Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

It took a while but I’m finally back to midweek running. Tonight we ran a little over 6 miles on grass. While it was a tough run I’m very happy that my knees were pain free… looks like I’m over that injury!

I missed yet another training run…. AARRGGGGGG!!! You see… tonight I worked late, got home late, it was well after eight, so I ate late, quite a large plate, and after all that I just didn’t feel great, I was in quite a state, getting a little irate, partly about my weight, but mostly about…

OH… MY… GOD… I’m in so much trouble! Saturday did the usual disappearing act this weekend but I managed to grab hold of Sunday afternoon and got stuck into the 6 miles it took to cycle the long way to the Curragh (via Athgarvan). I arrived tired but determined to push this weeks running distance…

I haven’t run in such a time long… and I’m getting fat! That’s not true, I ran the Adidas 10 mile race last weekend, but no escaping the getting fat bit!! I finished Friday great intentions for Saturday; up early, light breakfast, running gear on, out for a 13 miler, home, shower, potter in the…

I’ve just realised that this morning’s race is my first 10 mile race ever… so an automatic PB for me!! Last year my crappy car let me down and sat in the driveway, forcing me to miss the race (secretly I wasn’t too upset, 10 miles is a long way). I ran the 10 miles…

This was my first training run in weeks and it showed. It was a really hard run and I was way out of my comfort zone for the entire run. We ran a little over 4 miles in a little under 40 minutes on grass in an effort to reduce impact on knees and ankles.…

This is an annual tour and my first time taking part. It’s a 100K cycle which starts in Naas, travels North to Maynooth, then West to Kildare town, then East towards Newbridge and finishes back in Naas. I arrived in Naas early and wheeled my bike through the crowd to get to the registration desks.…

The key word here is Ouch! I love the new bike; it looks great, works well and is very fast but why… OH WHY do racing bikes come with a saddle that resembles the thin edge of a stick. After a few hundred meters I’d had enough… but kept going in the hope that the…

Myself and my mate Joe have been talking about buying road bikes for weeks. Since the burden of ownership of his mountain bike was relieved when a couple a scallies nicked it last week we decided it was time to bite the bullet; not literally of course although our destination (Belfast) could be the place…

Our final lesson, and the much awaited end of course concert! I was the third student to arrive and our tutor was getting a little worried that she may only have three performers for the concert. After a little while a fourth, and as it turned out final, student turned up. We were missing four…

Tonight we had our second last lesson and in addition to the usual warm-ups and a new tune we had to decide what we were going to sing for the end of course concert next week. After much searching I have decided to sing “A Song For Ireland”. We were asked to find the sheet…

It’s been a little over a week of no running and I’m feeling very fidgety. So myself & Joe decided to dust off the push bikes and head out for a long cycle. I got my new Garmin 405 watch this week and am dying to give it a go. As we live in neighbouring…

A couple of weeks ago I was at a my company’s summer party held in (I’m reliably informed) a fashionable club in a fashionable part of town; as I’m several steps behind the fashionable people I wouldn’t know. We had a large part of the upper floor reserved with our own (free) bar and what…

After the usual warm up exercises it was straight into yet another great lesson. After a plethora of new tunes we decided that the “end of course” concert will go ahead. We all need to think about what kind of song we’d like to sing and we will have an piano accompaniment which should make…

Damn it! I’ve really done it now. My knees are in bits and I need to start taking proper care of them. So, it’s rest for a couple of weeks and then ease back into running if I’m going to have any chance of a 4 1/2 hour marathon this October, but more importantly I…

Last night it was a struggle to get out of the clutches of the city’s rush hour traffic. By 5pm I had to be 75 miles away in Carlingford for a weeding and it wasn’t looking good as I crawled along Dublin’s orbital motorway at a snails pace and it was already well past 4pm.…

Lesson #2 and I hadn’t done my homework! Not only that but I couldn’t remember what it was, but I did remember to pick a song to sing a cappella: “Black Is The Colour“, a lovely traditional song of Scottish origin that I hoped get through without killing it. The weather was appalling but this…

On the way home we decided to pop into the new hotel in Mulranny for a quick swim. It turned out to be a very, very long stop as the hotel was equipped with not only a fantastic pool but also a sauna, steam room, an outdoor hot tub overlooking Mulranny bay, a jacuzzi and…

The weather forecast for Achill on Saturday morning was: wind, rain, wind, the odd sunny spell and wind. That’s a lot of wind! I thought we had plenty of time to get from Claggan to the race but the drive to Achill is always takes longer that I seem to remember. As we crossed the…

No, not a typo! I’ve swapped the swimming lessons for singing lessons for July. As usual I left it to the last minute to check the location and time of the course: 7pm in South Great George’s Street. I wanted to be early and left the office with plenty of time to spare. I arrived…