about as likely as these cunts providing a bag check.........sorry not sorry but it was low hanging fruit!!!,to finish top 3 I'd probably need to be clocking 7 min miles.....which was never on my bingo card, I can get back there but sadly between the achilles issue in late July/early August and the daylight issue banajaxing morning runs not only has my mileage nosedived in August/September, but speed work has been wishful thinking.........bit like these hoors providing a bag check...............Because Hal the lil Bollox Garmin  and the race mile markers were on two separate pages there's no point  reeling off mile splits......when I crossed the finish line of a 5 mile race Hal informed me I'd only ran 4.73 miles....g'wan ta fuck ya wee bollox... Off a 40.00.2 finish I think it's fair to say it was 8 min mile pace, sadly this was my first 5 miler not under 40 mins in 25 races since  1990.......I'm getting to that age where slowest ever times are more likely now, as the auld saying goes "the older I get,the faster I used to be!!!" Since I wanted to avoid a repeat of 2023 of waiting around freezing the hole off meself for over an hour for the results I ran w/ my phone which wasn't ideal but it confirmed  I had finished outside of the age group awards/bonus medals so w/ my finishers medal in hand I made my way home.Medal #13 for the year,#282 for the career Cork #300 is still on track, to that end no races next weekend......which is grand hopefully a long run next Saturday or Sunday as there's a simulated half marathon at the Rocky Run in 4 weeks time and an actual half marathon the following week,Bridge Run 10k in Camden up next in a fortnite......hopefully less Sodam & Gomorrah and more 5 mile runs in the build up......and if ye fuckers w/ the swing bridge can get yer fingers out of yer arseholes maybe the 5 mile run home can become 7........not too much to ask is it?............bit like a bag check at a race  ye hoors #G'wantafuck
 

Wee Fenian Bastard Doing Wee Fenian Bastard Things{Again!!!}

 "And isn't all our purpose in the things we can't avoid, isn't it a wonder and isn't it a waste isn't it to sacrifice the things you can't replace and isn't it a wonder oh isn't it a joy, isn't all our purpose in the things we can't avoid, how lonely how lonely do I have to be to mean anything to you? how lonely how lonely do I have to be to mean anything to you?, woah woah, don't hold me, don't hold me if I'm not the thing that you're terrified to lose"

How Lonely-Kingfishr

Ye can  keep a wee Fenian bastard down......but ye can't keep a wee Fenian bastard down for long......back at it this week w/ a bang and right on time  as there are nine weekends of races in the next twelve weeks, two in October, four in November and three in December...... wee Fenian bastard start yer feckin' engine!!

Monday October  5th, when  I worked at the hospital between 99 & 20 I was no stranger to running home  to either Port Richmond between 99 & 06 and West Philly between 06 & 20 so now that circumstances have dictated I need to revisit that I laced em up again  to get back into the auld routine albeit on a new route home.As the proverbial "Crow Flies" I could  make a right coming out of work, hang another right on Chestnut St and run the three miles between 16th St and home......only issue w/ that is the number of feckin' red lights I'd probably encounter on route not to mention  all the pedestrian traffic.....SO I opted for a more "runner friendly" route, 16th St to the Ben Franklin Parkway and up towards the  Art Museum, left onto the Schuylkill River Trail and head west towards Greys Ferry Avenue bridge.I hit mile 4 as I crested the top of the bridge and opted to stop there and walk, but the walk home revealed I could squeeze out another mile which would be the plan moving forward.34.40.2 off 8.40 mile pace w/ splits of:8.45-8.43-8.40-8.30 in a comfortable 68 degrees.Far from earth shattering but a nice start off a fortnites lay off  and diminishing splits to boot.......when it starts getting colder there'll be  a  Guinness cap for that feather!!!!!

Tuesday October 6th Mile 5 came in as I hit the corner of 50th and Springfield, there's probably not enough real estate from there to my corner to squeeze out an extra 1/2 mile......w/out having to loop loops  etc but since I was logging 5 milers when I was getting up at the crack of dawn earlier this year 5 miles will do for now.42,47.3 off 8.33 mile pace,no diminishing splits today, in fact it was the polar opposite no thanks to a reckless opening split of 8.11 I went:8.18-8.25-8.33-9.19.........gassed as fuck on that last mile.64 degrees and sunshine again,need to make the most of these conditions this month come November the clocks go back and I'll be running in the dark so me and all the other members of the running fraternity are making the proverbial hay while the sun shines this month

Wednesday October 7th Fuck sake{wise up mate.......Kneecap fans will understand that reference!} 69 degrees I should've kept my running vests/sleeveless running shirts out instead of switching to short sleeves but given October can be running attire roulette  maybe switching to short sleeves wasn't the worst thing I could do......less we forget come November I'll probably pulling long sleeves/ 1/2 zip tops & 3/4 length bottoms out of mothballs so......Shaved 44 seconds off of yesterdays time w/ a 42.03.6 off 8.25 mile pace thanks to splits of:8.21-8.25_8.19=8.20-8.38.I'd already committed to only running Mon,Tue,Wed this week but moving forwards the plan is Monday through Thursday weather and work permitting then it's either my weekend race/races or a Sunday long run to hopefully round out a five day week.Having started the week at 8.40 mile pace and dropped it down to 8.25 mile pace is pleasing, losing two weeks of training shouldn't  undo  all the hard work and mileage I've put in this year since Jan 5th....if anything the rest should benefit me......runners don't subscribe to the less is more mindset but sometimes that's what the Docter ordered.

Saturday October 10th The first of the ten remaining races of the Wee Fenian Bastard Golden Jubilee  tour and it was back to the Camden River Front for the second of my up and back 10ks along the Delaware River between the Wiggins Park Marina and the Ben Franklin bridge and back ......four times ........god love anyone and there are several runners who commit to doing the 1/2 marathon on that route, I think it's eight and a half up and backs.........fuck dat! The organizers of these races prefer anyone doing the 1/2 marathon to do the 7.30am start, given we are running  along a path that is  narrow enough and is a shared public space  there are three waves, 7.30am, 8am  8.30am and judging from the fact only one other runner from the 7.30am wave crossed the finish line after I got done would indicate almost everyone else in the opening wave had opted for the 1/2 marathon......kudos to the girl in he second wave who ran the 5k and was a minute or two behind me.....granted I began half an hour b4 her but she only ran up and back twice I did 4......both of us were running by ourselves in fairness.Remarkably my fastest 10k this season in 48.20.3 off  7.48 mile pace thanks to splits of:7.36-7.43-7.40-7.59=7.52-7.59-1.30, conditions helped,at 7.30am it was a comfortable  54 degrees,I forget  what the temps were when I ran here on July 25th but I remember dripping in sweat after I finished  at the Philly 10 on Aug 23rd it was 68 degrees w/ 91% humidity and at the Freedom 10k on Sept 7th it was  64 degrees w/ 82% humidity.this was also the 70th 10k of my career, I still remember my 10k debut in Wimbledon on Sept 11th 1983 a month after my hero Eamonn Coghlan had won gold in the first World Athletic Championships over 5,000m in Helsinki

Not a bad week if I say so meself, at he risk of repeating meself I said a week ago maybe the two weeks off was a blessing period but also given my busier than usual Fall race schedule the auld  less is more mindset would be a benefit,full steam ahead now this week to next Sundays  Market Street 5 miler and hopefully medal #13 for the season and medal # 282 for the career.

Hung Out To Dry On The {Florence} Road

" I broke my tooth on the way out of your room called you over, are you over you don't even look me over yes I lied I lied don't wait up, don't wait up.......just wait up.Trust me I'm not falling no supersonic heartbeats in the morning, don't trust me I might fall in I never think about at all leave me hanging out to dry yeah  I'm hanging around, leave me hanging out to dry"

Hanging Out To Dry-Florence Road

Another week of no running, I had two windows of opportunities  on Thursday and Sunday to kick start things,but my two auld nemesis Work and Weather scuppered that, glass half empty missed mileage, glass half full a lil respite period but given my schedule from next weekend to December 26 has 10 races in 12 weeks{I double dip  the weekend of the Rocky Run on Nov 14th w/ both the 5k and 10 miler} w/ only three non race weekend on tap maybe less is more?

However I can't rely on just races to remain in race shape.......I mean I can but I'd rather not I don't think it's  the way to go, granted big picture all I need to do is finish my races to continue picking off medals between 280 to 291 by years end to keep the Cork 1/2/#300 medal dream alive but I'd prefer not to go that route and therein lies the issue.....

Clearly morning running has now had to take a back seat till sometime next year when it becomes light enough again to do so,lunchtime runs have gone the way of The Ark and Rubix Cube which leaves two viable options, run home from work OR run when I get home..........Both have pratfalls, option A at best I can manage three 4 milers Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday as Thursday& Friday are compromised w/ chores for the home front......now granted I could tweak Thursday to make it 4 days and then have my races/long runs round me up to my preferred 5 days a week.........however come November 1st the clocks go back it'll be dark by 5pm and I'll be running home via the Schuylkill River Trail ........NOT that I haven't had to get my miles in undercover of darkness in the past. Option B is run when I get home, again not a new concept for the Wee Fenian but at almost 63 do I have it in me to come home between 5.30pm-5.45pm{on a good day!!!} lace em up and get out the door?

For now the plan is to try and run home Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday starting tomorrow first, again work is going to play a role in this IF it works I'll look at tweaking Thursdays but rather put the cart b4 the horse let's see if I can transition to running home first, again IF this becomes second nature maybe this will be the route to go for the time being?

