Chicago Lake Shore Drive Run on New Years Eve

Today the weather is stellar in Chicago - two big events coming up. Ariel and Justin are getting married this evening, and today is New Year's Eve! I'm hoping to go out for a decent 7.8 mile run from Seminary and W. Belmont up to Oak Street Park Beech. Here is a google map of what I 'want' to run. Here's the problem - my left foot - though better still has some tenderness on the left heel when I stretch out my leg fully and arch my foot back

. I'm hoping this doesn't act up. Of course the shins are a little tender too - but maneagble with good stretching and warming up. I want to get this on camera - however it is a bit of a pain to carry it (particularly on a long run). Very much looking forward to this run! The Lake Shore drive is spectacular. The temperature is 32 F or 0 Celcius - so a little cold - it's clear and sunny and meant to warm up some.



I ended up going for this exact run - all the way out to Oak Park beech. I got there in 32 and back in 61::19 The views were spectacular on the way. I had a foot injury and I took that risk, but I seem to have been able to manage it so far.

Chicago New Years Even Wedding

I arrived yesterday afternoon (2001.12.29) in Chicago for Ariel and Justin's wedding. Christian picked me up at the airport. He told me they have a great location for running, down by the lake front. Christian and I and his and Hilary's dog Coby went out for a jog - we ran about 7 mins down Belmont and then down to the shore front. This was an incredible treat. Christian ran with me for a while and then headed back with Coby. I ran south toward the city. The pathway for biking and running was flanked on the right (as I ran down) by a traffic packed expressway - full of red and white lights - and the beautiful alluring skycrapers in the distance. I turned back at the 26 min point - a little after the Castaway restaurant on the waterfront. The shins hurt slightly - it was hard to warm up since I was running with Christian and Coby (Australian shepherd dog) so I wasn't really 'listening' to pains etc. On the way back a guy went by me who was doing some speed work - running at a very good clip. This is always a good spontaneous opportunity to increase my pace - which I did. I closed the gap nicely to about 50 yards but was disappointed when he checked his watch and stopped - I kept the pace going for a while but slowed down as I looked for the turn off for Belmont.
This morning I woke up and my left foot was hurting somewhat - right under the ball of the heel on the left side - when I'd stretch out my foot. Not sure if it's a new injury like the achilles a while back. It's amazing how you really have to be so careful and how easy it is to get injured. Tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day - I may get in a nice run in the morning before the wedding. I'll def bring my camera with me on this one. What an awesome way to visit the city - it really is.
Just got talking with Anthony at the Starbucks on Belmont and Clark - he was telling me how Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US and the 2nd as far as height and number of skycrapers. It is a spectacular city!

3 Cabinteely Park runs

On the radio I heard warnings of gale force winds up to 100 km/h - particularly in the Northern and Western regions of Ireland. However, I really wanted to go out for a run - and it was starting to get dark and already it was quite windy. So I headed out and just got back for what is most likely my last run for a while - since I'm leaving tomorrow for Chicago. Today, I started out around 4:30 pm. I stretched good - however, I had to start out slow since as I came out of Druid's valley onto the N11 the upper heels of my feet were hurting - I backed off the pace and slowly they improved. Then I picked up the pace and went at a 'clip pace' - basically a very tidy nice and fast pace - what you wish you could run a marathon at! I felt some pangs of the former achilles injury down the backside of my left leg so again I backed off. Once I got to the park I still felt the pain and went slow but as I started to climb up hill the pain subsided and I was able to pick up the pace. I was able to hold a good pace pretty much the whole way back. Coming back down the N11 was nice - the wind was blustery but behind me. I finished the run with a 38:47 pace which wasn't to bad. Yesterday I head some nice splits on the exact same run. Total time was 37:51 with the following breakdown - base to park - 13:21, exiting park - 25:27 - back to base 37:51. The day before which was St. Stephen's day (and right after Christmas) I did the same run but I was so sluggish. It took a lot of effort to complete this one and I did it in the following splits base to park 14:40, exit park 27:22, back to base 40:50. I'm guessing the total distance of this run is 4.8 to 5 miles.

