💚  🇨🇮   April 16 thru April 24 –  My son, Rob, arranged a whirlwind tour of Ireland to celebrate my 80th birthday.  We traveled hundreds of miles across emerald countryside, through small towns with friendly pubs, explored Ireland’s bustling cities and experienced an elegant Irish wedding in a restored castle.  Along the way we had a few Guinness , visited the remains of the O’Rourke castle and found the birth and Baptism record of my grandmother, Ellen Rourke, at beautiful Saint Patrick’s Church in Castlerea, Roscommon County.  It was an unforgettable journey!

Training-  I only managed 1 run during the trip through historic Saint Stephen’s park in central Dublin.  Since returning I have slowly gotten back into the routine of training.  It is approximately 9 weeks until the national senior games in Pittsburgh in mid July.   So, there is some serious work to do.  I’ve conducted 6 successful workouts in the last 8 days, mostly moderate mileage.  During Friday’s beautiful afternoon weather I ran 8 x 200m under :56 with 2 1⁄2 minutes recovery walking and jogging. That covered 3.8 miles in total with warm up and cool down.  I even spiked up for part of the workout, 2 x 200m.  Saturday was a day of rest with surprisingly springy legs.

Stats are getting back to normal with lots of sleep and good food and a temporary beer break.🙄