A wee bit of a late post but I really enjoyed my day out gliding in Chippenham. Thanks M for arranging this. It was a great day, perfect weather and really thrilled to see the Air Cadets are full of enthusiastic kids. Wish I had been aware of them as a group to join when I was younger!

I was really surprised to find out that launching a glider isn’t just done by another powered craft but among other things also by a bungy cord attached to a machine at the other end of the field that pulls the glider into the air. Very cool! I even got to fly the glider as well. Awesome times.

May is a busy month for birthdays. A big HB to my wee nephew Ashton who turns 2 today and also to my hubbie (who is not 2) as of yesterday.
Hubbie and I enjoyed a lovely meal out at Brassiere Blanc in Cabot Cirus. Here’s a wee sample of our French fine dining. Thanks Raymond.

As it would be, no volcanic ash cloud was going to keep me from my lifelong dream of getting to Ireland. Having just returned from France and the ash cloud continuing to cancel flights it truly looked like our trip would be a no-go. Forecasts were not favourable so we decided to can the trip. Our fellow Aussie traveler based in London also thought this was the best call so that was it. Trip over before it had even begun. So much for a long weekend away with my two Aussie girlfriends.

However, never under-estimate a woman who is determined to get to her dream country even if she can’t control the volcano! I woke up on the morning of the flight at 5.30am, did a quick check on my IPhone for the latest Met Office and Ryan Air flight updates. Woo hoo – flights were on. I tossed and turned for a bit wondering if my remaining travel partner from Australia would be keen to go. So I gave it a shot. I quietly tapped on her door and poked my head in. “Hey, would you think it would be totally crazy if we went to Ireland today? The flights are on!”, “No, let’s go!” came the reply.

Next it was a flurry of throwing things into a bag, calling for a taxi and hitting the road. Quick as you please thanks driver! While in the taxi this is when we had time to think about what clothes we had brought with us and whether they were even clean (after having just returned from Lille late the night before). Oh well, you can buy underwear anywhere right.

Three hours later we were in Dublin, Ireland, checking into the hostel that we had canceled a couple of days before hoping that they still had some spare beds. Score! They did.

We spent the next 4 days walking around Dublin, taking a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren and a train to Kilkenny for the day. You could call it an Ireland “taster”.

I finally got to have my first ever Guinness in a real Irish pub. The Palace Bar had the right old school pub Irish charm to me so it was the perfect place to sample my first Guinness. Can I just say that the creaminess that comes from a freshly poured dark one is superb. As a very strong tasting beer it has come to grow on me (or maybe it is my waistline). Next on the list was an Irish stew. Found a lush stew to mark this off the list however I can’t remember the name of the pub. Great stew but not a memorable pub. Next, what would a trip to Ireland be without some good Irish music. Tick. Try the Celt Pub on Talbot Street. They had a great three piece in here on violin, whistle and guitar. The atmosphere was incredible. Finally, the Book of Kells at Trinity College. Awesome to finally see but in reality the Trinity College library is what blew me away! 250,000 books and manuscripts that all smelt lushly booky in the most amazing room ever! Oh the stories they would tell.

The day trip from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher was a 12 hour Paddy Wagon Tour. The Cliffs were great and we had a good period of time here to explore. I was surprised though that a vast majority of the cliffs are on private land so you can’t actually do the walk along them. Well, you can but having passed all the warning signs that they use to block your way I am pretty sure you should forget any insurance should you get blown off the edge. Believe me with the gales blowing around there this is a distinct possibility. I did ponder ignoring the signs for a moment (I could imagine Steve already wandering off past them) but my “goody to shoes” mindset kicked in. The Burren was excellent with its barren landscape mingled with the delicate wild grasses and flowers that grow where ever they can find soil. The Paddy Wagon tour was fine but I wouldn’t have rated it as top notch. You get a bus ride, Irish music, commentary and a goodbye at the end. I haven’t done any bus tours before so I have nothing to compare it to. It is an easy way to get around without any hassle I suppose. Just hope you get other like minded, quiet spoken, nice smelling tourists with you on the bus seeing as you share the same space for 12 hours.