Cabinteely Christmas Eve run

I am heading into town this evening for the St. Patrick's Cathedral Christmas Eve performance. I need to meet my friend Sandra and my dad at 3:45 pm at the latest. So, I went out for a shorter version of the Cabinteely park run. I ran from the apartments, along the N11 up the the park - got there to the main entrance in 14:00 on the dot, and did the outer loop - it was 22:21 on exiting and I got back at 35:37. I'm guestimating a 4.8 / 5 mile run. I felt my heels hurting on starting out, so I went quite slowly on the N11. Once I got to the park I was able to open up and run at a normal pace. It was a fabulous run. I pushed it on the way back - and kept up the pace as I finished out the run.

Running Cabinteely Park

This was a treat. I came back at about 2:10 pm after having a lovely lunch with my dad and sister Carolynn in a fabulous restaurant in Dalkey - just before that I was up in my sisters Carolynns house and she gave me a great tour of the new remodelling she did in her house - it's spectacular - this video should speak for itself (once I post it and if I do! :-) ) - and even before that my dad and I went to see my brother Bartley's and Jill's daughter Poppy peform in her Christmas pageant (more video of that - hopefully I'll get a link to you tube for it) - this was for St. Patrick's schools Christmas play. All the kids were simply amazing.

Once I got back home, even though I had a decent snack at lunch the weather looked just perfect. I ran 30 mins plus yesterday - how would my feet hold out today? Would it be too much. I stretched real good before and gave it a shot. Oh man - what a joy -  This is the route I took - it may be tough to follow - however, I went from the apartment complex (point A) and headed across and down into Druid's Valley, and up onto the bike lane on the highway which led to Cabinteely traffic lights. I took a left here and then a right and up about 300 yards to enter the park on the left (14:50 approx) - I did the outer loop of the park - keeping as far to the outer perimeter as possible discovering new trails! And then when I got back to the gate (25:00 or so) I did the inner loop as shown to exit the gate, and back to point M at (45:00 approx) - and I did the Druid's Valley loop up by the back of my brother Brian's house to finish back at the apartments (point Q) just shy of 54:00 minutes.

Martin Nolan (I mentioned him before hand) prayed for my leg the other night. When he did I was surprised - Joe Kerrigan my good friend said that is rare for Martin to do that. Yet I felt it was something led of God's Spirit and what was more amazing - he prayed a prayer in a manner of something that I was telling him I read recently. I read in Romans 5 about how if by Christs death we were brought into a good relationship finally with God - all was now forgiven and we were reconciled - even though we were originally at odds - even though we in a real sense were enemies of God. If his death brought reconciliation then how much more will his risen life bring to our lives now and for eternity?! Paul in Romans really brings this out. I was telling Martin how I believe we can 'apply the life of Christ' to our current situations. Anyway, just before I left Martin asked if he could pray for my leg and everything, and in his prayer he pretty much referred to applying the life of Christ to my leg and foot and for it's complete healing. I had a sense this was from God. So running today was fabulous to not have any pain - for no Achilles tendon inssues and even just as amazing no shin splint issues. Will this continue - I don't know but for now I am drinking in the blessing of being able to run.

On the last stretch back - between points L and M - I had been running about 40 mins - oddly I often get a surge of energy. I did again and sped up the pace considerably. This feels superb - and amazing. There is a strong inner urge to push one's self - to push the limits and get the lungs burning. Yet after about half way I backed off - primarily because I know I'm not a spring chicken - and I can be over eager and can injure myself. However, on the loop of Druid's Valley, on the last section up the hill back to the apartments I kept up a nice steady pace that really worked me nicely. Fabulous run today! Real delight.


Yesterday, just before I went out for a run up the leadmines, Brian from Denmark called for my dad. I got talking to him and it turns out that he has done tons of marathons with a PR of 2:28:00 - unbelievable time! Anything under 3 hours for 26.2 miles is phenomenal. I asked him for one key pointer he'd give in training. He encouraged me to check out advice given by Peter Greiff. He basically said to do one long run a week - not at your marathon pace - but at the time you'd hope. So if you want a 3:30:00 then run for 3 hours 30 min. During the rest of the week do speed training, fahrtelech, interval training, strength training. etc. He advised against doing too many marathons distances in preparations - he said our bodies really aren't built for that and it takes away from your performance on the day. Interesting advice!

Running the Lead Mines

Today, 12/21/2011, was a beautiful day - very balmy outside - around 55 Fahrenheit, or 12 Celsius. I decided to go for a short run up by the Lead Mines. I started at the parking lot on Barnaslingan road and took the walking loop up by the Lead Mines. This proved to be a 30 min run. I found some great places to run up there. The views were great from the top of the lead mines.

