So 2 Hillbillies have jetted off to the land of the Leprechauns and are now running around in Dublin, Ireland!!
I know I haven't blogged any of my Irish runs yet, but that does not mean that I haven't been running! Okay, maybe I'm not leaving as many kilometers in my dust as I used to with the Hillbillies - I blame the freezing winter (Capetonians, I hope you appreciate the lovely mild climate down there, I know I sure do now!!). I am ashamed to admit that I haven't logged many kays since completing the Dublin Marathon last year (and the final 9km in freezing cold pouring rain - I had honestly never been that cold in my life before that day! But I survived to run another day, and I'm looking forward to this year's Dublin Marathon.
But Ireland is beginning thaw at long last, so I finally ventured outside on Wednesday afternoon, leaving behind my faithful treadmill for the first time this year.
"Weatherman is predicting 13 degrees - nice and warm! I'll pack my shorts and t-short, but keep a light jacket on hand for after, when I catch the train the last part of the way home). It'll be fine!"
Riiiigggghttt....
I don't know which 'Dublin' actually got that nice warm 13 degrees, but it definitely wasn't this one here!! If anything, Wednesday had turned out colder than Tuesday (which actually was a nice day - go figure...!), and here I was dressed for a summer beach-side jog. Oh well, I've got to get home one way or another, no turning back now - it should be fine once I'm moving.
So, starting at Connolly Train Station in the city centre, trying hard to remember the route I'd carefully plotted, checked out on Google Maps, using 'satellite view' and 'street view' modes to make sure I'd recognize at least a few landmarks (roadname signs in Dublin are notoriously bad!), I set off in a general north-easterly direction, following [what I hoped was] the main road from the rail station to the beach at Clontarf.
Now those of you who know me from back when I first started running will know how hopeless I am with finding my way. In a neighbourhood I don't know too well, not only can I get lost, but its pretty much guaranteed that I will!! I had a very interesting run just before the winter started last year, what I called my 'I'm so Lost' city centre run. What was meant to be a quick 10K before work ended up being a little over 12K (surprisingly good, all things considered!) Looking back over my Garmin'd route, I'd literally missed a couple of known areas by a block or a street, or just a building blocking my view!! Interesting times....!
But I digress, back to Wednesday...
So I started off from Connolly and followed what I was [mostly] sure was the right road. The route is about as easy (directionally) as it gets, so I was pretty confident that I'd find my way. Even when doubt gnawed at my mind, I stuck it out, and sure enough, at 2.5km, there was the next railway station down the line, and my first big landmark. *phew*, I was on the right track after all.
From here it was pretty easy - keep the beach on my right and just follow the road until I hit 9km, and then search frantically for my turn-off. My main focus from here was avoiding the cyclists screaming down the foot-and-cycle paths (cyclists in Dublin City centre are as reckless as taxis in Cape Town CBD - "red light, that's for other cyclists, I'm above the law" is the attitude most 'casual' cyclists take (don't get me wrong, this is a case of a few bad apples given the lot a bad name - most cyclists are careful, polite and obey the rules, these being the 'real cyclists'. Then you get the 'hired bicycle' riders - these are they guys you watch out for. Just listen for the distinctive tinkle of the rental Dublin Bikes, watch out for the cant-miss blue bikes careening past, and you should be okay.
Okay, so back to my run.
Since this was my first outdoor run in a long time, I'd gotten quite used to the treadmill, and my poor legs got a rude reminder of the differences between treadmill and road. But no problem, couple of kays to warm up and I'll be fine. Or grand as they say here in Dublin. My biggest problem was that I was carrying a surprisingly heavy back-pack with my work-clothes, handbag contents, keys, etc. I'd taken half-day at work and had a couple of things to do before my run, so I couldn't leave the bulk of my kit at work. At this point I realised I should've made that detour and dropped off a couple of things. Lesson learned!
So plodding along with my heavy pack, it was slow going. But man it felt good to be out!!! Cold wind hurting my ears (but at least I wasn't cold - at least I didn't feel cold then), I kept moving. Keeping an eye on my surroundings (its so great to know you're quite safe out all by your lonesome, and you can focus on where you are rather than who might be paying you the wrong kind of attention - I'm sure most SA ladies will know exactly what I mean!) and plotting back my current position to the map in my head, by this point I was comfortable that I knew exactly where I was, where I was heading, how to get there. I knew that I had enough time to catch the train at Howth Junction (but also knew that if I missed it, the next train would be a whole hour's wait in the cold - great motivation!!)
Suddenly I heard my Garmin beep (another km gone) and realised that I'd just hit the 9km mark - I'd better get across the road, leaft turn coming up!! This was where I left the windy Clontarf Promenade (not to dissimilar from Sea Point Promenade actually) and headed through Kilbarrack towards the train station - and my ride home.
The last 2 kays were over way to quickly. Before I knew it, I was passing under the railway lines and there was my turn just ahead, with the train station around the corner.
Perfect timing though - train due in 9 minutes! Just enough time to get into this railway station that I've never been in before, find the right platform, navigate the maze to get to my plaform, and then wait the last 5 minutes for my train to arrive.
So now that I've finally found my 'road legs' again, hopefully I'll have more frequent reports for the Hillbillies. And hope to hear some reports back from sunny SA!!
I miss all my Hillbilly friends, I miss our morning runs. But I'm strangely I still don't miss South Africa as a whole, and am glad for our decision to jet-set and see something of the world. I miss my friends and family of course, very much, and I miss the Hillbilly runs around Newlands, Bishopscourt, Kirstenbosch and of course Rhodes Mem (no hills like that around here...), but I still haven't experienced any homesickness. I guess home is where you hang your hat, and for now that is Ireland!!
