Stopping The Rot On The Bog

[glaconman]

Ireland is one of those places that has it's own, very distinctive, smell. It's ubiquitous outside the cities and off the main roads. It is, of course, peat burning in the hearth.

Rural India has a similar smell. When my in-laws last opened their suitcase in our Drawing room it came wafting out. Like a genie from a lamp. A musky, dusty smell. Cow-dusk time and bullock-cart tracks settling on our Chaise Longue.

Both are immediate and highly evocative.

Like cycling through fields of lavender before the ascent of Mount Ventoux. Or the clear, chill breeze coming off a glacial stream.

As we drove into Tullamore I felt daunted by a weekend of heavy indulgence. There's a certain feeling when you return to your hotel room after a 'Full Irish Breakfast'. You ate it to somehow counter the 4-course dinner and cocktail of Guinness, red wine and Whiskey that you consumed the night before. But you just lay there. Sated. Pogged. Heavy. Unable. Catatonic.

And this was going to be a long weekend. 4 nights and 5 days.

Worse still, this was planned as being the weekend I ran the Windermere Marathon.

But we were here to celebrate my Grandfather's life by whitling away his Estate on good food and drink. Which is what he wanted. And hardly an obligation. More like an honourable dream-come-true.

I just needed a counter-balance. I needed to hit the indulgence hard and low.

In that spirit, soon after arriving, I climbed into my running gear for the first time in ... a long-time and took some air. I dived down the first small lane I could find and ran past the usual mix of modern bungalows and old thatch.

It was blowing a gale when the rain started. A vicious onslaught that soon became very painful when it turned to hail. But it seemed apt. A life-affirming display of weather that soon returned to bright skies.

And what a difference that hour made. It's the longest ladder on the board.

My goals were moderate. When we moved upto Dundalk I managed another hour in the hills near Carlingford Lough. Plus the odd swim.

But despite the moderate accomplishments it seems to have kickstarted something. Inspired by The Silver Persauder and his Crazy Train Exploits I've hatched a plan for the next year or so.

September 2007: Yorkshireman Offroad Half: Howarth
November 2007: Burley Bridge Hike 21: Ilkley
January 2008: Brass Monkey Half: York
March 2008: Trollers Trot 24: Grassington
May 2008: Windermere Marathon: Ambleside
July 2008: Northumberland Coastal Run: Alnwick
September 2008: Jungfrau Marathon: Interlachen

And I'll be looking for a couple of PBs. Half down from 1:45 to 1:30 in January; Full down from 4:20 to 3:30 in May.

Talk is cheap of course, so lets see what happens.

But it would be nice to slip off that train in the dead of night. To leave the crowded carriages and make my way through fields until I reached the banks of a holy river. From there I'll follow it's path upstream through the foothills and into the high mountains, where I'll happily end my days running with the Gods.

[El Gordo]

Hurrah! Excellent news, GM. We can help to liberate each other.

I was going to say that I'd join you for the Brass Monkey in York at the end of January 2008 -- BUT....

But, that's very likely to be the weekend of the Almeria Half. Why not treat yourself, and M and J, to a weekend of weak sunshine and strong drink -- and a terrific race? In Spain. And now that Almeria have been promoted into La Liga, they may even have a home game against Real Madrid or Barcelona that weekend.

You know it make sense.

---

And I know exactly what you mean about the aromas of Ireland and India. Exactly. You get it in the Outer Hebrides too, where I once ran away to. It's a smell that turns the centuries back a click or two.

[Antonio247]

I wish you can reach your targets, Gl. It would be great if we could meet you in Almería next year. It would be wonderful that you reached a half marathon PB here with some more RC forumites.

I went on a bicycle trip along Ireland many years ago and I enjoyed the scenery, the people´s friendliness, the drizzle and the smell of the wet land.

Best of luck

Antonio

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Beaut report g'man. Hope you're going to make some more movies along those lines too.

Best of luck with the running goals. A 1:30 half would be something to boast about round these parts.

[glaconman]

Guys;

Thanks for the encouragement and particularly the warm invite to Almeria next year.