Florence Road  were amazing last Monday, while The Bowery isn't a huge venue they managed to sell it out which is commendable period but considering they haven't released an album yet and only have two EP's and  a few singles to their name is impressive,I discovered Florence Road via  a Florence & The Machine interview almost a year ago when the new Florence & The Machine album "Everybody Scream" was due out.I mention this because at her second sold out Madison Square Garden show earlier this year Florence Welch mentioned  her first show in NYC  was @ The Bowery in 09.........IF  Florence Road have half the success Florence & The Machine have achieved they'll be well on their way to a successful career of their own, watching them on stage up close last Monday I was reminded of  a similar 4 piece all girl band from back in the day,The Bangles,again if Lily,Emma,Ailbhe and Hannah have a fraction of the impact The Bangles had  they will be ok.If I was in Dublin the same week in December I was there last year I'd be catching the at the 3 Olympia  Dec 14th/15th{and Kneecap @ 3 Arena on Dec 16th} sadly I'll have to wait  till their debut album  comes out and they return here to promote it........judging from the fan reaction to their show last week and the bands reaction to their audience  it won't be too long b4 we see them again

Slan Go  Foill
 

An Evening I Will Not Forget{In A Week Not Worth Remembering!!!!}

 "Confessions should be better planned alone that night I'm surely damned,run away I'll understand What's important is the evening I will not forget Purple, Blue,Orange,Red these Colours of feeling, give me love I'll put my heart in it and I think about it all the time Lights went out, you were fine you kinda struggle not to shine I still love you though I still love you always so hold me when I'm home keep the evenings long"

An Evening I Will Not Forget-Dermot Kennedy

Spoiler Alert,This blog entry contains zero running..............

It's Sunday afternoon and the remnants of the Nor'easter that have pounded us the last day and a half are still hanging around, not only did it banajax a long {or regular} run today it cancelled yesterdays race also, that coupled w/ fatigue on Wednesday,Thursday and Friday means zero miles for the week......as for the Nor'easter I recall Super Storm Sandy several years ago when  yer man out reporting on it for the news said ....and I quote"when you're arguing w/ Mother Nature she always gets the final word"......  as for the fatigue I felt after the Dermot Kennedy show Tuesday evening and again on Thursday & Friday I'm aware of a comment my former coach made way back when " listen to what your body is telling ye?"

Wednesday marked nine months to the day I went back to work  after 11 days off to go to Dublin last December, since then I haven't had a week off, there was a  4 day weekend around my trip to Kansas in June to see Amble and another earlier this month to see Biird in New York but that's it so asides from a well earned week off from work{I go back on Wednesday after going to New York again to catch another Irish band Florence Road on Monday} maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world to take a week off from training, those things are seldom planned it's either injury/illness  enforced or brought about by fatigue and or the weather,we'll see if  I can coax myself to lace em up tomorrow b4 heading to NYC{if I don't I do know I'll get a shit load of steps in, my last 2 trips to,the Big Apple have yielded my best step totals so....} but also based on last three trips to NYC for gigs I'm fair bolloxed the next day so I don't foresee any miles being run on Tuesday, remains to be seen IF I can get up and get out Wednesday morning b4 going back to work.........Sunrise is 6,56am on Wednesday.......

While I whole heartedly endorse the decision to cancel yesterdays race period......much less that it was out and back along the Delaware River it does throw up the issue of one less medal for the year......which in the general scheme of things not a biggie.......however in the bigger picture if June 6th's Cork 1/2 marathon IS going to be #300 I'm going to have to find another race......the good news is I have  nine months to do so

Final shout out to Dermot Kennedy, I only just discovered him and his music in March thanks to Today FM's 100 Greatest Irish Songs countdown, while those countdowns/lists are kinda subjective I was made aware of songs I mightn't have heard b4......case in point two Dermot Kennedy songs "Power Over Me" and "Giants"......the rest was history, after a deep dive of all his songs on Spotify I made a pair of playlists and when his new album "The Weight Of The Woods" was released I added them and made shur of getting tickets for his show in Philly last Wednesday......it truly was an evening I will not forget......even if I was absolutely bolloxed the following day!

Slan Go Faill

These Colours Don't Run,But I Do......All Be It Slowly!

 "This is a rebel song this is a a war I'll tell you a story  bout ten thousand people at heaven's door It never occurred to you how  the west was won, keep stealing  and then it's yours they won't ask questions if you allow none The bullets never lie they pierce a hole inside the enemy's own pride they shouted " self defence" but the gun's still smoking we're on our own again"

A Rebel Song-Dea Matrona

I forget how long I've been writing the blog,nineteen years I think next month,I have always tried to be honest even when things didn't go to plan.....this will be one of those days..........

Thursday September 17th After a couple of misfires earlier in the week  I finally was able to answer  the call of the alarm.......by virtue of waking up 17 minutes b4 it went off at 5.17am, unlike previous days when I woke up around 4 am and fell back asleep this time when I awoke and saw 5.17am I thought feck it I'm awake now shur,might as well get up get dressed and stretched  and be out the door so.....5.47am and pitch black as I headed down Baltimore Ave towards Upenn and Chop hospitals on Spruce St and the South St bridge.Obviously I couldn't see the ground beneath my feet at that hour so it behoved me to exercise a little caution so my overall time,pace and  splits were neither here nor there,staying up right and in one piece was the first priority,the opening mile mark came up a little later than usual down Baltimore Ave which came as no surprise I ended up going beyond my usual turnaround at Locust Point to register 2.5 miles in 21.55.While not fully daylight yet it was getting lighter as the run continued,I remember crossing the South St bridge at roughly mile 3 and it was  still not light, but somewhere in the next two miles as I made my way back up Baltimore Ave it became daylight.44.12.4 off 8.49 mile pace 70 degrees but 84% humidity{so much for it cooling off in September!!!} for the record I was home by 6.36am......Sunrise was officially 6.43am.......

Sunday September 20th......if it's the third Sunday in September it must be PDR, since my debut in 1989 I think I've run this race 20 times making it the most run race in my career,I've always said how much I love this race but three years on the spin now it's had issues making it a love/hate affair, at the risk of looking too far down the road there are two editions coming up in 28 and 31 where I plan to be running 1/2 marathons in Ireland on the same day,initially I was a little miffed  to have to pass on PDR,after todays shit show I won't bat an eyelid running Belfast in 28 and Phoenix Park Dublin in 31 let me tell ye!....,,,,,,,..I knew  coming in to today I didn't have the full compliment  of mileage  I wanted,since late July it's been a little hit and miss between my achilles,and Sunrise getting later and later,at least last year I came in w/ a bunch of lunchtime 5 milers under my belt to give me 20 miles during the week and whatever I got on the weekend, race/long run.......ye can bitch all ye like in running and in life...still have to play the hand ye are dealt....even if it's a shit hand!First issue at this time of year ye'll be arsehole lucky to get 6pm local news since the networks all want to show college Football on a Saturday .....and b4 anyone says it....FUCK NO I'm not staying up till 11pm for the late local news and weather when I have to be up at 5.30am the next morning so I was unaware of the rain in the forecast, strike 2 w/ said rain the fact that the always reliable Septa mass transit system had elected to take the trolleys out of commission for the weekend and run buses to 40th and Market St instead came into play, schlepping down 50th St to Market St b4  hitting 52nd & Market for the El didn't exactly "pump my nads" and now it was raining.....how bad could it be to take the bus to 40th & Market and jump on he El to 30th St??????......I'll tell me how feckin' bad it could be instead of getting to Eakins Oval by 6.35am for a 7.30am gun time I now get there at 6.55am......predictably the lines for the portajohn are ridiculous ......and to add further insult to injury the line for gear check is longer than the lines at a Ticketmaster site asking for a full refund on  an Ed "I Don't Take Sides"Sheeran  show.......fuckin' ginger coward,better not be touting that auld "I'm Irish" bollox after this week.....pussy!!!!! Based on my predicted finish which I think was 1.40/1.45 I was assigned corral 2 at the start......that went for a burton, I was still waiting to check my bag when the Star Spangled Banner was being sung.......I had no idea what corral I was in but the first hint it was slow was when the siren went off  nobody seemed terribly concerned w/ getting after it  and I was soon well clear  of them and already passing stragglers from the previous corral rounding Logan Circle........at mile 4 I passed the 2.00 pace group........THAT'S how far back I was.........fuckin' flashbacks of the 2017 Philadelphia Marathon shitshow/debarcle .I realized all the shite that had lead up to this point could not be undone to quote an auld Usain Bolt quote that's on my front door when I leave" worrying gets you nowhere, if you show up worrying about how you're going to perform you've already lost. Train hard ,turn up,run your best and it will take care of its self".....sound out like.....when ye only have to run 100 or 200 meters,,,,,bit different for a half marathon!At this point my pre race aim of 8 min mile pace and a potential  1.42 finish was a pipe dream, while the on/off rain hardly bothered me and the 67 degrees, the 82% humidity was becoming a factor, my mile splits were up and down like a hoors knickers:7.20-8.06-8.15-8.34-8.22=8.49-8.27-8.39-9.05-9,01-8.45-9.08-9.10-.57 ye know ye are having a bad day at the office when the mile markers seem to take longer to show up, yep I"ve had races when the mile markers pop up sooner than ye's expect and I've had days when ye're praying the next mile marker will show up, today sadly was the latter, I had hoped when I passed mile 11 at  Columbia bridge I could " empty the tanks"over the closing 2 miles.....the fact my last two splits of 9.08 and 9.10 were my slowest of the day underlined I had almost zero knee lift or leg turnover left and at the risk of braking my hand patting myself on the back{ remember the difference between a pat on the back and a kick in the arse is about  15 inches!!!!} at least  the guts to grind it out and finish was still burning/ragin' inside me.1.52.38 off 8.35 mile pace.....my second slowest half marathon in two years, medal #11 for the years and #280 for the career felt like scant consolation after crossing the finish line

I have a week off from work beginning Wednesday, as well as some much  needed time off from work I'm hoping to get a weeks worth of training under my belt to round out September on a semi  positive note, I have  11 more races between Saturday and December 26th to try and put myself at #292 by years end,Philly 1/2 marathon is  nine weeks away hopefully today will be a distant memory on Saturday November 21st when I tackle 13.1 again for the 47th time in 42 years......

