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The Irish O’Sullivans

Published October 28, 2017

After a FULL day (& a half) of Hop-On Hop-Off, met up Sis & husband Paul – just in time for a whirlwind trip to the US Embassy. Poor Stephen…unfortunately, this wasn’t a tourist stop. Good news: following day his wallet was recovered, just the passport lost. Whatta sport, personally would’ve freaked out. Foreign country, no cash, no credit cards, no identification – yikes!

[side NOTE: they don’t actually allow Americans inside our Embassy. We did see trick-or-treaters come-n-go, but the 3 of us with US passports were left outside/looking in, barred outside the gate.]

Lemons into lemonade. Sis noticed folks walking with swag bags. We asked, they pointed. Bib pick-up just a half-block away. Sooooo while Stephen secured an emergency passport, the 3 of us picked up our Sunday marathon bibs. FAAANNNTASTIC!

Another positive? Only 2 blocks away: Dublin’s DART [train station]. Stephen’s extended family (whole lotta Irish cousins) would be greeting us in Bray, 30 minutes away. Dinner alongside the Irish Sea. Drinks & LAUGHs at the Golf Club.

What a welcoming posse of peeps! The Irish O’Sullivans (& Byrnes). Not MY Irish family but I certainly left Bray feeling that way. Chatted it up with 2 family marathoners. Stephen’s cousin Jane – ok, not actually Jane (my fave of the cousins) but her daughter Claire & son-in-law. So many laughs (& tall tales) this nite – glad I packed the pigeon shirt. LOL>

Hug-n-kiss goodbyes, late-night train home, brunch in the a.m. – that’s the correct term when you sleep past 10 🙂

Hearty bowl of Guinness stew, Saturday half-day walked the City. Grafton Street, Ha’penny Bridge, the river Liffey & Temple Bar. Italian feasted for dinner, marathon #100 tomorrow – IN IRELAND. How CRAZY is that? WOW, WOW, WOW!

Marathon #100 Bib Pick-up

: bib pick-up x 3

: Sunday we RUN!

: USA, USA – I’m in the guide!

O’Sullivans & the Byrnes

: alongside the Irish Sea

: Gillian

: Eddie B

: Sarah & Ian

: Claire

: Jane ❤

: the cool Kids

: Paddy, Bernie, Emma & Wendy

Saturday city walk

: Guinness stew: breakfast of Champions

: HAHAHAHA!

: the Ha’penny Bridge

: marathon #100 tomorrow

Posted in Europe | Tagged rivers-lakes, road-signs | 1 Comment

old churches & beer

Published October 27, 2017

Denver to Boston, Boston to Dublin. Almost a year of talk, talk, talk – Marathon #100 here at last.

Long travel day…but not like New Zealand long. All ‘bout perspective. Met up with Stephen in Boston so had a travel mate for a leg (‘though in reality, slept the entire 2^nd flight). Early 5am touchdown. Ireland’s morning, my 11pm. Ugh. Gonna be rough Day One. Taxi’d downtown THEN best luck ever – super early check-in at The Conrad. Room available. FAAAANNNNTASTIC!

11am sleeps, quick shower, sit-down breakfast off St Stephen’s Green. GREAT holiday start!

Walked 5 streets to find pedestrian-friendly Grafton. The Plan? City sightseeing. Specifically, thinking double-decker tour bus. Did that in Auckland, good way to get acclimated. But first, an Irish haircut. New town, new country. Why not? Located a trendy spot on Grafton. Waited my turn, greeted by possibly the oldest coiffeur in Dublin. Been working at this SAME location since 1964. 9-to-noon/3 times a week; wife’s in a nursing home. Other than that – no idea, [I’m] horrible with accents. Just smiled & nodded. It’s only hair – luckily I packed a cap 🙂

Hop On-Hop Off, bought a 2-day bus ticket. Trinity College, National Art Gallery, Phoenix Park, Glasnevin Cemetery. I’m sure I passed all these stops. Reviewing my pics: old churches & beer.

