Everything but running ... almost

It has been a rather fraught week with one personal publication deadline overshadowed by the eruption of another more immediate, bureaucratic one. For the Irish readers, think Croke Park Agreement, accountability and transparency in the Public Sector, wonder why noone realised that certain information was needed sooner rather than later and you might get the picture. Add a puncture at 11 O'Clock one night (can't remember which now) a scheduled veterinary vist (for the cat, not me?!), a leaping cat (unhurt), a commitment to a group project with 'stuff' needing doing, the preparations for imminent escape for a week's holiday with family (his side, not mine) while 'school is out', including the need to find suitable accommodation for the aforementioned cat and you might see why I have been a bit slow to blog this week. Still, I have some very helpful colleagues who clarified, coaxed and clucked at all the right times. Some really generous and supportive comments from readers of the blog through facebook and also delivered in person, a lovely evening with friends celebrating a friend's significant birthday, a surprise visit from the brother of Café-Java fame (see last Saturday's post) to my place of work, a completely surprise gift yesterday which will see me running in some cool gear and .... holidays tomorrow! Life is not so bad really.
Running, you say, tell us about the running. Well, I just did a 3mile run this morning. I didn't even time it, but know that it was around the 30 minutes mark. The weather was sunnier than expected because it had rained for a good bit of the night. We are back into quite Wintry weather here. My approach to running this morning was almost comical in its pragmaticism ... it was on the same level as more mundane tasks such as making the bed or brushing the floor; it was a job to do.  I tell myself that's good, that an ease has come. On the other hand, one does occasionally postpone these jobs until it is too late. To be honest, that is kind of what happened to me yesterday. The 'I'll go at this time' got later and later until it couldn't be done. Routine is good. We will be back to routine soon. 
Anyway, I'm out of here (still in my office), I have to keep on eye on e-mails while away so may have the opportunity to blog too. I will be running, but am not sure that I will be running the distances required in the programme. It may be a case of running for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon ... by the beach/sea, in temperatures ten degrees warmer than here, with plenty of time to stretch before and after. Ah ... shoulders beginning to come down from my ears now. 
I will also be having a drink or two ... maybe even three ... especially tomorrow.

Coming Home

We've arrived! We raced against the sun today, desperate to get to our new home at least before sunset so Scootch and MaeMae, who only know it from photos, could see it. We made it just as the sun was kissing the earth a final goodnight. We can't take possession of our home yet as it technically won't be ours until Thursday, (fingers crossed that all will fall in to place as it should of course!) A hotel room nearby will be our home for the next few days and nights.

I'm tired, really tired and not in much of a mood for musing right now. Tomorrow I'd like to be able to take a little quiet time and just walk a bit. It feels strange to be here, exciting, full of possibility but definitely strange and for the first time in this week of travelling I feel far, far away from that which I once called "home"...

What I didn't tell you about Saturday's run

I expect an achy knee, tight calf muscles, blisters on heels or even toes, I do not expect to give myself grazes on the skin over my collar bones. Yes, two grazes or burns, each the size of a broad bean are clearly visible, on either side of my collar bone. I look like, and most definitely feel like, an idiot! I noticed slight chafing early on in the run, but nothing that constituted discomfort. It wasn’t until I met no.1 supporter that I (he) realised the damage that I had done. It was simply the nylon straps, from the little rucksack with the water, continously rubbing against my skin.Yes, you may laugh! It looks ugly and sore, but it’s not in the least bit painful; we must have very few nerves there. It’s all high necks for me for awhile which normally would be fine, except that I am off to Spain on Friday.  Scarves, I think; I will have to cultivate Grace Kelly’s elegance with scarves.

It didn’t stop me from today’s run which I did along the canals. We are on a two-week break from teaching which means some  holiday time but, more and more, it means a chance to catch up on writing, research, reading and even admin jobs. In terms of running, it means my routine is not as steady as previous weeks. Today I work from home, tomorrow I have meetings on campus. Wednesday and/or Thursday I need the library in Trinity, so I have to jiggle my usual routine around a bit. With that in mind, I completed the six-mile run today instead of beginning the week with the usual three miles. I was tired still from Saturday, but the weather was warm and sunny and it was lovely to be out. I kept my pace to a 6min 20sec pace, deliberately keeping it slow but, in truth, also needing to.  Again, I failed to do any real cross-training yesterday – just some essential housework. I’m not stiff today (or even yesterday), just a little tired.

Still, the run was in me and that’s what I find amazing.  I might feel a bit ‘overused’ stepping out, but I can tell that the run is in me.  I think it’s really important to run on these days. These are the days that will get me through the last hard miles (whether they are 5, 8, 10, who knows?) on the day of the marathon. Learning the art of pushing on and through, without straining, is as important as building muscle and cardiovascular fitness; the mind must also be trained. I find myself counting,  not my steps, just plain mental counting. It seems to help me stay with it, not think too much. I just count to ten or twenty or more,with no great purpose. I'm not gritting my teeth or anything, but just needing to help my body along by mentally focusing a bit too. In fact, I don’t really have any profound explanations for it, but somehow, counting works for me on the more tired days.

Etty has some lovely photos added to her Circles post. For the first time ever, in my whole life, I can see a resemblance between us (around the eyes maybe) and it reminds me of a brief encounter I had as an undergrad in UCC. I was in the lift, heading up to the third floor of the Boole where us English and French students hung out. Etty was also in UCC at the time studying music.  At that time, I was in a religious order (Sisters of Mercy) and so had to go through the stages of postulant and novice and spend a year in First Profession before going ahead to professional training. Hence, the 4 years between Etty and me narrowed so that we, happily, found ourselves in college for the same few years. Anyway, back to my story, another student got into the lift with me. I didn’t know her. Quite spontaneously, she turned to me and asked,  ‘Do you have a sister in UCC?’, I said ‘Yes’. ‘Does she sit on the third floor of the Boole as well?’ Again, I said ‘Yes’. ‘Does she do music?’. I was beginning to wonder where this was going, but said ‘Yes’. The girl then turned to me and said, ‘I don’t know ye, but I knew ye were sisters. Ye don’t look alike or anything, but there’s something about ye.’  Then she seemed to get embarrassed; we had landed on the third floor and she was gone. I was pleased by the unknown girl’s obervation,  and have pondered it from time to time, although I’ve never really figured out ‘the something’.   Looking at the photos, I still wouldn’t say that we are alike but maybe, there is something?