Motivation Monday – Better Than Yesterday

Running is a weird sport where you’re competing against yourself, but you’re sort of competing against everyone else at the same time.  And it’s all too easy to compare yourself to a friend or a running nemesis or a blogger you read on the internet.

But don’t worry about them.  Worry about you.  Improve yourself.  And help motivate your friends to also improve themselves, even if that means they’re finishing a race an hour before you.  We can all succeed.

Ireland Recap – Part Two

And back to the trip recap!

Day Four – Travel to Dublin, Birr Castle, Pep Rally

Today, we checked out of our lovely hotel in Galway and headed to Dublin.  It’s not a very long drive, but it was made extra special scenic with a stop at Birr Castle.  (And in pulling up that link, I discovered they do weddings there.  Who wants to marry me in Ireland?)

Also, someone actually lives in that castle.  Crazy.

The site is also the location of some amazing gardens and a telescope from 1845 that is insanely huge and also awesome.

We made it to Dublin.  Dublin was CRAZY.  Probably because of all the Notre Dame and Navy fans there.  I think I heard there were 60,000 people there for the game?  Yikes.

That night, we went to the “pep rally,” but I think that was the wrong term for it.  It was a giant performance of sorts, with musicians and dancers and local politicians and celebrities.  It was strange, but awesome.

Also, it was televised on local networks.  I wonder what the locals thought as they watched the end, with the whole crowd singing and swaying along to the Alma Mater.

Day Five – Notre Dame v. Navy

Ahh yes, the official reason for our trip.  FOOTBALL!

We opted to sleep in today and not start drinking at the crack of dawn.  We were TIRED!  So we had a lazy morning and then walked over to the stadium.

Yes, we were there a little early, but we had to make sure we got our beer, after all.

The game was awesome.  Navy had a good bunch of their Midshipmen there, as well as (some of?) their band, and ND had their upperclassmen band members.  Clearly, that’s crucial for my enjoyment of college football.

You can’t tell very well from this shot, but the band is making the shape of Ireland.  Awesome.

The game was definitely a good start to Notre Dame’s season.

No complaints here.

After the game, we walked back to our hotel, beating all the busses that were driving people back.  For dinner, more alcohol and cake.  This is possibly why I gained four pounds while on vacation.

Day Six – Tour of Dublin, Guinness Storehouse Party

First off, Dublin was insane this entire weekend.  Not only was it the Notre Dame/Navy game, but it was also the Gaelic Football All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Mayo.  Our tour guide was from Mayo and tried to explain things, and cutely stated that there was no way Mayo would win because Dublin was awesome, but she would always be a fan.   Spoiler alert: Mayo won.

So this day, we drove around Dublin, seeing the sights and stopping at a few (very crowded) places.

Before 11 am, this was in front of me.

I’m not a huge whiskey fan, but this was really fascinating.  I think my liquor cabinet needs a bottle of Jameson now.  And it was just interesting to learn how whiskey is made.  The distillery is a very cool place.

Then we went on to Christ Church Cathedral, which was beautiful, though we didn’t have much time there.

It was a bit strange to walk down into the crypts and find not only a gift shop but free wi-fi.  I also ran into Chrissy down there, who lived across the hall from me during our freshman year.  She and a friend were doing a five day bike tour of the southern part of Ireland in a few days.  I’m jealous.

Traffic was horrific in Dublin this day, so in general, it was a bit of a bummer.  We went to Trinity College to see The Book of Kells, but it was so crowded that I just wanted to get out.  We ultimately ditched our tour and wandered the city on our own.  It was easier to get around on foot than by bus.

That evening, we had tickets to a Notre Dame Party at the Guinness Storehouse.

Yes, it was a day filled with alcohol.  But it was delicious.  I would like to go back to the brewery for the official tour, but we had a good time and the food was good.  Also, the beer.  You can go all the way to the top and see a 360 degree view of Dublin, but by the time we got there, it was dark and also crowded.  That was sort of the story of the weekend, but what do you expect with 60,000 American football fans in the city?

Still to come? Days 7-9!

It’s Getting Real

I think somewhere in my brain, it’s not yet real that I’m actually running a marathon in January.  When I registered, I was immediately nervous.  Now, it just seems like it’s so far away that it’s something I don’t really have to think about it.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m definitely training.  My training runs haven’t yet been more than 12 miles though, so it just feels like some extra long runs before a half marathon, not like actual marathon training.

Maybe it’s good that I’m not dwelling on it too much.  This weekend’s 12 mile run was rough.  Of course, that was to be expected, having been a slug while on vacation, not running, and not eating properly.  The idea of doing twice that and then some?  It sounds scary.  So I’m just ignoring it.

