Still Hooked On Cellophane

AM: 13.4 Miles, 1:18:32, Fruit Loop and Laps of Blvd

Once again I woke up feeling like ass. I had a loose arrangement to meet Pat Tarpy but opted to send him a text canceling the training run. My reasons were that I truly thought I may only do 5 miles and I did not want to ruin his training. Myself and my iPod was the ticket. I started out pretty easy and after several coughing fits and a few pipe cleanings I actually started to feel good. I had no cold sweats and generally my energy came back as the run went on. I started to really roll by the end and I even clocked some 5:30's during the closing miles. Stars were the choice of sounds for this training run mainly because I'm on a Stars kick lately and because I figured the slower tempo and melancholy sound of their music would keep me running slow. The trouble is that I love melancholic sounds and I find "Depressing Music" very uplifting. So today was basically awesome from about mile 2 through the end. Upon completion I had an invite to Brian Mulligans house for brunch and it was fantastic. Just what I needed to recover from the effort.

Week 7 Ended

Monday: PM: 7 Miles, 45:00, Downtown up to Blvd.
Tuesday: AM: Tempo Run; 5 Miles 25:40, Total 10.5 Miles
Wednesday: 1 Mile, Treadmill
Thursday: OFF
Friday: PM: 9 Miles, 56:10, Steady Running, Fruit Loop, Blvd
Saturday: AM: 8.25 Miles, 49:51, Fruit Loop Blvd; PM: 4.15 Miles, 27:01, Blvd Sunday: AM: 13.4 Miles, 1:18:32, Steady/Fast

Total Miles: 53.3 Miles, 6 Runs, One Tempo. The week could have been so much worse with this head cold really getting me down. However it ended up alright and sets me up for what should be a great forthcoming week.

I mentioned that I was listening to Stars today. These guys hail from Montreal (who doesn't these days) and they make beautiful music. I was introduced to them after they warmed up for Death Cab For Cutie in Providence in 2004. We actually missed them since we arrived late for the gig but we got the album off Fagan and Francine became a huge fan while I sat on the fence. However, I saw them again recently and their album "In Our Bedroom After The War" has definitely hit me in the right places. I suggest you get it but in the meantime if you want to check out their sound they are giving away one of their tracks from the September 2008 EP "Sad Robots". It is an old track from the album "Night Songs" called "Going, Going , Gone" and it is a live recording. Wonderful stuff. Get it here (just add the song to cart and the download will be available)Today was also the running of the annual European Cross Country Champs It was a tough day for some of the Irish. Mary Cullen ran wonderfully to finish 4th, two seconds out of a medal. Amazing. Otherwise it was a day of bad luck and obviously some fatigue. Martin Fagan finished in 24th but has been harbouring a bad cold and to make matters worse he took a fall. Andrew Ledwith who was also expected to produce the form that saw him finish 3rd at NCAA's struggled home in the 30's. David McCarthy another obvious pick for a medal struggled in the U23 event. This tells me how much of a toll the NCAA season takes on these guys. I suffered a similar fate back in 2000 when I picked up a cold en route to Malmo for Euro Cross. I finished 25th but it was without doubt my worse effort of the season. It is so hard to maintain focus and form after NCAA XC. Coupled with the consistency with which everyone picks up the cold and flu bug. I would bet my record collection that had this race been run on NCAA Monday, Dave would have got a medal and Andrew would have been top 12. Fagan would have been top 5 and Ireland would have won a medal in the senior race. Hollie Knight was another victim of the post-ncaa season running what was a poor race considering her fine form going in. Our Junior girls however ran great and it was nice to see Florida State Susan Kuijken win the womens U23. I know Davey could have done the same but I will have to wait for the recap when Mark Carroll gets back tomorrow. So all roads lead to Dublin in 2009 and after following along today I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be on that team. Its a long shot but also a long year in which anything can happen.

Peace and Love,

Kelrock