In all, were my expectations of Ireland met? To be honest, I had high expectations to begin with. Dublin I am sure we didn’t spend enough time in to discover all its charms? It did make me feel like I should always be on “point” there due to the number of drunken men hanging about. Although there was a large police presence most of the time which feels a wee bit safer it also makes you realise that there are obviously quite a few issues that arise to need their presence. Temple Bar area was OK but obviously just full of tourists. If you want a real bar experience pick something further out of town where you know the locals go. We loved Madigans Bar on Talbot Street. The interior is spectacular and the bar men are efficient and friendly.

The image I came away with did differ from my expectations. Ireland was:
Flatter than I imagined
Not as green as I envisaged
Sunnier than expected (I am sure this was just good fortune and possibly why it was not as green)
Locals were friendly and filled with stories just as I expected (they were fab!)
Filled with more pubs than I expected (apparently there are 1000 in Dublin alone)

I think my desire to see the countryside of Ireland has been quenched at this stage. If I was to visit again I think it would be via a rental car to get into the more remote areas and see if I can dig out a few fairies from somewhere.

Currently in Lille eating pastries, coffee, chocolate and bread. After 3 weeks without running this could be detrimental to my health!

Also saw John Butler Trio at the Zenith on Saturday night. They were fantastic. I was so looking forward to seeing them and they met all expectations. Amazing musicians!

Packed and ready to be collected. Strange how now I wander about wondering what to do. No books to read, no DVD’s. All this extra time on my hands and you forget to just enjoy not having distractions.

We did visit a nice pub last night called The Grain Barge. On the Bristol Channel up from the lock with a nice cider, or as the driver I get the unfermented apple juice

Steve has had this book for quite a while now and had given me a synopsis on it but I was never really tempted to read it. This weekend I did. Ok, so I skimmed the first third of it but I totally read the rest. In short it goes through the story of the writer from asking the question “Why do my feet hurt?” as a runner plagued with injuries to him ending up in the depths of Copper Canyon in Mexico partaking in a 50 mile race with the Tarahumara people. Through this journey Christopher re-discovers the art and joy of running, most importantly free from injuries. The secrets brought together from a number of areas that build from evolution, persistence hunting and over engineering of shoes. I think Steve had synopsized the book incredibly well but I was glad I dipped into it as I managed to draw some more gems from it.

I have never really been that keen on running. Sure I love squash but that involves also smashing a small ball around a court which is a fabulous stress reliever. Possibly why I also enjoyed the boxercise training I did with a group of work mates a couple of mornings a week in Sydney.

But running? All that pain, panting, bouncing and wobbling just didn’t get me all ablaze with excitement. When Steve started doing his 7x7x7 half marathons, as with any commitment he makes, he researches to the nth degree. Running was no exception. So I can’t say that I didn’t have a lot of advice to help me get into it.

To help Steve along (in reality he was helping me) I would pick Steve up after work and we would do a run around the Durdham Downs. Actually, it was the smallest circle of the larger Downs but we all have to start somewhere. I didn’t like it, didn’t look forward to it and really didn’t feel it came naturally to me.

Nearly a year on and I have gone from barely being able to run 20 meters without gasping for breath to 10 kilometers non stop. OK, yes, it isn’t marathon lengths in that period of time but I have been plagued with injury this year. No, not from running but from squash and slack lining! My most recent injury was a badly sprained ankle last Friday night. The kicker though has been that I have sprained my right ankle at least on 3 occasions now and would generally take a good 2 months to repair. This time around, I was able to walk on it without significant discomfort by Tuesday and managed a 4 kilometer run this weekend on it. I put this down to the strengthening that has come from running using the style in the book. The running technique goes by a number of different names, POSE method, forefoot running, barefoot running etc. I’m sure whoever is selling something (training, books, advice) will say there is a difference in “their” method but it short it is about NOT heel striking first. I sure as heck don’t run barefoot but I get the technique. To understand, go for a short run with your shoes on. Then take them off and see if you can spot the difference. Translate that into a run style using minimalistic shoes (i.e. no redundant padding) and your away. Thankfully Steve got me running this way before I could learn any bad habits so it has been easy enough to pick up. However Steve was saying it took quite a while and not insignificant aches to retrain his muscle memory as he had been doing a heck of a lot more running than me and had already grown into a particular style.

