At least in the land of the leprachauns. While the South African Hillbillies are just starting to cool down from a lovely hot summer, their Irish cousins are peeking outside and contemplating ending the winter hibernation.
Well that's been my winter anyway - cold, wet, and did I mention freezing cold!!! A Capetonian of many years, I'm still struggling to adapt to the *real* cold of Irish winter - nothing says "winter's here" like a slip and near-fall on a patch of black ice outside your front door. Needless to say I didn't risk life and limb (and nose and knees) on ice-running over the winter, so I'm starting my not-quite-spring with a few slow but much needed runs.
Well that's been my winter anyway - cold, wet, and did I mention freezing cold!!! A Capetonian of many years, I'm still struggling to adapt to the *real* cold of Irish winter - nothing says "winter's here" like a slip and near-fall on a patch of black ice outside your front door. Needless to say I didn't risk life and limb (and nose and knees) on ice-running over the winter, so I'm starting my not-quite-spring with a few slow but much needed runs.
I've managed to get into a good situation with work - it's 15-16km from work to home, depending on my route, and I can add some scenic detours for extra mileage when the time comes to step my training up a notch again. Here is just my standard 'follow the main road and can't get lost' route - not a bad after-work jog. Scenery could be improved, but there are some gentle hills out in Cherrywood at least. And when I'm brave enough to face the unknown streets of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced dun leerie) I can take an easy beach-side half-marathon route home. And the best part is that soon it'll be light enough to actually see the sea again!! Clocks change forward an hour at the end of this month, which will give us an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day again. Yay!!! Though it's already improving significantly on it's own - it's no longer pitch dark at 6pm any longer, though full-dark isn't far off by that time. Still, it's kind of nice to see some sunlight mornings and evenings.
So yeah, I'm a bit rusty on the blogging, so I'll keep it short. I just want to tell my Hillbilly friends that I miss you guys a lot, and often think back on our early-morning runs up Rhodes Mem, through Kirstenbosh, or just plodding up those lovely hills around Bishopscourt... We haven't been back to SA since leaving nearly 2 years ago, but will definitely be organising a few runs when we do finally make it down for a visit!!
Who has what planning for this year (running and otherwise)?
For us, we're off to Edinburgh at the end of May - Chris is in for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival Half Marathon, and me for the full. My parents will be doing the 10K the day before too - I'm so proud! Also looking forward to seeing them for the first time in 2 years.
Then in September it's off to Berlin, Germany again, for take 2 of the Berlin Marathon. I can't wait!! I had such a fantastic time last year, I'm so looking forward to round 2. The city is exciting, friendly, and there's so much to see and do, especially in the outlying regions (you could spend days exploring the castles at Potsdam and not see them all), and the race itself is so well organised, it's a real pleasure to be part of. Passing under Brandenburg Gate at the last km is an awesome experience, and the vibe of the whole city joining in to support is just amazing! Definitely a race worth running, even if it's just once in your life. Here's the route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/230605721. It's flat as they come, but brilliant for a PB effort, or just a nice constant pace where you get to take in the city and the vibe while enjoying a steady, easy run.
So I guess that's the Irish Hillbillies over and out for now. I'll try to make an effort to post more than just semi-annually going forward!!
Happy running, and, as the Irish say, Sláinte