Severasl days ago I was knocked out of commission it seemed due to injuring my Achilles tendon. However, after Martin Nolan (plays the Iallan pipes for Ilona) offered to pray for my leg - I sure did accept - I wouldn't be surprised if that played a large part of it. Today there was no pain while running. I felt incredibly privileged to be able do this run in such a short time - I was worried that I'd be out of action for a lot longer. For the past 3 days or so I have gone down to the local gym to work on the elliptical trainer and the nautilus weights, so today when I surprised myself by being able to run with very little pain or discomfort I was so blessed. I also felt the benefit of 'fresh legs' - which all added to making this run a top notch run for sure!

Injury persists

Yesterday, on Saturday, I tried the Druid's Valley run and completed only one round - the 2.2 miles in about 18 minutes. The shin splints were hurting about the same as normal, however, the Achilles tendon had a bit of a sharp pain, so I started out easy, hoping that it would abate. The shin splints seemed to get less but the Achilles tendon pain did not, so I called it quits after the first lap and didn't do the other two. It was disappointing to have to stop, since I was meant to meet Thomas on Sunday for a long run. Now I need to decide what to do since today I felt the Achilles hurting quite a bit. I do need to get this looked at. It does seem like a tear of some type. It may be some time before I update the blog again!

Though I had a loose agereement to meet Thomas at 2pm (I told him to not wait after 2 since I may not be able to make it) I knew with my Achilles that there was no way I could run today - though I really wanted to. It turned out, when I went to the church in Dublin - at Trinity.ie - after the service, Sarah invited me over to her and Fergus' house for lunch/dinner - what a wonderful time with everyone - definitely far more enjoyable then a long run! Though such runs are a great joy in their context. There were people from all nations - Naoma with her mother and niece and husband. Naoma is from Brazil as are her mother and niece - her husband Zsolte is from Hungary. Then there was Valdis from Lithuania and also Simon from England, and also Christine from Dublin along iwth Fergus and Ryan - a greeat time had by all!


Check out that painting on the wall - that has the curtain blowing in the wind - that was painted by Fergus (far right of picture).

Your ears are your eyes

I was deciding on a run today, and as I looked out the window I saw the Sugarloaf mountain in the distance - and thought I'd explore the roads around the base rather than run the 2.2 miler locally again. Oh, I never did get to go to the boxing club with my younger brother - dodged a bullet there I think! It sounds like they really work you out. Anyway, I drove up to Kilternan (by the base of the mountain.) The sun was still out though the temperature was quite cool. The wind was light too. 

I started out fine, and decided against going up the mountain right away - rather I headed down a road that was about 4km in distance. It was a narrow road but had spectacular views.

At about minute 22 or so I momentarily got a sharp pain in my achilles tendon but after slowing down some and focusing on relaxing everything seemed okay so I carried on. I soon found out I was running by an area that had warnings about it being a firing range - I didn't notice any red flags! Going down a road like this I was a little concerned of possible territorial dogs.

However, it wasn't until I was at the end that I heard dogs barking so I was ready to turn around at that point anyway.

As I got to minute 35 or so, I picked up the pace - having being running against the clock for quite a bit I developed a certain rythm that your body wants to fall into. If you go a little below pace you feel it and want to push the pace some.

Once I got to the base of the mountain I decided to give it a shot. The achilles seemed fine at this time, but after 5 minutes of going steady up hill the pain got very sharp and defined.
I decided to stop - right at about 45 mins total. I walked down the mountain - that wasn't so easy since the foot was quite sore. Once I got on the road it started to feel okay and then I started to jog lightly, and then faster - and with some pent up energy I ran the last kilometer or so pretty fast - probably far too fast, because once I got back the tendon has been hurting a lot since!

Here are some photos of the views along the way that give a sense of the Irish country side.
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The roads around here were very narrow. It would be hard for two vehicles to pass each other - somebody would have to go up on the embankment. Though I only came across 2 or 3 vehicles - I had to be contantly listening and also judging where I was at as far as corners, blind spots and everything.

This is no sport or place for wearing headphones - you absolutely must be ready to move - as you'll see in the video below.