I love the idea of the RC AGM in Galicia with the legendary hospitality of Antonio; I'll just have to see nearer the time. I'm abit of a last minute kind of guy.

MLCM - the 1:30 is very ambitious but I'm thinking at 39 it's now or never for speed. I think endurance can improve as you get older. Don't know what you think about this?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

MLCM - the 1:30 is very ambitious but I'm thinking at 39 it's now or never for speed. I think endurance can improve as you get older. Don't know what you think about this?

Well there needs to be some compensation for slowing down as we get older...

But seriously? I suspect improved endurance is more a factor of training, training and more training, rather than being a benefit of aging as such. We should ask the bloke in the pic below - he knows a thing or two about the subject (trivia question - he held the world marathon record for almost 12 years. Who is he?).

[El Gordo]

I love the idea of the RC AGM in Galicia with the legendary hospitality of Antonio; I'll just have to see nearer the time. I'm abit of a last minute kind of guy.

Has there been a change of plan without me being told?

You bastards!

[Sweder]

Has there been a change of plan without me being told?

You bastards!

Ah well . . . we kind of added a bit more cross-country on the Monday . . .

I hope you can make it G-man.
The mountain/ desert plummet on the Monday is worth the airfare alone

[El Gordo]

Ah well . . . we kind of added a bit more cross-country on the Monday . . .

I hope you can make it G-man.
The mountain/ desert plummet on the Monday is worth the airfare alone

Aye, I'm looking forward to that bit this time.

[Ana]

(trivia question - he held the world marathon record for almost 12 years. Who is he?).

He is Sweder in 2019, running in a South African headway.
After 12 gold medals, he is really slim!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

He is Sweder in 2019, running in a South African headway.
After 12 gold medals, he is really slim!

Ana, that is very funny. I can well believe a slim Sweder, but where did he get all that hair?

[Sweder]

Ana, that is very funny. I can well believe a slim Sweder

I can't

[Ana]

I can't

:mad:
Yes, you could

But in that case, Guinness will go bankrupt. And we do not want that at all!

[Ana]

Dear Glaconman,

If your grandfather is Irish, you must be also a little bit...

After running, what do you prefer a beer or a Scotch Whiskey?

[glaconman]

Ana;

Technically I'm 50% Irish ,with some English and Czech thrown in.

My perfect rehydration session after a run would probably be:

A large glass of Boags (That's Tasmanian beer from the south of the island)
Followed by a glass of Rioja (A 1982 Gran Reserva would do the trick)
Finishing with a glass of 12 year old Connemara on-the-rocks (That's an Irish Whisky).

But if I could only have one drink it would be tea Ahhhhhhhhhh.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

My perfect rehydration session after a run would probably be:

A large glass of Boags (That's Tasmanian beer from the south of the island)...

Technically it's from the north of the island, but that's a minor point. The southern brew of similar ilk is the Cascade Premium which is a gorgeous beer, and rather more consistent than the Boags, at least IMHO.

Don't you love the way the subject of these threads always seem to come back to beer?

[glaconman]

I knew that MLCM.

I was just smokin' you out

It's been a while since I was down under. I seem to remember both of 'em being excellent.

btw ever been in that bar in Melbourne were The Sullivans was set? Bit like an English pub I thought.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

btw ever been in that bar in Melbourne were The Sullivans was set? Bit like an English pub I thought.

[snooty-nose mode] I can honestly say that I have never watched The Sullivans, so I don't know which pub that might be. [/snooty-nose mode]

Actually, English pubs are popping up all over the place now, rather like Irish pubs and Belgian beer cafes (Leffe with a pot of mussels ... yummm). I went to one at Melbourne airport a few weeks ago. Sadly that one only had the less interesting beers on tap (Boddingtons, Bass etc) but it's a start. When I find a local pub with Fuller's I shall immediately hang up my running shoes, declare my alcoholism as complete, and bid you adieu.

Until then, Coopers is doing much the same thing anyway...

[El Gordo]

When I find a local pub with Fuller's I shall immediately hang up my running shoes, declare my alcoholism as complete, and bid you adieu.

My second-nearest pub is a fine Fuller's establishment. I look forward to sharing a few beers with you there one day, MLCM.