Right now, I have two big things on my running radar: Disney’s Tower of Terror Ten Miler at the end of the month and the Annapolis Striders’ Metric Marathon the following weekend (and the Baltimore Half the weekend after that and the Army Ten Miler 2 weeks later and…).    I’m excited for Tower because I love Disney races and because so many of my friends are going to be there.  I’m nervous because it’s a night race, and those are a bit of a struggle for me.  But I’m hoping that my training runs will be more than enough to get me through 10 miles.

Kim and I are treating the Metric Marathon as a training run, but it’s still a 16+ mile run.  It will be my longest distance to date.  I’m sure she and I will be the last two in the pack, but that’s okay.  We’re going to take it nice and easy and just get through the run.  I think once I get over that hurdle, I’ll feel a lot better about training.  I’m a little worried about how I’m going to get there, with busy weekends coming up.  I might only get in a 13 mile run before the 16 miler, which isn’t the world’s best idea, but such is life.  And after that, my schedule has me dropping back for a few weeks (races, weddings, etc) and I’ll pick up the longer distances in November with a 15 mile run the first weekend of the month.

I’m pretty sure that October is the point when I’ll start getting really nervous.  But I have a schedule that will get me through.  I just have to stick with the plan.  I’m glad I sat down and looked at my personal calendar and made a plan that will work for me.  It took a few tweaks, but I’m getting in the distance, and that should be enough to get me across that finish line.

Ireland Recap – Part One

I really should have worked on this trip report as the days went along, but I didn’t, so you’re stuck with whatever I can pull out of my still jet-lagged brain.

So here we go.

Days One and Two – Travel to Galway

The trip didn’t have the world’s best start.  On Tuesday, my mom, dad, and sister were scheduled to fly out early in the morning.  They got to the airport what they thought was three hours early, but it turns out their flights were changed and their first of three planes left in just 20 minutes.  No way for them to make that.  So they went through a bit of a travel debacle that made everyone a bit nervous.  My flights still looked good, but I decided to get to the airport early.  Ended up getting on an earlier flight to Boston, where I met up with the rest of the family, as well as some high school football players also heading to Ireland for a series of high school football games being played over there as part of this crazy weekend.

The plane ride was fine.  I like that Aer Lingus has screens in each seat so I could watch a movie or two.  We landed in Shannon around 6am local time, which was 1:00 at home.  I was exhausted.  We then waited around for a while and had coffee and then headed to the bus to Galway.  Let’s just say that exhaustion, coffee on an empty stomach, and a swaying bus ride didn’t make for the greatest combination and I spent the rest of the morning sleeping.

By the afternoon, I felt much better and joined the family in Galway for some shopping.  This was the only day that we saw any rain – just on and off spotty showers.  The town itself was a lot of fun. Lots of charming little shops and street musicians all over the place.  And the rain meant that we saw the most gorgeous rainbows later in the day.

Day Three – The Cliffs of Moher and Trad on the Prom

On our first full day in Ireland, we headed out on a bus tour.  Unfortunately, this was the day that we had the worst tour guide.  I’m kind of glad that we came upon him first – we didn’t know what we were missing.

This tour was supposed to include a visit to the Burren region, but we somehow didn’t get there.  Great job, tour guide.

But we did make it out to The Cliffs of Moher.  It was easy to see why this is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland.


It was absolutely gorgeous.

One thing that was amazing was the lack of railings or any sort of protection to prevent people from jumping or falling.  There were warning signs, but that was it.   You were there at your own risk.  There were a number of signs with a phone number to call if you needed someone to talk to, trying to prevent jumpers.  It was one of those times where we realized just how different the United States is.  In the US, there would have been fences and railings everywhere, which would have marred the view.

After the day out, we headed to a show called Trad on the Prom.  I knew very little, only that it was a show featuring someone who had been a featured soloist with The Chieftains.  Oh my goodness, this show was fabulous.  Amazing instrumentalists, great vocals, awesome dancers.   It was definitely worth going, and if you are ever going to Galway, definitely check it out.

And that ends the first part of the recap.  For my running friends, tomorrow, I will return to running discussions, with the second part of the recap scheduled for Friday.

 

 

Today

I was originally going to post the first part of my vacation recap today.

But it just didn’t feel right.

I’m not going to sit here and reminisce about where I was 11 years ago today or how the world has changed since then.  I don’t have anything deep or meaningful to say.

At some point, September 11th will pass on the calendar the way that December 7th does.    With a brief thought of “Oh yeah, today is the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.”  But maybe that’s because it happened two generations ago.  I’ve never asked my grandparents if the date resonates with them from year to year.  But we then again, we don’t refer to the attack on Pearl Harbor as “December 7.”

Maybe it’s because it was such a crucial time in my life that it resonates with me.  Maybe it’s because the weeks after were such moments of intense patriotism and pride in our country, feelings that seem largely lost in our current political climate.  Maybe it’s because while we seem healed as a nation, the scars still ache from time to time.

While I don’t have anything important to say, I just couldn’t let the day pass without saying something.  And tomorrow, we go on.