This was a fun video - as well as showing how you had to use your ears to watch for traffic!

Druid's Valley run number 2

I wasn't planning on running again today - specially since I did a 6.5 yesterday. I try to take a break to give the shins a rest - however, after some good stretching I felt good and went for a 6.5 in Druid's Glen again - which is 3 laps of the 2.2 miler. The splits were 17:12, 33:24 and then 49:17. Man, it felt so good, so very good to be able to run again. Practically every time I do run I feel so fortunate. I don't fully understand what it is about running but it just a joy at times. Today it was pretty cold - and it was around 6:30 pm - so it was dark too. As I started through the apartment complex, the bridge there was iced up, which was a warning - as I came down the hill I had to slow up since there was some ice on the aphalt - it was the only patch and it worked out okay if I ran close to the grass on the edge. So I ran on under the expressway and headed up the hill - man it was dark - I could barely see that path. At one point I heard some people and show the shadow of an unleashed dog flying by - no idea how tame or wild he would be. After the first lap I checked my watch and it was 17:12 - I knew I had to pick up my pace to get under 50.

After the run I headed over to the gymn - they have a great sauna there - one that is seriously hot and you can douse water over it so it steams up real good. I saw a guy there I met last year - Tomas - from the Czech republic. He was suprised when he saw me since I'd lost close to 20 lbs and he noticed that. Tomas runs a lot too - steady pace but for a couple of hours. I told him I'd try to meet him on Sunday afternoon at 2 for a long run.

Just before I left the gym, I got talking with Andy who mans the counter and explained how running has a parallel in life - sometimes it's cold and dark - I liken this to the difficulties in life - yet you keep persevering - you keep your focus, your head down and endure. I told him I ultimately trust in God, yet God doesn't promise a pain free life. In fact it's when we try to escape from the pain of reality and difficulty that brings other problems. Enduring suffering grows character in our souls (I stole that right out of Romans!). When I'm running and it's difficult - it makes me think that the journey of life is sometimes difficult but we can keep our focus - we can press on and arrive at our destination despite all the wind and rain and cold thrown at us.



My younger brother Bartley (who has been training quite seriously at 'The Fight Club' in Dalkey this past year and a half) invited me down tomorrow. He said it is an hour of intense endurance training - boxing, press-ups, you name it - I think I'm going to get a run for my money! I think this is going to be a little more intense than what I'm used to! I'm focused on jogging / running - this is going to be a whole new game. When I saw Bart this afternoon he wanted to see my heart rate, so he whipped out his iPhone with his heart monitor app - it said I had a heart rate of 53. The consitent jogging does keep it down. .

Druid's Valley, Co. Dublin, Ireland

This is my first entry about my love of running. In mid October of this year (2011) I bought a new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus at the Bill Rogers store downtown Boston - I was advised to replace them every 500 miles after being told my current pair were seriously working against me. So I decided to log every mile I ran with them. So, to date, since October 16th up to and including today - December 12th, 2011 - I've recorded running 143.3 miles.

Soaked from the rain and wind but loved it

Today's run was simply awesome. Man, the weather was wild out there - I'm back in Ireland for 3 weeks. The morning started out sunny and beautiful - by mid afternoon the clouds had rolled in and the wind and rain had seriously picked up. I checked weather .com for temp details and it was around 41 F with a feel of 33 F. Still okay for not too heavy clothing. Right near where I'm staying at my Dad's place - in Loughlingstown, Co Dublin there is a great 2.2 mile route (my guestimation since I've been doing this in about 16 mins) - the Druid's Valley run.


There was something fantastic in doing this loop three times - I start out running around the apartment block and then down a pathway that winds down by a river and under an expressway bridge that joins a park area with a great straight away that pulls up a nice short steep hill and levels out to come back a windy pathway, back under the bridge and back up the hill toward the apartments.

The shin splints hurt a little but after 2 miles they abated somewhat - the left leg is where I feel it the most. 2 days ago I quit after about 4.5 miles since the left knee started to hurt. I stopped immediately and am glad since today I was fine for the 6.5 miles.

I completed the 3 loops in 50 mins, 30 seconds. I can't remember the splits exactly but at a guess they were 17 something - then 35 something and ended with 50:30 with some good energy to spare!

Looking forward to exploring other runs around Dublin, Wicklow and maybe other parts of Ireland! How do I run with a camera?