I know I haven't blogged any of my Irish runs yet, but that does not mean that I haven't been running! Okay, maybe I'm not leaving as many kilometers in my dust as I used to with the Hillbillies - I blame the freezing winter (Capetonians, I hope you appreciate the lovely mild climate down there, I know I sure do now!!). I am ashamed to admit that I haven't logged many kays since completing the Dublin Marathon last year (and the final 9km in freezing cold pouring rain - I had honestly never been that cold in my life before that day! But I survived to run another day, and I'm looking forward to this year's Dublin Marathon.But Ireland is beginning thaw at long last, so I finally ventured outside on Wednesday afternoon, leaving behind my faithful treadmill for the first time this year.
"Weatherman is predicting 13 degrees - nice and warm! I'll pack my shorts and t-short, but keep a light jacket on hand for after, when I catch the train the last part of the way home). It'll be fine!"
Riiiigggghttt....
I don't know which 'Dublin' actually got that nice warm 13 degrees, but it definitely wasn't this one here!! If anything, Wednesday had turned out colder than Tuesday (which actually was a nice day - go figure...!), and here I was dressed for a summer beach-side jog. Oh well, I've got to get home one way or another, no turning back now - it should be fine once I'm moving.
So, starting at Connolly Train Station in the city centre, trying hard to remember the route I'd carefully plotted, checked out on Google Maps, using 'satellite view' and 'street view' modes to make sure I'd recognize at least a few landmarks (roadname signs in Dublin are notoriously bad!), I set off in a general north-easterly direction, following [what I hoped was] the main road from the rail station to the beach at Clontarf.
Now those of you who know me from back when I first started running will know how hopeless I am with finding my way. In a neighbourhood I don't know too well, not only can I get lost, but its pretty much guaranteed that I will!! I had a very interesting run just before the winter started last year, what I called my 'I'm so Lost' city centre run. What was meant to be a quick 10K before work ended up being a little over 12K (surprisingly good, all things considered!) Looking back over my Garmin'd route, I'd literally missed a couple of known areas by a block or a street, or just a building blocking my view!! Interesting times....!
But I digress, back to Wednesday...
So I started off from Connolly and followed what I was [mostly] sure was the right road. The route is about as easy (directionally) as it gets, so I was pretty confident that I'd find my way. Even when doubt gnawed at my mind, I stuck it out, and sure enough, at 2.5km, there was the next railway station down the line, and my first big landmark. *phew*, I was on the right track after all.
From here it was pretty easy - keep the beach on my right and just follow the road until I hit 9km, and then search frantically for my turn-off. My main focus from here was avoiding the cyclists screaming down the foot-and-cycle paths (cyclists in Dublin City centre are as reckless as taxis in Cape Town CBD - "red light, that's for other cyclists, I'm above the law" is the attitude most 'casual' cyclists take (don't get me wrong, this is a case of a few bad apples given the lot a bad name - most cyclists are careful, polite and obey the rules, these being the 'real cyclists'. Then you get the 'hired bicycle' riders - these are they guys you watch out for. Just listen for the distinctive tinkle of the rental Dublin Bikes, watch out for the cant-miss blue bikes careening past, and you should be okay.
Okay, so back to my run.
Since this was my first outdoor run in a long time, I'd gotten quite used to the treadmill, and my poor legs got a rude reminder of the differences between treadmill and road. But no problem, couple of kays to warm up and I'll be fine. Or grand as they say here in Dublin. My biggest problem was that I was carrying a surprisingly heavy back-pack with my work-clothes, handbag contents, keys, etc. I'd taken half-day at work and had a couple of things to do before my run, so I couldn't leave the bulk of my kit at work. At this point I realised I should've made that detour and dropped off a couple of things. Lesson learned!
So plodding along with my heavy pack, it was slow going. But man it felt good to be out!!! Cold wind hurting my ears (but at least I wasn't cold - at least I didn't feel cold then), I kept moving. Keeping an eye on my surroundings (its so great to know you're quite safe out all by your lonesome, and you can focus on where you are rather than who might be paying you the wrong kind of attention - I'm sure most SA ladies will know exactly what I mean!) and plotting back my current position to the map in my head, by this point I was comfortable that I knew exactly where I was, where I was heading, how to get there. I knew that I had enough time to catch the train at Howth Junction (but also knew that if I missed it, the next train would be a whole hour's wait in the cold - great motivation!!)
Suddenly I heard my Garmin beep (another km gone) and realised that I'd just hit the 9km mark - I'd better get across the road, leaft turn coming up!! This was where I left the windy Clontarf Promenade (not to dissimilar from Sea Point Promenade actually) and headed through Kilbarrack towards the train station - and my ride home.
The last 2 kays were over way to quickly. Before I knew it, I was passing under the railway lines and there was my turn just ahead, with the train station around the corner.
Perfect timing though - train due in 9 minutes! Just enough time to get into this railway station that I've never been in before, find the right platform, navigate the maze to get to my plaform, and then wait the last 5 minutes for my train to arrive.
So now that I've finally found my 'road legs' again, hopefully I'll have more frequent reports for the Hillbillies. And hope to hear some reports back from sunny SA!!
I miss all my Hillbilly friends, I miss our morning runs. But I'm strangely I still don't miss South Africa as a whole, and am glad for our decision to jet-set and see something of the world. I miss my friends and family of course, very much, and I miss the Hillbilly runs around Newlands, Bishopscourt, Kirstenbosch and of course Rhodes Mem (no hills like that around here...), but I still haven't experienced any homesickness. I guess home is where you hang your hat, and for now that is Ireland!!
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