Runs

For the past couple of days I have gone on some fantastic runs. On Sunday I was out for about 40 minutes, which is very good for me. Ever since the marathon, my knee has not been the same. I went out of town one way and saw some houses and some sheep grazing. There are some houses that are really cute and Irish but there are many others that are English looking and cookie cutter. Out that way I saw the GAA headquarters. This is the Gaelic Association something. It is for the Gaelic Games: hurling (basically Men's field hockey/lacrosse), camogie (basically women's field hockey/lacrosse), Gaelic football (football/rugby/basketball), rugby, and soccer. There are pitches (playing fields) all over. They are situated very randomly in the middle of buildings, way out of the way in some wild grass fields. I then went back toward town and ran through the side streets of the town. Anyone would call the back streets alleys in America but here businesses and homes are there. The pavement is uneven and very patchy. The roads are one way at one point and then switch halfway through. It is a very good thing that I am not driving here, not to mention that they drive on the left.

I was really feeling good but I did not want to hedge my bets too much so I headed home. I went home via south campus, which is the very old castle like campus. I came across an areal photo of south campus and was shocked to find many gardens that I did not know existed. I went in one that had a cute pond and some fallen trees that were black and looked like they had lava flow over them. It is really beautiful over there. I need to start taking my camera on my runs. Since it was Sunday, there were families out on walks, which was so fun to see. There was this cute family with kids that were probably 4, 2, and 1. The 4-year-old was pushing the 2-year-old in a stroller and was really struggling especially because it was on gravel. Nothing here is real pavement, I should say. Some things are just more 'pavementy' than others. I got home just in time for my knee to start hurting.

Today I went for a shorter run, about 25 minutes, and stumbled across this completely straight walkway with grass on either side and then very large old gnarly trees lining the path. It was probably 800 meters long and lead to the Carton House, which is a very old mansion that has been converted into a hotel with fishing and a golf course. I only got to the front gate from which I could not see the hotel but it was still green and beautiful. I was shocked to see a golf course. I do not know why because they do like it here very much. I did think that it was telling of the Irish that nobody had golf carts. They pulled their clubs.
I stretched for a short time and then headed home. I am very fortunate to enjoy running and exploring like this. Oh, the things that everyone else is missing.