Paul May

Hello. I made it to Kilkenny in about 5 hours on the bike. (3017 Kcal with an average heart rate of 133…if you’re bothered) I took a slightly different route than originally planned, turning off before I got to Tullow, then getting slightly lost - then making it to Carlow for lunch. I did the last 35K to Kilkenny as the day went from warm to hot - and my forearms went from pale to red raw. I didn’t wear sunscreen, which was a really silly thing to do. I’m rationalising it now on the basis that if I had put it on before I left it would have been gone a few hours later anyway….that’s my story anyway.

The B&B in Kilkenny was lovely, Bridge Court House - recommended. Nice room, nice breakfast, no hassle, and not expensive at all. The Italian restaurant we went to Italian Connection (dodgy name) was good too; nice Italian food served in a dark, bustling dining room. Good service, nice coffee, not expensive. After dinner we went to Cleere’s for a drink, then onto Zoo for the gig (see next paragraph). After the gig we went to Morrisons, which was sweaty and dangerously overcrowded and kind of like Coppers with more leather, plasma screens. At 2.30am Kilkenny, like most other Irish towns, belches thousands of people (myself included) out onto the streets at exactly the same moment - leading to the ususal hilarious shenanigans.

Anyway, the main event was the Verona Riots gig at Zoo. They were supporting Kidic, who weren’t really my cup of tea, but who obviously know how to put tab A into slot B. Verona Riots were urgent and loud and have that something different - I’m biased, I know the band, but even if they weren’t to my taste I’d appreciate the craft of the songs and lyrics. They’re headlining The Sugar Club this Sunday night, so I’ll head along to that. That’s all for now.

Hey there. I’m gearing up for a cycle to Kilkenny this Saturday - a long enough cycle for me, but chicken feed for some of the serious wheelers out there. Along the way I’ll be taking in glamourous destinations such as Tallaght, Blessington, Tullow, Carlow and Paulstown. Exciting stuff! I think the route is about 140K, so I’ll be doing it in two chunks, Dublin to Tullow and then Tullow to Kilkenny. “Why don’t you take the train?” I hear you say….well, I’m trying to train as much as possibly at the moment (a rare, injury-free window and good weather), and I’m up for a bit of a challenge.

Kilkenny is the destination because a few of us are heading down to see Verona Riots who are supporting KidIc. I’m getting the train back on Sunday of course…I’m not totally crazy. Have a good weekend, get out there, the weather is going to be lovely.

Hello! I did the Port Tunnel run on Sunday, which was good fun. I haven’t been running since the Dublin Aquathon back in September (?), so I was really bluffing it. Anyway, I made it home in a leisurely (read: crap) 59 mins….7 minutes slower than my 10K leg in Chicago in August and about 30 minutes behind the decent runners.

10 thousand people huddled together on the approach to the tunnel for 30 minutes listening to the interesting blend of a local radio station van blasting out every song with the word “run” in it (Born to Run, Run To You…etc.) and the Starter shouting at people to get off the grass verge and that they were only kidding themselves. All good fun.

We started running (jogging) into the tunnel; from the grey winter light and the icy wind outside to the warm sodium glow and balmy 18 degree air inside. The contrast was wild; people were ditching jackets, santa suits and tracksuit bottoms all over the place. A leisurely jog later and we were back outside in the real world. The medal is very nice, well done to the organisers.

So, I’m going to try the Aware 10K on Sunday in the Phoenix Park, see if I can beat my pedestrian time. I’ll give it a go anyway.

Hope you’re all well.

I’m back from the US today and looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight. The flight home was quickened by a 100mph tail wind, which was good. That’s all I have the energy to write really, it’s been a long day. Hope you’re well.

Things are all good. We arrived in Chicago yesterday, and are settling into our mildly eccentric hotel nicely. Its beige overtones and piped in musack are hilariously non-ironic. The imitation, indoor Bourbon Street here in the hotel has to be seen to be believed…it’s tragi-kitch-tastic. There is also a hairdressing convention here this weekend…permarific.

Anyway, jet lag is featuring heavily today. Apologies for any typos featuring in this post. I hope you’re well. Cliona, I miss you, see…I said I’d mention you :)