Anyway, I can now say that I look forward to getting out for a run, more so as I enjoy being outside in the trail terrain. The feedback through your feet is far more exciting than treadmill running which is just not for me. There’s something quite satisfying about getting covered in mud, leaping over tree roots, dodging to avoid branches that connects you with the outside environment. Far more satisfying than pounding asphalt just for the sake of it.

Just finished this after an attempt to do so that has dragged on over the last 3 months. Really slow getting into it, OK middle and then really dragged at the end. Is it just me or did the character Robert Langdon become an absolute idiot since his last encounters? Really, I do wonder if he could manage himself out of a paper bag let alone solve the puzzles in the book.
This one is based around the world of Masonic secrets and takes place in Washington DC over a night of intense chasing, puzzle solving, murder, intrigue, surprises etc.
At the end of the day I found this a rather long winded book that seemed to take ages to get exciting, treated Langdon like he was an absolute amateur and took far too long to end. If you haven’t read the book and are planning on doing so, stop reading now as I am about to spoil a surprising section…….I have to admit it was with a sigh of relief and thanks when Langdon’s character didn’t make it out of the water chamber. This was then replaced with utter disappointment when in fact he did “come back from the dead”. What a shame as I have really enjoyed all Dan Brown’s previous books but somewhere along the way he has lost the plot.
Score would be 1.5 out of 5.

On Saturday there was another flashmob event in Bristol. This time in the Broadmead Shopping mall. I went with my flatmate to take photos. There needed to be more people but it was fun to watch. If you have seen the Grand Central Station version on YouTube you will know what I mean by a Freeze. Everyone is walking around normally then a signal sounds and all those involved freeze in action for a set period of time. At the end of the period the signal sounds again and they continue doing what they were doing as if nothing has happened. Very funny to watch.

My flatmate and I also ended up on the You Tube video at 2 minutes 35 seconds (photographing the participants). Check it out.

UK Big Freeze Bristol

At the moment on my side table is The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Psycho Vertical by Andy Kirkpatrick, Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly and the latest Runners World magazine.

We saw Andy Kirkpatrick speak at TCA (The Climbing Academy) on Saturday. Talk about an epic lecture. We have heard him speak before up at the Kendal Mountain Festival. Very funny and inspiring. He is such a “non looking” climber that it encourages me. I know it sounds rather mean but in reality how many of us can truly look at someone like Chris Sharma and go “yeah I want to be like him” when the guy is SUPER fit, bronzed, stunningly beautiful and just incredible to watch on rock. Now Andy is the absolute opposite of this but in the same way he is probably more inspiring because I can see how he got to where he is and it seems far more in reach to me – a mere weekend warrior (if that!). To top it off his book is an excellent read and at this stage rather hard to put down, so I best get back to it!

On Friday I bought a new pair of trail running shoes. I have been holding off on doing it for ages but my court shoes just weren’t doing the job. Using shoes for exercise that they weren’t intended for – just plain silly. I have ended up giving myself yet another injury to my calf muscle by doing heel strike running with court shoes indoor on a treadmill. The initial injury was from squash and I have been rather naughty and caused more stress to it.

So, my new trail running shoes are a nice shiny green pair of Inov8 Terroc’s. Really lightweight and with a great tread on them I can get through the mud with ease now. In my court shoes I would be slipping all over the place. It was a great day for a run on Sunday and managed to clock up 6.5 km’s. This is the furthest I have run so far non stop. I’m rather proud of myself at this stage but have a long way to go yet. I’m trying to take it easy by improving my distance while trying not to inflict any further injuries.

I also put a vege curry together this weekend. Yum!