Irish Music Soothes The Savage Celtic Pagan......Ok......Sometimes......Not All The Time!!!!!

"Oh tell me the legends of long ago when the kings and queens would dance in the realm of the Black Rose, play me the melodies I want to know so I can teach my children so,Pray tell me the story of young Cu Chulainn how his eyes were dark his expression sullen and how he'd fight and always won and how they cried when he was fallen.My Roisin Dubh is my one and only love it was a joy that Joyce brought to me while William Butler waits and Oscar, he's going wild ah shur Brendan where have you Behan? looking for a girl w/ green eyes my dark Rosaleen is my only colleen that  Georgie knows best but Van is the man starvation once again drinking whiskey in the jar-o Synge's Playboy Of The Western world,As Shaw Sean I was born and reared there where the Mountains of Mourne come down from the sea,it's a long,long way from Tipperary"

Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend

Whoever coined the phrase "we make plans.....and God laughs" should either be taken behind the shed and given a good hiding or shot.....or  praised as a true visionary because once again I sit down here on a Sunday afternoon looking back over my weekly schedule  and having almost feck all to blog.........since I blogged Monday after my race the plan was to take a day off on Tuesday given I'd been up b4 the crack of dawn Sunday for the long run and again Monday for the race and have at it Wednesday,Thursday,Friday and Sunday.........pause now as the creator has a good laugh at my expense..........

Wednesday Sept 9th the only non race run of the week...and even that didn't go off  properly......for those of ye not up at 5.35am these days trust me it's dark at this hour...a far cry from a few months ago,I didn't see the first hint of daylight till 6.05am b4 leaving at 6.10am, officially daylight was at 6.36am,the slightly later start had put me behind schedule but to be honest I was overly concerned work will be there if I get in at 7.45am or 8am......my official start time so cutting the run short wasn't an option.....at that point.......When I reached the South St bridge I instinctively looked at the auld Garmin......and recoiled in horror when it wasn't moving.......bollox!!!! when I hit traffic trying to cross 39th St I guess I hadn't hit the reset button so instead of registering 2 miles it now said 1.28.........bollox....now I've been doing this route long enough all summer since my conversion to morning runs to know exactly where 2.5 miles comes in but I guess being behind schedule to begin w/ and now the prospect of an untimed  run lead me to do a 180 degree U turn and head back for an untimed 4 miler, for the record it was 71 degrees and 83% humidity and while I was a tad miffed at the loss of a mile I was still on schedule for the week the extra mile of the 10k and 4 miles this morning  equaled  10 miles.....2 more 5 milers and a Sunday long run at 12 miles a season best 32 miles for the week.......what could possibly go wrong.............?

Thursday Sept 10th I just didn't have it when the alarm went off at 5.25/5.34am.......waking up at 4.15am didn't  exactly lend its self to the cause but at this stage Saturday was still in play if need be.........

Friday Sept 11th W/out going off on an absolute diatribe re Thursday at work let me just cliff note it for ye, clocked in at 7.46am.......and clocked out at 7.56.......PM to say it was the mother of all shit shows is under selling it a 12 hour day 8 of which was spent on ONE feckin' project I began at 11.30am and didn't finish till 7.30pm, if I stopped twice to make tae at 1pm and 6pm I'm being generous, needless to say getting home at 8.30pm and not eating till 9pm and then having the hardest time falling asleep after the day from hell didn't really lend its self to getting up at 5.35am and going for a run,no need to throw in a Saturday run now to stay on track for 32 miles period but given my late departure meant an industrial size feckin' fork getting stuck into my traditional Thursday  post work trip to Aldi that now had to wait till Saturday morning.......still the Sunday long run was still a go yeah...........??????!!!!!!

Sunday Sept 13th well it's a good feckin'  job I nailed the all important 12 mile run last Sunday cos I was awoken at 5.50am to the sound of rain bouncing off the window..... we make plans and God laughs remember? asides from the lashing rain the humidity was off the charts and while I checked the phone to see if pushing my run back to the afternoon was doable I saw that while  the humidity was reasonable the heat had now gone up, 80 degrees fuck it anyway, a 2 day 10 mile week it is then!

I'm pissed but I'll get over it, we're only 2 days removed from the 25th anniversary of 911 so missing a few runs pails into insignificance  in comparison that's not to say I happy about it but in the general scheme of things it's small potatoes......and if there's one thing I know a lot about as a Paddy it's Potatoes!

 Another thing I know a lot about is Irish music which is becoming a bigger staple in my life  w/ each passing year,my parents met in an Irish pub in South East London where as legend has it the auld fella was singing, Irish folklore has it that the mother asked him if he'd be back there the following week," I will be  if you're going to be here" he informed her......smooth talker the auld fella and however long after that clandestine meeting  took place  yours truly entered the picture so yes Irish  music has always played an active roll in my life, both parents loved Irish music so it was always there growing up even if I was more interested in top 40 radio and whatever genre was  popular, Disco,Punk,Classic Rock/Heavy Metal,New Wave/New Romantic etc back in the day outside of traditional Irish bands  a la The Dubliners there weren't too many other acts to see on Top Of The Pops etc the odd sight and sound of Horslips and then slowly Thin Lizzy,Boomtown Rats,Van Morrison,U2,The Pogues,Hothouse Flowers changed that....and for the better

These days we have the likes of:Kneecap,Hozier,Amble,Kingfishr,Damien Dempsey,Mary Wallopers,Fontaines D.C all tearing it up {I'm also throwing in The 2 Johnnies given they also make music} and everytime I turn around a new Irish band is on my radar: Biird,Florence Road,Dermot Kennedy,Chasing Abbey,Madra Salach, Gurriers, Bleech 9.3,The Cliffords, Sprints,CMAT,The Scratch, and Huratan to name a dozen, in 53 years of being an avid music fan I don't recall a time when SO MUCH good music was coming out of Ireland......long may it continue period but when life keeps throwing industrial size spanners into the works for my running this wee Fenian needs  to replace it w/.....in an ideal world i'd like both........shurly not TOO much to ask now is it?
 

Never Mind The Bollox Here's A Double Digit Long Run And Medal #279.......

 "Just two boys from the flats sittin' around  now having a chat,representing Dublin 1 talkin' bollox  all day long"

Two Boys From The Flats-Eddie Sherlock & The Rattling Kind

Since last Monday through Saturday were...to put it mildly a " cornucopia of cock ups " I opted to blog Sundays long overdue double digit 12 mile long run and this mornings 10k together......a little unconventional but shur feck it tis Kevinrunningfree after all.....bit late in the shaggin' day now for conventional don't ye think????

Basically Monday thro Saturday went like this: Monday August 31st too tired to get up at 5.35am,Tuesday September 1st copy & paste,Wednesday September 2nd 93% humidity at 5.35am,Thursday September 3rd copy & paste,Friday September 4th got home from New York City at 2.40am......not much chance of getting up at 5.35am to run,Saturday September 5th still feeling the effects of the New York City trip.....

Sunday September 6th Now or never for this long run,the clock is  tickin' on PDR in two weeks time so I needed to have a cut off of a 12 miler today, not exactly ideal w/ a 10k on tap almost 24 hours later but needs must and beggers can't be choosers.Up by 5.50am although there were another 43 mins till sunrise,on a weekend I have some leeway w/ pushing back the alarm but not during the week, I think it was closer to 6.30-6.40am when I left by which time sunrise was  in bloom 68 degrees and 74% humidity a far cry from the 81% last Sunday that banajaxed me, opted for an auld route I hadn't ran in a while just to mix things up and try and keep things fresh,Powelton Ave,Mantua Ave,34th St,Lansdowne Dr Fairmount Park,Lansdowne Dr,34th St,Mantua Ave,Powelton Ave and home..........I wasn't overly concerned re pace and splits the more important numbers were the miles at the end, if I went sub 1.48 off 9 min mile pace fair fucks to me, if I didn't no harm no foul as long as I got 12 miles in. 8.40 for the opening mile b4 8.52 at  mile 2 and 8.51 on Mantua Ave at mile 3......so far so good. 8.59 at mile 4 and perhaps the proverbial writing on the wall,I didn't panic when mile 5 came up as 9.04 as the first half mile is uphill on Lansdowne Dr and is a notorious hoor of a hill.......Rut Roh Shaggy!!!! crossing Belmont Ave into Fairmount Park b4 I hit mile 6 my gallop was slowed by a locked gate,I'd encountered this once b4  2 years ago and ended up having to take a crazy arsed detour, feck all that shite today I was almost at mile 6 so I swung a left onto nearby Montgomery Drive and ran till Hal the lil bollox Garmin  registered mile 6 and I turned to make this an out and back.9.19-9.16-9.19 as I made my way back to Lansdowne Dr.when I hit mile 9 on Mantua Ave in 9.28 I knew I was going to have to go into head down get her done mode to see this through.....9.51 at mile 10 on Powelton Ave just b4 Penn Presbyterian hospital, stick or twist, call it a 10 miler and hope to tack on two extra miles next Sunday?..  OR gut it out and grind out the final 2 miles no matter how slow......."I'll take B please Neil".......9.54 at mile 11 and 9.57 at mile 12......BOOYAH!  12 miles in 1.51.35 off 9.17 mile pace.....slight pause as I shed the 600 pound Gorilla off my back! In March prior to the Love Run 1/2 marathon I logged an all important 12 miler the week b4 in what must be said much cooler conditions, hopefully next Sunday I can register a second 12 miler pre PDR period, if it's faster than today that's an added bonus