Appears I was completely fascinated with the art of brewing (‘though I don’t booze beer these days). And when not focused on fermentation, I snapped pics – tens & tens of pics – of Catholic cathedrals (nope, not Catholic either). An unlikely combination, both found in abundance in Ireland’s capital. Not making excuses. HUGE FAN of both history & science.

Gothic cathedrals founded centuries ago, end of the Roman Empire. Hops, natural spring water from County Wicklow. Churches & beer. Aside from the science of making beer, spent an hour+ viewing old-era advertising. ‘Whistling Oyster’, a bicycling fish & Guinness’ lovely day Toucan. A lifetime past, I worked in New York media. But never ever, a bicycling fish. LOL>

St Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, the Dublinia. Finished the day walking Dublin Castle. Bus-abandoned somewhere near the river Liffey, service stopped at 6pm – who knew? 3-mile walk thru city neighborhoods & 2 seedy back-alleys (alive with drunks & shouting police). Picked up the pace, made no direct eye contact…a Google-map death wish. Yikes!

Tomorrow, Sis is arriving from St. Louis. Let the games begin ❤

: marathon #100 weekend

: my posh Irish digs

: pedestrian-strolling on Grafton

: sit-down breakfast & an Irish haircut

: Ireland = GUINNESS

: 6-story brew tour

: water, hops & fermentation

: isn’t the drinking rule, never before NOON?

: fave part of tour: Guinness’ ADVERTISING history

: bicycling fish & a whistling oyster

: penthouse view of Dublin & an Irish dark

: St Audoen’s Church

: yep, THAT St. Patrick (as in St. Patrick’s Day)

: the Dublinia

: elder of the capital’s two medieval cathedrals (founded 1030 AD)

: Dublin Castle

: the River Liffey

Bicycling Fish & a Whistling Oyster (Guinness Storehouse)

Posted in Europe | Tagged kyrkan, museo, rivers-lakes | Leave a comment

big C Survivor

Published October 24, 2017

sub-4’d this year (first since 2015), but didn’t PR
scored my best 50K time, but no 52-mile Bighorn finish
2,017 in 2017 – this WILL happen – plus the 75 miles missed from last year’s journey
& this Sunday, I’ll FINISH marathon #100 in Dublin Ireland 🍀

SURVIVOR.

That’s what the t-shirt reads – the unexpected gift that arrived last weekend from Sis. Same sister also running 26.2 miles, marathoning side-by-side/stride-by-stride on the Emerald Isle this Sunday.

22 marathons completed, one more to go

Last treatment: December 22^nd. Marathon’d New Year’s Day in Florida. Clean bill of health: January 15^th. Dates still vivid in my head – like remembering someone’s birthday. How long ‘til the mind lets it go?

Fall time, 2018 goal-setting time. Started tri training today, 2014 was my fittest. Ironman Year. Nope, no Ironman in my near future, just back on Plan. STRONG in 2018. Time to finish what I started.

new Marathon PR – tri training at a steady consistent 9:50 pace. Not even sub-4 pace. However, trusting the plan. Chilly Start, overcast skies, no headwind, landscape: a mix of quick pop-ups & flats – sometime/somewhere early Spring or late Fall 2018, it will happen. Replacing Cape May, New Jersey as my PR locale.
Bighorn 2018 – No marathoning after Memorial Day. Bighorn, my only race in June. Focused all-out effort. 52 miles. Registration reminder set: January 5^th. Physically AND mentally ready.
Run the Year ‘Gap’ Year – running harder, faster, longer but running less. No counting miles, no month-end blog posts, trusting the plan. Mix of cycling, swimming & high altitude hikes. 2018 focus: Bighorn.
50 State Déjà Vu tour – Celebrating Sis’ BIG birthday with an ALL uphill 50K in Hawaii: Hilo to Volcano. Point-to-point ultra, NO downhill. Literally to the top of Volcano. AND it was HER idea ❤ Minimum of 15 states in 2018.
Another province, another continent. Target year: 2020. Marathoning Canada‘s 10 provinces AND all 7 continents. Even Antarctica? Yep, even Antarctica. Currently on a wait-list for January 2019. Will find out in 3 months if I snag one of 30 spots. THEN nickel-n-diming for a year to save the $$$. Yikes – and WOW!