Review of the Year - 24 Pints Quota Reached!

The last pint of the year tasted mighty sweet!

My quota of 24 pints of Guinness for the year was reached yesterday evening (I drank two on Tuesday evening in Stabannon with Benny which I forgot to log, and rounded the year off with numbers 23 and 24 in Tí Sé following my Peg Race victory yesterday). They were sweet indeed and all the more sweeter for having won a race at long last!  I've decided to end the year with my random blog awards of 2010...

My Best Sporting Achievement 2010

This was a toss up between my victory in the Peg Race yesterday and the achievement of breaking the 4hour mark in the Dublin City Marathon by posting a time of 3.43... the nod has to go to my marathon achievement!

My Favourite Race of 2010

I've competed in 9 races this year, and have enjoyed them all immensely!  It all started with the Tuam 8K in January with Rónán, Enda and Teresa, and ended with the Peg Race yesterday (a family tradition at Christmas time).  In between I've had some pleasant runs such as Clarinbridge, Craughwell, Darver, Leenane and of course the big one up in Dublin in October.  However, the nod for my favourite race goes to the Annacurra Mountain Run in Wicklow with Richie in February.  It was tough as hell but on a bright and crisp day at the start of the year I struggled to some kind of personal success...

My Toughest Race of 2010

Without doubt the Craughwell 10 miler.  This should be renamed the CraughUNwell 10 miler.  I ran the entire race while while suffering achy and fluey bones.  I had hoped that the flu feeling would leave the minute I started running, but the more I tried the up my stride the worse it got.  

My Favourite Blog of 2010

This was my first year blogging and I enjoyed it more as the year went on.  The best thing about blogging is the fact that you can drop in on other bloggers that interest you and leave comments or just read up.  All my favourites are listed on the left of this site, but for one in particular I must mention the legendary Old Running Fox - the gong for best blog of 2010 must go to this inspirational runner!

My Favourite Pint of 2010 

The benefit of not drinking any more that 24 pints in a year is that I remember them all, as opposed to forgetting them all the next day!  My favourite has to be that first one that was savoured outside The Saltee Pub following the Annacurra Run back in February!

Best Blog Idea 2010...

Juneathon for sure... and hats off to all who organised and participated in the marathon blog fest that was Juneathon (when I had to run and blog every day in June).  A similar idea will go ahead for January (Janathon), though I think I'll sit this one out and wait for next June again!

Toughest Training Run...

The 18 miler with no carbs beforehand.  Pure madness.  See here...

The Big Ron No Drink Award...

Last award goes to good friend Big Ron, who sailed through the year with no beer whatsoever and set a fantastic marathon time in Dublin, posting an amazing 3.15.  How much faster can this man go?

And for next year....

Run more, drink a little more, keep the blog going, enjoy life.  More detailed goals may be set out in the coming days!

The Peg in Pictures...

After years of participating lamely, I finally won the Peg Race today, in a what proved to be an epic race, led for the most part by Catriona Carroll!

Early stages and the competitors are looking good...

Caitríona makes a serious break for it at the midway point.

A little hat adjustment for Mícheal as Fionn leads the chase...

Post race pose... all eyes on next year again!

Peg victory at long, long last....

8 Mile High.

Due to the lack of a camera today I've included a nice pic from during the year:  bog cotton in  Fionnan bog....

The mojo is definitely back, after an 8 mile run in the Wee County today.  Conditions were perfect - the snow is gone and temperatures have returned to 9 degrees, so I decided to head off and see where my legs would take me... The answer was towards Ardee, down the back road past the old Stabannon cemetery, up the hill to Watters Garden Sheds, and down past the medieval castle.  I felt good and strong all the way and am definitely ready for the second Peg Race, down home in Galway the day after tomorrow...  

Route:  The Old Ardee Road

Pace:  8.30

Satisfaction:  A+

Five Miles in Snow and the Wee Peg is Mine...

Traditions must be maintained!  Each Christmas we have two family runs, where the prize is a clothes peg! The first of these was with the in-laws in Louth yesterday, however, I was a lonesome winner...  