Monday September 7th For the second year the Freedom Run took place although this year it was out and back on W.River Dr/MLK Dr which was still off limits last year,the organizers added a 10 miler this year and while I was initially miffed and not knowing that given I was coming off of my 12 mile long run yesterday 10k was enough of a challenge let alone 10 miles! Decent race conditions sunny 64 degrees but 82% humidity to put that into perspective  a fortnite ago at Philly 10k it was  68 degrees but 91% humidity.I questioned the logic of back to back long run/race long b4 getting into the starting corral in front of the Art Museum b4 the air horn went off at 7.30am, the simple truth was I needed both the long run to bolster my chances of a good 1/2 marathon in 13 days time at PDR and the race to register medal #10 for the season but more importantly #279 for the career......as a wise man once said at an AA meeting way back when and I quote "you can do anything you want in this life.......if you're willing to pay the price that goes w/ it"......To be honest I just needed to finish speed, pace, splits,overall position,age group position weren't that important that said even on those days I still like a target to aim for so I opted for 8 min mile pace roughly 48 min....opening in 8.01 was heartening  despite the 5k and 10k going off together I not only got a clear run but more importantly didn't getting pulled out by the 5k speed merchants.8.16 at mile 2 and the humidity was already taking its toll.....not that this is my first  rodeo so I knew to suck it up and be grateful for the foresight to have drank plenty of water yesterday 8.32 at mile 3 and if memory serves me 25.39 at the turnaround b4 Strawberry Mansion bridge 51.18 pace??? 8.38 at mile 4 I knew I probably didn't have it to start emptying the tank now better wait till the 5 mile marker for that, as it was I dropped down to a 8.29 split b4 throwing what little I had  at it for the final 1.2 miles 8.22 for mile 6 b4 closing in 1.29, a fortnite  ago I closed in 2.02 51.47.2 off 8.21 mile pace, all things considered something to hang my bandana on.....oh and for good measure for the second year in a row overall winner of the 60-64 age group.In keeping w/ 100% transparency  I must point out this was my slowest 10k of all time and the first time in 69 10ks since my debut in Wimbledon in 1983 that I failed to stay below 50 mins.....ok so there was always a strong possibility of that happening today off the back of a 12 mile long run but frankly if it wasn't today it was coming,at Philly 10k two weeks ago I snuck under the 50 min barrier by the skin of my teeth in 49.58.3 so the proverbial cheque was in the mail, in 07 I had my first non sub 40 time a 40.03.0 in fact since resuming my road running career in 18 I've only once gone sub 40 a 38.55.0 time in 2019 and since 24 my times bar a smoking 45.43.1 last year at the Bridge Run have all been 48-49 mins so like I said it was coming.....but like I took it on the chin when sub 40 was no longer  a rite of passage I will deal w/ the potential that at almost 63 maybe sub 50 is no longer a given

Long run and medal #279 in the books, I suspect a well earned day off is on the cards tomorrow b4 hopefully jumping back in on Wednesday morning to see if a 5 day week is doable, I suspect the 90%+ humidity mornings are done this year....now to adjust my  pre dawn vision and get ready for post 6.30am sunrises......it's seldom dull for the wee Fenian that's for shur...... 

Like Something From A Hemingway Novel.......

"I was down the bottom half of some auld bar in Chinatown me shoes had brought the rain and soaked the space for lookin' down, as drunk as love is lethal I spun a lady round and I kissed her neath the waking of the Dublin City sky.She threw her shoes into her bag and danced just like a dream her face was rubied up just like no sun I'd ever seen she said I was  a phony,I said I could be mean and I treated her so badly I made my baby cry.The January markets filled the cold air w/ the sound the boys all full of laughter and their pockets w/ the pound and in the foggy dew I saw you throwing shapes around it was underneath the waking of a Dublin City sky"

Dublin City Sky-Fontaines  D.C.

Final week of August, are the Dog Days over or does mother nature have one final card to play? 

    Tuesday August  25th I had considered running Monday  but having gotten up at 5.30am Sunday for my race I thought maybe a  rest day was in order so I waited till Tuesday to kick things off w/my customary out and back down Baltimore Ave,South St bridge and the Schuylkill River Trail to Locust Point  and back.Conditions wise it was the pick of the week,64 degrees and only 68% humidity,I would be arsehole lucky to run in such conditions again this week......more's the pity!!! 42.11.7 off 8.23 mile pace off of splits of:7.57-8.28-8.30-8.30-8.32 shaving 5 seconds off of last Wednesday  run on the same route, it's amazing how much quicker I can run when the humidity isn't a factor? of course it's a trade off September offers less humidity.....but less  daylight......maybe I should've listened to "the mother" and ate my carrots so I could see in the dark!!!

Thursday August 27th Another Wednesday  skipped over,do I want or have to get into bed by 9.30pm each night to improve my chances of  answering the alarm at 5.25-5.34am.....???? Granted  it's post GAA season now so the podcasts are few and far between but I have non  GAA pods on my rotation,The 2 Johnnies,2 Johnnies Xtra, Talkin' Bollox, Talkin' More Bollox Tea W/ Me,Free State,The Lovely Show and RTE Soccer earlier in the summer when daylight happened much earlier I thought nothing of listening to 2 podcasts a nite between 8pm-10.30pm,now w/ daylight or lack thereof being an issue I find myself limiting meself  to either just one OR depending on the length of each pod can I squeeze in 2 and be in bed by 10pm to get up at 5.35am???? decisions decisions..........71 degrees and 81% humidity this morning on the newly modified 50th St,Paschall Ave,Grays Ferry bridge and early part of the Schuylkill River Trail and back route.Things began well enough w/splits of 8.32 and 8.28 but when mile 3 after the turnaround on the bridge of the trail crept up to 9.07 I knew the  proverbial writing was on the wall,managed to drop mile 5 back down below 9 min mile pace w/ a 8.48 to finish in 43.38.8 off 8.44 mile pace but it was steamy as fuck out there and not much past 6.40am........the cold bucket  of water over me in the shower post run helped........

Friday August 28th First back to back runs since July  28th/29th so that's a positive moving forward.....not so positive was the 91% humidity that went along w/ the Baltimore Ave,South St bridge,Schuylkill River Trail,Grays Ferry Ave bridge,50th St loop in 71 degrees, however unlike Thursday when mile 4 got away from me today I kept everything sub 9:8.50-8.41-8.31-8.45-8.47 for a 43.35.3 time off 8.43 mile pace....and yes it was another bucket of cold water  dumped over me post run in the shower......much like the omni present humidity "I was getting used to it by now"Three weekday runs for the first time since the third week of July would lend itself to the narrative that I am slowly working my way back to where I was pre achilles  issues and where I'd like to reside for the remainder of the season,now for an encore could I make it 4 runs in a week and get a much needed long/double digit run in on Sunday????

Sunday August 30th The short answer is "could I fuck!!!!" another morning blighted by humidity 81% at 6.40am to accompany the reasonable 63 degrees that greeted me as I made my way up Powelton Ave for the first time in weeks.When I clocked 8.32 for the opening mile things seemed {on the surface at least!} to be tickin' along nicely......however b4 I even hit mile 2 I had the sickening feeling that I didn't have it this morning to go long, the target was 12 miles  as  the Philadelphia Distance Run is now only 3 weeks away and I would like at least one, if not two 12 milers under my belt b4 steppin' into a half marathon on September 20th.While it's customary to have moments of self doubt on any run sometimes ye really have to trust the auld gut instinct, I had 5 mile runs this week where I hit "bad patches" and questioned if I had it in me to see it through{I did!} but I'm auld enough, grey in the goatee enough and doing in this long enough to know when ye either have it or ye don't have it.....and sadly today was one of those days when I knew I didn't have it 4 miles in 35.46.4 off 8.57 mile pace, glass half empty another blown long run, glass half full a 4 day week to continue my upward trajectory of recent weeks

Some observations if I may from this week,running east every morning  just b4 6am towards the Schuylkill River as daylight was breaking b4 sunrise was like something out of a Hemingway novel hence the title of this weeks entry......what ye think I just throw shit together on a Sunday afternoon when I post Kevinrunningfree? there is an element of thought behind each title and set of lyrics that accompany  the blog the fact that I discovered that Hemingway's first novel was called "The Sun Also Rises" after the idea to title this weeks entry"Like Something Out Of A Hemingway Novel"  feels like Serendipity, I should point out I had a great photo of sunrise over the Schuylkill River Trail from the South St bridge that I was going to use....till I opted for the Fontaines D.C. lyrics of "Dublin City Sky and then I felt I needed a photo of sunrise in Dublin, hence the great shot of sunrise over my ultimate finish line the Poolbeg Lighthouse, Two I've not been shy about my lack of gra{love for those of ye who aren't fluent in Gaelic} for the out and back on Powelton Ave but I believe I have an alternate route just waiting to be run. When I'm crossing Grays Ferry Ave bridge two or three times a week I get to observe the bridge the city is planing to connect Grays Ferry Crescent Park across the Schuylkill River to a trail to connect to Bartram's  Gardens  which would allow for another mile out and  mile back, no date on completion of said bridge.......all I'll say is the city is in charge of the project.....the same city who took over 2 years to renovate the bridge on West River Drive below Spring Garden St bridge so don't hold yer breath expecting  this project to be completed  anytime soon!!!.......Finally and this is a sad observation on my part given the fact sunrise is getting later and later on September 1st it will be 6.28am on the 30th it will be 6.56am this week I was very  cognizant of the fact that I saw less women out running first thing in the morning as I had in the past  three months and while I don't take my own safety and well being for granted it's a shame women feel they can't run b4 it gets lighter and there are more runner out there  to offer a "safety in numbers " presence in a week when some arsehole was on trail for harassing women running in Center City recently it should serve as a timely if not unfortunate reminder that " the crazies walk among us".......and feckers say it's us the runners who are crazy........😒
 

Cu Chulainn 3 Achilles 2............#Ye'llNeverBateTheIrish

 "When you pissed yourself in Frankfurt and got syph in Cologne and you heard the rattling death trains as you lay there all alone Frank Ryan bought you whiskey in a brothel in Madrid and you decked some fucking blackshirt who was cursing all the yids at the sick bed of Cu Chulainn we'll kneal and say a prayer but the ghosts are rattling at the door and the devil's in your chair"

The Sick Bed Of Cu Chulainn-The Pogues

Full disclosure I've waited weeks for that title and those lyrics.....but I needed a week when I ran more than I didn't........Kevinrunningfree.....it may not be pretty....it shur as shit ain't Shakespeare.........but it's always 100% the truth!

