Day 7

Monday 27th April

Welcome to the real world. Keeps repeating itself over and over in my head these days. Looking back now I realise that 4th year in secondary school was the ultimate. No work and all play - sleeping, training, making an appearance in class, hiding in the jacks during double-maths. Doesn't get any better! College is good aswell but the two-weeks before exams really puts a spanner in the works.

Alarm rings at 6:45am, up out of bed for an easy run and that hangover pain in the back of the calves still resides from the first track race of the season (IUAA 5,000m, Sat. 25th April - 1st). For a change, the rising sun on Sandymount Strand makes for scenic running along the Irishtown nature trails out towards the Poolbeg Lighthouse. There is that cool early morning bite in the air, but my Nike dri-fit outfit does well to cancel it out. Locals are out for their early morning walk and looking out onto the strand from the hilltop makes it all not too bad. It's easy to look at the negative side of missing out on the Varsities banquet on Saturday night in Limerick, but in order to break new ground it's also very necessary to look at the positives.

I'm now starting into my second week of my work placement in the city centre. I'm getting used to arriving into work at 9am with a run already under the belt. Ok, it is very tough. There is no time to yourself. at the end of work each day it is straight into the running gear, legit up Grafton Street, onto the Luas, and run 2 miles with a big bag on your back before you even arrive at Marlay Park for the main session. Training starts at 6pm, by the time we wrap up and make our way home it is closing in on 8pm. Add in shower, stretching, dinner etc and before you know it you are thinking about the next 6:45am start - which by then, is only a matter of hours away. Tough schedule. But then again, what did Jumbo Elliot say in Coghlan's book? "God dammit, you gotta get up at the same time every day, eat and the same time every day, and even SHIT at the same time every day". Routine is the diet of champions (along with porridge), and although my situation is not ideal, it does help in some ways.

Bring on another week. It's 10am as I type and the sun is rising high in the sky as I look out the window of my office which overlooks the Liffey at O'Connell Bridge. There is an air of optimism about the city this morning, a welcome change from what it says on the front page of the Metro most mornings. The month of May is upon us, soup and gloves are out and BBQ's and sunglasses are in. Peace out D-town.