The first of the Christmas Pegs have been collected, though by default!  I was the only one left not complaining of flu, bad back, dodgy hip, hangover or overwhelming responsibility.  So, to keep the tradition alive I got out and ran five miles all by my lonesome!  The snow was still heavy on the ground and the temperature well down, but it was one of the nicest runs I've had for some time.  The countryside was covered in a brilliant white coat of snow and once my lungs got to adjust to the sharpness of the air it was absolutely lovely.  Stephen's Day in County Louth with the in-laws is always a nice and relaxing time, and so-far this year there has been no excess for me - so I found the run to be very enjoyable.  At one point I left the road and ran into a corn field, which of course was covered in snow.  I kept to the perimeter of what must have been two football fields in area and then started panicking that some farmer might come out with his gun (I noticed a sign for 'Stabannon Gun Club')!  I still haven't  drank any of my last four pints for the year... perhaps one or two tonight!

Happy Christmas...

All our dreams were answered - Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' came to pass here in Ireland and for the first time in many, many years the 25th of December was a sheet of brilliant white.  And now that it's here, all we do is complain and wait longingly for the day the rain comes to thaw it all away!  Not I... I feel bad for all those stuck in an airport waiting to get home, or get away, but I need to get nowhere.  D and I are already safely here in Louth, so as the other sappy song says: let it snow, snow, snow... I'd like to wish a happy Christmas to all you bloggers, be you runners, walkers or crawlers.  I'm sorry this blog contains no photo - I brought my camera along, but alas didn't bring my camera charger and the batteries are gone!  On the running front, I ran three miles of threadmill prior to coming up here - so I'm ready for some road tomorrow! Beannachtai na Nollag libh go leir...

The Run-in Must be Good...

Shot from car window on way to work... dodgy driving it was not (we were going 2 miles an hour!)

It's arctic conditions here in Ireland, so now, to go with our economic and spiritual depression in this country, you can now add another problem:  we are all down with the flu!  Of course, some of us are only touched with a mild cold, others have the sniffles and some more have sore throats, but, in one form or another we are afflicted!  And affliction means no running... December has not been good so far: just the one run, and that was on a treadmill.  I'm taking my own brand of cold (tired and weary me) to our Christmas work-do tomorrow and we're off to Louth on Thursday (weather permitting).  So this leaves Wednesday for a trot - and by God I'll trot on Wednesday if it kills me!  As for the small matter of my 24 pints around the year... so far, I've drank 20, yes just 20 pints all year, so I've got 4 more to go.  I may well opt to drink all four on a night out over the Christmas... Following my last pint of the year I'll do the big round-up here, and let all know if it was worth it or not, and what's next...

Eyes on the Peg Now.

Peg '08, at an early, and extremely uncompetitive stage.  I didn't run that year due to a bout of flu brought on by  'over indulgence' the night before... a problem I won't have this year!

It all comes down to this...  The sweat, strain, strange diet and sleepless nights were all for Peg.  For six years now Christmas in Conamara has meant one thing only:  a race to avoid humiliation, a gathering of the unfit to do fit things, a call to reach above ourselves between the beer and the turkey.  A call to Peg.  Yes, the Peg Run, now entering it's seventh year has seen but a few winners:  the ever youthful Richie, the ever injured Mícheál (winning on one knee), the surprising surge of LMD and, of course, the Con Man.  Never have I won - but this year, as always, I dream... Our international field includes Boston's greatest redneck, Mur T-Party Donnell, Scotland's Michael 'Kilt' Casey and hopefully a special guest competitor from Cologne this year, Jorn.  Senior citizens will be represented by Kevin 'Joycian Rambler' O Hara, and Mark 'Twin Peaks' O Connell.  The Carroll ladies have also signed up, and of course the youthful dash of Conán and Fionn could still upset the odds. 

Proof that it got competitive at some stage...the lads are joined by young guns C & F.  We are hoping for a more athletic bunch of competitors this year... 

 

A date has yet to be announced, although Cormac 'One-Mile-Dash' O hEadhra, has introduced a 'late debate' as to the length of the run....?  I, for one, feel we should keep the old 3.5mile route. And of course, I will continue to spread the gospel of the Peg by also running a leg of the peg in the wee county....!

Treadmill Killer. Four Miles.

Happy that I got off my backside after a two week hiatus.  Sad that it had to be on a treadmill.  Happy that the outer world has been covered in brilliant white these past two weeks.  Sad that I couldn't run for fear of falling.  Four miles on a treadmill must equate to twice that in the outer world, and an 8min pace is nearer 7mins in reality... on another matter entirely, and to paraphrase a great comedy character; these days I have been mostly listening to Laura Marling and the Avett Brothers (feel free to check these guys out on youtube)...

Pace: 8.20mins

Route:  Treadmill

Distance:  4 Miles.