Since I'm "cleansing my soul here" apologies for the lack of a blog last week but w/ only one run all week a 7 miler Saturday morning it really didn't seem worth  blogging.......and now  allow me to channel my inner Fin Wallace and D4 Dad......"I digress/We move" and onto this week

Wednesday August 19th I had planned to run either Monday or Tuesday but it just didn't happen, when I began getting up and running at 6am back on June 23rd it was a lot easier as it was a lot lighter now at mid way through August it's not light till almost 6am sunrise was officially 6.20am this morning.... to the point I had to dig out an auld bedside table lamp from the bedroom and put it next to the bed so that when the alarm goes off at 5.25am and 5.34am I can see what I'm doing when I get up, again in a case of being 100% transparent after I blew off Mondays attempt to kick start things the plan very much was to get up Tuesday and run.....I was awake b4 the alarm went off.....but I just couldn't rise to the challenge, the last four weeks have seen me revert to being a non morning runner, I've gone on record saying that it scares me how quickly I can fall in and out of a routine, I had 5 weeks of getting up and out the door by 6am  5 days a week until the achilles began acting up and now it's not automatic to do that...this too shall pass Opted for the Baltimore Ave,South St bridge,Schuylkill River Trail to Locust Point and back route......I had considered doing it untimed I know the route like the back of my hand.....and while I wouldn't advocate doing it blindfolded I could do it in the dark.....which will be useful in a few weeks time when sunrise is 6.30am at the start of September!!!!As it was everyone's favourite mischievous Garmin Hal the lil bollox Garmin decided this morning was as good as any morning to act said bollox,the opening mile came up a tad early going up Baltimore Ave after 42nd  St so I already knew my splits would be off.....force of habit I checked it again on the trail and saw 2.54 before I'd even made the turn at which point there seemed little to any point paying attention to splits, pace,negative/non negative splits etc etc I was just happy out to be back up and out the door by 6am  running, the achilles felt ok, post run as the day wore on it felt a bit tender but during the run it was fine, if that's the new normal moving forward then so be it

Friday August 21st I did plan to be up and out said door by 6am on Thursday  however the  alarm didn't go off......the same alarm that didn't go off the morning of Broad St......as ye can tell I don't have a great relationship w/ technology!!!!!! Since it was Friday I opted for the Baltimore Ave,South St bridge,Schuylkill River Trail, Grays Ferry Avenue bridge, 49th St loop 67 degrees and 81% humidity almost ideal 80/80 conditions, I will say since  converting to morning running my tolerance to the humidity has improved the last few years it felt like it  was my kryptonite but now despite still sweating worse than a hooker in a church I have found a way to  deal w/it it.At 41.33.0 it's fair to say I was moving at a clip, my mile average was 8.19 off splits of:7.50-8.15-8.26-8.38-8.23.A couple of point of note I spent over 11 years running Masters track between 400m, 800m, the mile and 1,500m,3,000m,5,000m and 10,000m I automatically got up on my toes to try and running quicker.....that mindset still resonates w/ me now in my road races which A is probably unnecessary and B doesn't help my achilles so I was very cognizant of trying to stay on the flats of my feet today and mid way through Wednesdays run  when I realized I had inadvertently "reverted to type" it's a small adjustment but if it keeps the achilles from bothering me it will be worth remembering on my runs.Also I tweaked  the end of this run,50th St doesn't run all the way to Paschall  Avenue if it did I wouldn't have felt the need to go up and down a block to 49th St on my runs  last Saturday when I basically had a "shot to nothing" on my 7 miler{another run where Hal the lil bollox Garmin  was acting the bollox!!!!!} I did a lil recon and  discovered heading home after Chester Avenue I can make a left on St Bernards St  which brings me out to Springfield Ave another left and  ta da......50th St on my right and  a straight shot home,sadly between Chester Ave and Kingsessing  Aveune there's a park so I'm not shur if I could continue in a straight line to and from my front door to Paschall Aveune but it might be worth checking out but that's for another day.

Sunday August 23rd It's race day the Philly 10k,my unofficial start to the Fall road race season,the first of 4 races in 6 weeks and the start of what looks like a very busy second half to my season, potentially 14 races between today and December 26th.....normally I come into Philly 10k a tad ring rusty as it's been my won't not to race since the first Sunday in May at Broad St.....however  plot twist the prospect of Cork 1/2 marathon next June 6th  being medal #300 has seen me throw in 2 races in between  {Philly Run Fest 15k in June and the Coffee Run 10k in Camden last month}  this year and adding another 5 races in Camden b4 years end w/ further potential for 2 more in January  to give myself the chance of  Cork 1/2 marathon being #300......it all sounds good in theory......let's hope it rings true in practice! No issues getting up by 5.30am and out the door by 6am and getting down to South Street by 6.40am to take advantage of next to no lines at the Portajohns b4 dropping off my bag at bag check and gettng into the corral just gone 7am following my pre race stretches.Got a spot in the A corral which hasn't been the case the last 2 years but the pre race plan had been to be near the rear of the corral and hopefully work my way through rather than go off half cocked and die in the second half of the race,then I saw the temps and humidity for 7.30am a comfortable 68 degrees but 91% humidity, thankfully this summer has prepared me for that but it's still a hoor to race in.Pre race the plan/hope was 47 mins off 7.45 mile pace but the 91% humidity was going to throw a spanner in those works so plan B go out at a comfortable pace and hope to hold on to it and work off the runners around ye.7.39 for the opening mile which is always slow as they are some tight streets in South Philly and I can't knock any of the residents who parked their cars outside their houses/row homes 7.47 for mile 2 as I made my up Snyder Ave to 13th St people were walking already,either ye went off half cocked or got into a corral ye had no business being in.7.58 at mile 3 I forget exactly what my 5k time was 24 mins and change sub 47 seemed unlikely at this point, the mindset was try and hold onto this pace and come mile 5 on 12th St  between Spruce and Christian   if there was anything left in the tank empty the fucker.8.11 for mile 4 and 8.20 for mile 5 the humidity had taken its toll but good to my word I emptied the tanks in the final mile 8.01 for mile 6 as I hauled arse making the turn at 7th and South St to cross the line just below 6th St in 49.58.3 off 7.57 mile pace A tad slower than last year when I ran 48.31.9 off 7.46 mile pace......in my defense yer honour I am a year older and the heat and humidity last were were both in the 70s......I rest my case! Medal #9 for the season, but more importantly #278 for the career, if memory serves me correctly last year {the first year Philly 10k gave finishers medals it was #261 so that's 17 medals in 12 months......not bad for an auld fart w/ a bum knee and dodgy achilles!!!!!!

Hopefully the achilles  will continue to cooperate w/ the extra icing and stretching I may invest in a ankle brace also, anything that will keep me out there logging miles in training and continuing to plunder races for medals will be welcome at this point, hopefully this week I can get back to a full compliment of 5 training runs  back into the swing of getting up by 5.35am and out the door by 6am,temps look favourable this week,need to double check on the auld humidity.........we move!

When Is Too Auld For Auld Shite?.........Asking For A Friend!!!!

 "Come here to me and I'll tell ye now did ye know I've got  300 cows the tax man  won't get my cash come into the jacks and have a look at me rash ye young lads think I'm a fool, I bet ya  ten bob I'll bate ya  at pool I don't clean up shur I live on my own ah go on to fuck would ye drop me home, I am the aul, the auld lad in the pub came for the craic not for the grub you'll have a bit of soup, you'll have a bit of soup this is the auld fella in the pub"

The Auld Lad In The Pub-The 2 Johnnies

Well the feckin' Dog Days Of Summer are back, hopefully a new pair of runners and some days off have helped the achilles and this blip in training is just that a blip.........

Tuesday August 3rd after  five days off I was chompin' at the bit  to get back at it....and how! Not only a negative splits out in 21.56 back in 21.10 but kept all five miles splits below 9 min mile pace:8.30-8.40-8.54-8.36-8.27 for a 43.06.8 time off 8.37 mile pace in 68 degrees and 72% humidity on the tried and tested Baltimore Ave,South Street bridge,Schuylkill River Trail to Locust Point and back route,Accu Weather had earmarked today as the pick of the week weather wise so it felt right to use today as my return to training........however for all my craic about coming from a long line of traveling people and having Gypsy  blood in my veins.......even I couldn't have predicted the ''catalog of fuck ups" that would shape the next  four days............Stephen KIng eat yer heart out.....here comes a real horror story!!!!!

Wednesday August 4th-Thursday August 6th Wednesday was innocent enough, I always  say I know if and when a rest day is on the cards when I don't wake up b4 the 5.25am alarm goes off.....on Wednesday it was the alarm that woke me not me waking up and checking the time on my phone, no biggie I still had Thursday,Friday and the option of Saturday b4 Sundays long run........Thursday August 5th,glass half full I was awake b4 the alarm went off......glass half empty upon checking the temps and humidity I discovered  95% humidity......and channeled my best Matthew Broderick in "Biloxi Blues"........man that's hot......Africa hot.......Tarzan couldn't stand that  heat..... and fecked off back te bed till 6.45am, even w/out a suspect achilles that was going to be a big ask.......on the subject of the auld achilles I had looked into new runners w/ more cushioning to help w/ that, not to plead poverty but until my substantial pay increase in May I have had to eek out a day to day/week to week existence over the last five years  in life in general, rent, food, bills trying to save for trips and putting money aside for my eventual retirement {seven years and counting.......but who's counting????me  muthafucker I'm counting!!!!!!!!} as well as my running,races don't come cheap and when it's come to shoes I've had to rely on cheaper,no name brands and up until this current pair have done ok but I can't help but feel w/  not quite 200 miles on these shoes it's no coincidence my achilles began to throb, in life as in Running shoes  ye get what ye pay for and I don't think it's a coincidence that these shoes w/ less cushioning than the last several pairs I've  bought were the ones that gave up the ghost on me........Found a reasonably priced pair of New Balance shoes on Amazon and figured I'd have at it, catch 22 the money on these shoes was roughly the price of my next race entry fee......however the shoes needed to come first if I didn't address the cushioning issue the race in late September may be a mute point and my entry fee a " charitable donation".........

Friday August 7th-Saturday August 8th Outside of Amazon I have next to nothing delivered here to the house, too much shit has " disappeared" off the door step in the last few years, I feel 90% of things I've ordered online  have gone AWOL.....might as well put a red flashing arrow on the door pointing to the item left on my doorstep saying Free Stuff, Help Yerself, Already Paid For!!!!!!!, at least w/Amazon  they are good about replacing stolen items.......however the runners were a time  sensitive delivery, nine orders out of ten I place on a Friday  for Saturday or Sunday delivery so at least I'm home  and even then 99% of the delivery drivers don't ring my doorbell to let me know it's there I've had deliveries left and after the fact checked my emails to see the "delivered" email in my emails w/ said photo{ funny how they have time to fire off a photo to cover their arse to say it was delivered but can't/won't ring a shaggin' doorbell???? and upon going to the front door the shit's gone.......According to Amazon if I ordered the runners Thursday morning they would be delivered between 5pm and 10pm  Thursday evening......given I could brake them in Friday morning and  maybe squeeze in a make up run Saturday  I figured why not.... I got home from work 6.20pmish  and checked my email "out for delivery".......and proceeded to keep checking my emails till I went to bed at 10.20pm only to be informed " sorry for the delay."..... ye didn't have to be an Ivy League school grad to see what the feck was coming down the tracks?????????????? Friday morning I get an email at 9.48am "delivered" w/ said photo of my $85 brand new New Balance runners sitting on the door step........what a fuckin' turn up for the books upon getting home later than usual gone 7pm to  find them gone!!!!!!!!!! Now comes the time honoured auld shite messaging Amazon re the delivery after a thumbs down emoji and explaining to them the delivery is gone I get the " if your order doen't show up by August 10th we will replace it"......ye'll do fuckin' what now ye shower of shite?? I appreciate I'm arguing w/ an automated bot it's like arguing w/ a jerk off on social media.....an utter waste of  my time so I asked { several times I have to point out!!!!!......feckin' computers.....Hal the lil bollox Garmin being a prime example!!!!!!!}  for an actual representative I could speak to .....I will say Carl w/ whom I spoke to  was very gracious  re the issue and asides from apologizing profusely { he didn't botch the original delivery Thursday nite or leave an $85 pair of runners in a shoe box on my door step in the heart of West Philly in broad fuckin' daylight b4 10am!!!!!!!} and assured me my new runners would be dispatched and delivered tomorrow.......

Saturday August 8th No point trying to run w/out the new runners so I was resigned to it being back to back 2 day weeks of training.....hey ho sometimes less is more and  maybe just maybe  all of this auld shite was the universe telling  me to slow my roll, I put in a serious body of work in July period but we were also heatwave free.......I'm a lot of things  but stupid and or naive I am not and it was a given we'd endure another heatwave or two b4 the end of August.....and maybe one in September, who knows? Officially heatwave #6 yesterday....and they're calling for another 3 days of 90 degree plus heat Sunday,Monday and Tuesday.....meh!As for the runners YES they were delivered yesterday afternoon while I was home .....and NO  the langer of a delivery driver did NOT ring my door bell to inform me  of this.....but did have time to snap a photo of said delivery on my front step.......God job I run to deal w/ this kind of auld shite!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday August 9th When I answered the snooze button at  5.34am and looked at my phone I saw 89% humidity.......not exactly great for a 5 miler.....hardly runner friendly for a long run, but in running as in life my attitude is "I'd rather try and fail, and know I tried then second guess could I have???"  and I was dressed, stretched and out the door by 6.15am 74 degrees was grand,,,,,but the 89% humidity was always  going to be a killer as I made my way down 49th Street to the Grays Ferry Avenue  bridge and the Schuylkill River Trail, I was heartened by seeing 3 other fellow runners  as I entered the path in Greys Ferry park that leads to the trail.....always somewhat reassuring ye are not the only one insane and or neurotic  enough to be out there that early in those conditions....#safetyinnumbers....9.00 flat for the opener and 8.29 for mile 2 .........however  b4 reaching mile 3 and the on/off ramp at South St bridge in 8.30 I knew my Goose was cooked........feckin' roasted goose in that humidity of Flambe Fenian......take yer pick!!!! continuing along the Schuylkill River Trail was folly so I opted to head home via the South Street bridge and Baltimore Avenue.At best a 5 milers but I had to settle for a stop/start 9.20 mile 4 and called it a day at 35.21.1 off 8.50mile pace........not so much no mas more ahh fer feck sake!!!!

Between the achilles last week and this week, the piss ballin' around w/ Amazon and now heatwave #6 it's been a frustrating two weeks but all I can do is " control the controllables" I've addressed the achilles issue, taken some time off, bought new shoes w/ more cushioning,iced it, put Wolf Balm on it, increased my stretches as for Amazon deliveries and global warming I'm fecked in the immortal words of John Bender in "The Breakfast Club"....."it's out of my hands!!!" hopefully this coming week sees less heat and humidity and more miles........not too much to ask for now....is it???......asking for a friend!!!!!!!

It Did Come Home........To Mayo..........Finally!!!!!

"Oh the Green and Red of Mayo I can see it still, it's soft and craggy boglands it's tall majestic hills where the ocean kisses Ireland and the waves caress it's shore oh the feelin' it came over me to stay forever more forever more stay forever more, oh the Green and Red of Mayo"

The Green And Red Of Mayo-The Saw Doctors

Not exactly the week I was hoping for.....but ever mindful that "caution is the better part of valour" a step back was better than a grinding halt......

Tuesday July 28th While there wasn't a Cow milked in Mayo on Monday I too opted for a day off to revel in Maigh  Eo's long overdue All Ireland celebrations, as a long suffering Cork Hurling fan I know what it's like to wait and wait and wait to climb the steps of the Hogan stand in Croke Park {Pairc an  Chrocaigh if we're being  technical!!!} but 21 years is feck all compared to Mayo's 75  year wait, to put things into perspective my late Uncle John was a young man when Mayo last lifted Sam Maguire in 1951 23 maybe 24 when he pasted away in 1998 some 47 years later Mayo had yet to reclaim Sam despite several near and at time calamitous  misses,mad to think he and so many other sons and daughters of Mayo never got to witness the unbridled joy in Croke Park last Sunday where even the hardest of hearts and the biggest of begrudgers would  resent Andy Moran and his team the sweetest of victories,Maigh Eo Abu!!!!Came up 8 seconds shy of a negative splits out in 21.51 back in 21.58 for a 43.49.8 off 8.46 mile pace in 71 degrees and 94% humidity.......not that's not a typo ......94% humidity,I was grateful for the breeze coming off of the Schuylkill River  for the middle mile on the traditional kick off to the week route Baltimore Ave, South St bridge,Schuylkill River Trail to Locust Point and back

Wednesday July 29th A negative split out in 22.51 back in 21.40 out and back on Powelton Ave in 70 degrees and 90% humidity.....it's bad when ye  celebrate a 4% drop in the humidity........!!!!!For all my grumbling about the Powelton Ave out and back it continues to provide me w/ negative splits, today was not the first and hopefully not the last I have registered, it continues to be the road less travelled in terms of other runners out there compared  to  my other three routes which all feel like they are more popular but as I said a few weeks ago it doesn't matter who else is out there on a Tuesday or Wednesday as long as I'm out there.44.31.3 off 8.42 mile pace.

Sadly this would prove to be the end of the week for me, post race on Saturday I was painfully aware my right achilles  was a little tender.....the same right achilles that became an issue in 09 and cost me my shot at Worlds in Lahti  in Finland and flared up again 4 years later scuppering the 2013 season and another trip to Worlds in Porto Alegre in Brazil, since then I have made a point to stretch b4 each training run and race so why now after 13 years all of a sudden it's stuck it's head above the parapet is beyond me?

It wasn't lost on me that Saturday saw me return to triple digit monthly mileage for the first time in  eight months but I be hard pressed to say that's why now all of a sudden an auld injury  has flared up, I'm painfully aware that in order to make Cork #300 next June I have had to schedule  9 extra races from June 26 to June 27 to make that a reality......and IF push come the shove I have to drop some races and make #300 later in the year I will.....I plan to run the Cork 1/2 marathon  #300 or not, hopefully this bump in he road is all it is......while I don't drive i'm not unfamiliar  w/  ignoring the "check engine"message on the dashboard, catch 22 would I have been so willing to draw a line in the sand this week on 113 miles for the month had I been on 93 mile and 2 days left to log a pair of 5 milers Thursday and  Friday?......thankfully I don't have to wrestle w/ that.

I have  been icing the shit out of my achilles  since last  Saturday on a daily basis and a couple of times on the weekend, I looked into remedies for an achilles  injury and R.I.C.E {Rest, Ice,Compression,Elevation} remains the main cure, earlier in the year I bought Wolf Balm for my knee hoping it would help it didn't but in fairness to the makers of Wolf Balm it's more of a  Muscle and Nerve remedy where as the knee is more of a bone/cartilage issue and I have to say between the Ice, the Wolf Balm and a few rest days it feels better, I have also looked into stretches to strengthen  it so if ye see me w/both hand on a wall leaning back on my right achilles for 30 seconds at a clip don't be alarmed it's not some weird Fenian yoga just yours truly trying to stay injury free and on schedule!!

#113 miles for  July and a pair of 10 mile long runs,I'm way ahead of where I was  a year  ago when I relied on lunch time runs, I'm very aware we are entering The Dog Days Of Summer now in August, I plan to be back out there Monday or Tuesday morning just b4 6am to continue the journey, fingers crossed no issues w/the auld achilles  and hopefully next Sunday a 12 mile long run..........

 

All Roads Lead To Cork

"Then we used to meet by the courthouse on Washington Street, walked to Pairc Ui Chaoimh and get a Crio out of KCs, she took me for a jar in the Brog, The Wash,Clancy's and The Old Oak and I can here the echo and that young one busking Fields Of Gold, take a bow all the lights of Cork City, shine brighter now from Shandon out to Ringaskiddy I can't believe i'm falling for someone who drinks Tanora,but when you smile you stop the lights will you stay, will you stay,will you leave, will you leave, will you leave walk one last time hand in hand down Patrick Street,back home they won't believe us this girl has got me drinking Beamish way in the country, she'll still probably leave me for Roy Keane"

The Lights Of Cork City-The 2 Johnnies

Well, well, well what can I say quiet the week for the Wee Fenian, another week of 6am 5 milers, a rare July race,a return to the realm of triple digit mileage for the month{ w/ a week to go till the 31st!!!} and some amazing news not only for next year but also my quest for medal #300.......

Monday July 20th In what would prove to be a pivotal week for me a lively start to things,in pretty good conditions 64 degrees and 66% humidity I knocked out not only  negative splits out in 22.00 back in 21.09 but also all 5 miles at sub 9 min mile pace:8.37-8.57-8.32-8.35-8.27 for a  brisk 43.09.7 on the Baltimore Ave,South St bridge,Schuylkill River Trail to Locust Point and back.How much of this was down to an"exchange of views" w/ a Lance Armstrong type on the Schuylkill River Trail, if he was any further up my hole at the on/off ramp he'd have been giving me a Proctology exam......is up for debate but the positive takeaway for me was after dropping a 8.32 split on mile 3 in and around our  clash/war of words I maintained that pace and dropped closing splits of 8.35-8.27{ ok I'm no Josh Kerr.....but who is?} which tells me the Three S's Speed,Strength and Stamina are in full effect period, but in mid July, which hopefully bodes well moving forward.

Tuesday July 21st I opted to make this my rest day but it was a major day for my running.......I've made no secret of my desire to run several 1/2 marathons in Ireland over the next few years in Cork,Belfast,Dublin{ both City 1/2 and Phoenix Park} and Galway to list five and to be honest the list grows as Dingle,Tralee,Viking 1/2 marathon in Waterford and recently discovered Clonrarf have also been added for consideration but as the son of a proud Rebel man Cork was always going to get top billing, it's been on my radar for a few years now what I didn't realize till I went on the race website on June 28th was it now has a ballot system to gain access to either the full marathon, half marathon or 10k AND the deadline for said ballot was midnite on June 30th....another couple of days I'd have been banajaxed,I duly sent off my application and tried not to over think the outcome, that said mentally July 21st had been circled if not on my calendar but in my head.......Technically they never said when on the 21st the results would be sent out online via email so at 7.01pm here Monday it was 12.01am in Cork and yer Man here was no stranger to his emails checking for news/updates.....shur I even checked at 3am here when I woke up hoping by 8am back home the results were posted.....nada!! Given I walked into a situation upon arrival at work at 7.45am there wasn't time to check emails until closer to 9am...............YEAH BAI!!!!!!!!!! I'm in!!! the chance to run the Cork City 1/2 marathon means everything to me period.......but to do it next year on June 6th is extra special as there is good chance it could also be medal #300...........how cool would it to be to hit the 300 mark in the very city my running began unofficially on August Bank Holiday 1972????? In order for that to happen there will be some tweaks to my race schedule both this year and early next year but hopefully if all goes to plan the Broad Street Run on May 2nd will be medal #299 and the next stop will be Cork City on June 6th.........#staytuned

Wednesday  July 22nd 74 degrees and 93% humidity hardly scream negative splits and 5 sub 9 min miles but maybe the euphoria of getting into the Cork City 1/2 marathon the day b4 was still driving me out and back on Powelton Ave 43.34.3 off 8.43 mile pace thanks to splits of:8.46-8.55-8.31-8.34-8.48, out in 21.55 back in 21.39 I should for the record state at the turnaround on Mantua Ave when I saw 21.55 I was thinking 22.55 which would be slow.....this might explain the brisk 8.31 3 mile split till I realized "hey gobshite 21.55....not 22,55" in my defense I was 6.15am.......I'm hardly bright eyed and bushy tailed at that hour let alone doing a 5 mile run....in 93% humidity I might add! To that end I could be forgiven for thinking it was a mirage when I counted  not only 4 other runners on the inbound leg but all four in the last few blocks up Cedar Ave the final two being inside the final block.While I'm not naive  enough to think I'm the only runner in my neighborhood it was nice to see other like minded individuals  period much less that early in the morning.

Thursday July 23rd Any thoughts of a third negative split and 5 sub 9 min miles run in a row were dashed early on and while hardly the end of the world it was somewhat frustrating given it was my favourite route out and back on 49th St, Paschall Ave,Greys Ferry Ave bridge and the start of the Schuylkill River Trail and back and conditions lent themselves to a fast time,67 degrees and 60% humidity.As soon as 9.06 came up as I hit Paschall Ave I knew it wasn't going to be brisk.....and frankly that's ok,each run doesn't have to feel like a time trail and while I did pickup the pace going downhill on Grays Ferry Ave bridge 8.51 the last three splits went :9.12-9.25-9.26, for the record out in 22.30 back in 23.31

Friday July 24th In an ideal world I'd have preferred to have ran Monday thro Thursday to keep my powder dry for Saturdays race but I also knew seven weeks into this block of training that a semi fast 5 mile at 6am Ftiday wasn't going to impact my 10k in 25 hours time.66 degrees and 79% humidity as I reeled off splits of:8.50-9.02-8.37-9.05-9.18 on the Baltimore Ave,South Street bridge,Schuylkill River Trail and 49th St loop, at least I had the satisfaction of a sub 45 min time,44.54.0 off 8.58 mile pace

Saturday July 25th Races in July are as rare as All Ireland's coming home to Cork{2005 in Hurling, 2010 in Football} but as luck would have it not only did I find one, it's part of a series of races across the country by The Best Races,that offer either a 5k,10k or 1/2 marathon in Atlanta,Memphis,Miami,New York,Phiily/New Jersey,Tampa,Austin,Chicago,Dallas,Denver,Houston,Kansas City,San Antonio,Las Vegas,LA,Phoenix,Sacramento,San Diego,San Francisco,Seattle, evidently they've had races over in Camden since May, they only just showed up on my radar prior to the July 4th race but I duly printed out all the races between today and Dec 26th and circled the ones I wanted to do, there are  ten more races on the schedule of which I plan to run five.....and yes before ye ask the website had the magical words finishers medal in the race info medal hoor that I am period but w/ the chance to hit #300 in Cork City in June I need to pick up the pace for my medal haul, should all the stars align  between now and Dec 26th I can end the year on #292 and hope conditions are mild enough in January when they have 2 more races{I may switch to 5k for them} b4 my traditional Winter/Spring schedule of Cupid's Chase 5k,Shamrock Run 5k,Love Run 1/2 marathon,Broad St Run 10 miler{ I could potentially axe the annoying Hot Chocolate 15k in April in favour of a long run in my build up to the 1/2 marathon in Cork in June}I knew ahead of time these races were " low key" no start/finish line no clock basically show up at the Wiggins Park Marina at either 7am,7.30am or 8am get your race bib and let them know which distance you were running.It was  along the river trail along the Delaware  River  from the Marina to the Ben Franklin bridge and back twice for the 5k, four times for the 10k or just over 8 times for the 1/2 marathon,I have to say prior to that knowledge my plan was 10ks this year and 5ks in January I couldn't imagine up and back over 8 times  for the 1/2 marathon, that's mentally draining but more power to anyone today who was tacking that I got a clear start in the 7am wave{given the trail isn't super wide the organizers try to limit it to 20 runners per wave on a first come, first serve basis} the eventual winner of the 10k and I would imagine eventual winner of the 1/2 marathon  went out at a pretty brisk pace I was happy to register 7.34 for my opening mile I was pretty much in no man land although another runner overtook  me  b4 we reached the Ben Franklin bridge b4 I eventually reeled him in and passed him by the third circuit.Given this was my first 10k of the season I had no real idea of mile pace I knew 7.30 was probably wishful thinking for now but not out of the realm of possibility later on this fall and 8 min mile pace  probably was setting the bar too low as it was I averaged 7.53 mile pace which means hopefully on a more traditional course for the Philly 10k in four weeks time maybe 7.45 mile pace isn't too far  out of my reach.the first 5 miles were all sub 8 pace:7.34-7.52-7.57-7.56-7.56, sadly 6 got way from me 8.11, I did check heat and humidity b4 the 7am start but for the life of me couldn't recall what they were, I can tell ye my Palestine running vest was soaked by the time I finished and had  dripped down onto my race shorts, thank the lord for a dry sleeveless shirt and  dry short waiting for me at the finish.According to Hal the little bollox Garmin it was 6.84 miles when I reached the start/finish at the end of 4 loops of the up and back, again when I run a more traditional course at Philly 10k in 4 weeks it should be 6.2 miles  and when I next rock up here in Camden on Sept 21st for the Octoberfest 10k I'll make shur to eyeball where 6.2 come in, stop the Garmin but keep running till I get back to the start/finish at the Marina.Medal #8 for the season,#277 for the career.......oh and by the way, 103 miles for the month, I had 97 coming into the race, potential for another 20 between Monday & Friday to round out July at 123 mile, I didn't hit triple digits till August last year, w/ that in mind at last years Philly 10k I ran 48.31.9 off 7.46 mile pace so lets see how much I can shave off of that in four weeks time?
 

Eyes Down For {Another} Full House

"His essential complications are hung up on confused it's a planet full of traffic lights and traffic light abusers but that's no stranger than strange, or any other stranger he claims it's dangerous to be innocent 'cause  uou're  the victim every time histories of insanity intruding on the same celebrate this party's over I'm going home"

Celebrate-An Emotional Fish

Another 5 day/ 30 mile week in the books, another 5 mornings of answering the call of the alarm at 5.35am, another week it was far easier to deal w/the heat and humidity {and heatwave #5} at 6am!!! and more importantly not only edge closer to a triple digit mileage month but also tack on another double digit long run.....little by little it's starting to fall into place.....

Monday July 13th Glass half empty just missed out on a negative splits,glass half full a sub 45 min 5 miler......what can I say I'm not shaggin' Barbie, shur I can't have every thing!!! 68 degrees  but 80% humidity.Monday or Tuesday whenever I kick my week off the route is Baltimore Ave,South St bridge, left onto the Schuylkill River Trail down to Locust Point and back,made the turn literally as ye have to go around the circle at Locust Point in 22.18 I did feel a negative splits was doable, however as is often the case it's mile 3 that throws a spanner in the works, the 9.09 split proved to be my undoing in my quest for a negative splits,8.54-9.02-9.09-9.05-8.31 for a 44.43.4 time off 8.56 mile pace  while I'm a tad miffed at coming up 5 seconds shy of a negative splits I can take great satisfaction in a closing mile of 8.31, week 4 of early morning runs off the back of  5 runs over 2 weeks prior to the conversion I can see progress

Wednesday July 15th On a day the afternoon temps topped out at 99 degrees it was no surprise to count seven other runners heading east on Powelton Ave after I'd made the 2,5 mile turnaround, even at 6am it was 77 degrees and 79% humidity.Sadly this run goes into the log as an untimed run at roughly 3.5 miles at 42nd & Powelton I caught a red light and while I thought I'd hit restart after I resumed running clearly I didn't.....meh! I'm strongly considering making the Powelton Ave route my untimed run for the week anyway so maybe improvisation is the mother of all fuck ups no matter how small they are after all??

Thursday July 16th It was noticeable to me anyway that at 5.35am it not as light as it was say a few weeks ago,I've been tracking Sunrise times since I began my morning runs, now I don't recall what the actual time Sunrise was on June 23rd but it's noticable it's not as light as it was a few weeks ago, by  Friday July 31st Sunrise will be 5.58am and little by little it will get lighter later but by that time I should be a fully paid up member of the Dawn Patrol Fraternity  so hopefully it won't effect me any.79 degrees and 69% humidity as I made my way up 49th St to Paschall Avenue and the Grays Ferry Avenue bridge into the park that links the start/end of the Schuylkill River Trail.I was well on pace for a negative splits and sub 45 min time early doors,8.43 and 8.54 for the opening 2 miles,I forget what my actual turnaround time was but probably 22 mins and change......somehow mile 3 ballooned up to 9.40.....WTF!!!! I had to have " switched off mentally" but got things back on track w/ a 9.02 4th mile and rounding out w/ a 9.16 final mile for a 45.36.1 finish off 9.06 mile pace.For the cynics who say" running doesn't pay" I found a $20 bill on the ground outside the Mini Mart on the corner of 49th and Springfield Ave.......as the auld saying goes " all donations gratefully accepted"!!!!

Friday July 17th There is something about the hybrid route I round out my week on that I quite enjoy, it's important to mix things up on the 4 weekday  morning runs, running the same route day in, day out would be boring no matter the route so combining Monday/Tuesdays Baltimore Ave,South St bridge but now a right onto the Schuylkill River Trail and over the bridge into Grays Ferry Park, up and over Grays Ferry Avenue bridge and the back down 49th St to home a la Thursdays run gives me that.While not a negative split as this is an actual loop{ again a small tweak to keep things from becoming rote} and not an out and back it was a sub 45 min time 44.06.5 off 8.49 mile pace thanks to splits of:8.39-8.51-8.09-9.06-9.19 it was very noticeable after the fact so few other runners were out this morning, 73 degrees and 60% humidity but a threat of  poor air quality due to fires in Canada may've keep others indoor.....not this mad Fenian fecker......shur the only smoke I was worried about was the smoke coming off of me w/ that sub 45 min time!!!!!!

Sunday July 19th I'd say "if it's Sunday, it's a long run".... however next Saturday I have a race and as we matriculate from Summer to Fall I will have a hape of Saturday races on the auld  schedule so the auld Sunday long run is very much the glue that holds all this together,morning 5 milers are grand don't get it twisted....but w/ a pair of half marathons {PDR & Philly}on the Fall schedule not to mention the time honoured "Italian Stallion Challenge" at the Rocky Run where mad feckrs like myself willingly I should add sign up for both the 5k and 10 miler it's important to throw in a weekly long run to help facilitate that.After a pair of overcast mornings on Thursday & Friday it was nice to see the sun out at 6am when I set off,right now my 10 miler and I suspect the 12 mile long run are out and back on the Schuylkill River Trail, when it comes time to go 14 miles{ potentially Sunday August 16th the Sunday b4 Philly 10k} I would like to revisit the tried and tested Fairmount Park/East Falls route w/it's hills......what can I say I'm a gutton for punishment......then again as a long suffering Cork Hurling fan shur that just comes w/ the scenery........{ sidebar, a tip of the auld bandana to Limerick  for winning this years All Ireland Hurling Final this morning, pains me to say it but well done and fair play to ye}72 degrees and 77% humidity my main objective here was 10 miles, while I got spoiled last week going not only sub 1.30 but also keeping all 10 mile splits at sub 9 min mile pace  today I just wanted to get the 10 miles in period,but w/ a race next Saturday a blown 10 miler today would mean a redo in 2 Sundays time and that would be at the expense of a potential 12 miler, granted I'm ahead of where I was a year ago and let's NOT even revisit the shit show that was the 2024 season when I couldn't buy or even lease  a double digit long run,but in running as is in Chess it's important to be thinking one or two moves ahead I feel.The proverbial writing was perhaps on the wall re all 10 splits being sub 9 when I opened in 8.57, for the record last Sunday I opened in 8.33...... this was followed by split of: 9.02-9.00-9.04-9.09- for a turnaround time of 45.12....however  I suspected Hal The Lil Bollox Garmin was up to his auld tricks again as the turnaround came beyond where I turned last week for mile 5.....and when mile 7 not only came up early after the turnaround but said 7.06 I knew this little bollox was acting up.W/ 3 miles to go it was a case of keeping my head up,picking off runners ahead of me who were heading south along the Schuylkill River Trail and honing in on my finish.The last 3 miles were slow 9.24-9.21-9.40 so how much faith and trust I can put in Hal  recording 10 miles in 1.29.59 off 9 min mile pace is up for debate, what isn't up for debate is the fact that I logged another 10 miles to complete back to back 5 day/30 mile weeks and put myself w/in striking distance of triple digit mileage for the first time since October of last year

I had said  towards the back end of last year and early this year 2026 was a big year for yours truly as it marks 50 years since I began competitive running as a Freshman in High School on an auld cinder running track in Charlton Park that sadly isn't there anymore,little did I think that Thursday afternoon in July on either the 1st or the 8th I was about to embark on the journey that I have, from track meets to eventual road races a Marathon debut in 1985 to then coming to Philadelphia in 87 and continuing the journey......albeit running on the other side of the road!!!!!,I'm not done yet as I channel my inner John Bender from "The Breakfast Club"  not even close bud!!! it's a shame Covid fecked me and everyone else in 2020,had it not been for that I could potentially be looking at celebrating not only my Golden Jubilee Tour  but also reaching the #300 medal mark......who knows maybe the Running Gods have something else in store for this wee Fenian...........