If you are any sort of a serious runner, you will eventually end up referring to the Book, The Lore of Running. This thousand page almanac from the training guru Tim Noakes contains a wealth of wisdom, everything from the running physiology and biochemistry, to the basics of training; from how to transfer training into … Continue reading The Most Important Step to Becoming a Great Runner
Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills. Kigali, its capital, is no exception. The city itself is built on eleven of those hills, making running on the flat simply not an option. Last July, I was in the country for two weeks of work. I had had a busy race season already, competing … Continue reading Up and Down in Rwanda
It’s been snowing all week in Dublin. The city has melted most of it, but I knew there’d probably still be snow on the mountains. AA Roadwatch confirmed that even getting to the mountains would be dangerous: icy road conditions for all of County Wicklow, with a particular warning to stay away from Sally and … Continue reading An Irish Winter Wonderland in Glendalough
Moire is in East Timor. My facebook profile flashes up as updated just ‘a moment ago’. I’m on the job again, this time in a far-flung formerly-turbulent island off the coast of Australia. No sooner than I’ve landed, I’m sniffing out my morning running route. The capital Dili is a tiny city. It has the … Continue reading Sun, Sand, Sea and Sweat in East Timor
It was the day before Christmas. As per usual, pandemonium reigned in Dublin’s supermarket aisles and department stores with last minute shoppers frantically buying groceries and presents. I needed to get away. But where can you go to escape all these constant Christmas reminders? Fortunately, us Dublin dwellers have the Dublin mountains perched literally on … Continue reading Christmas Eve in the Dublin Mountains
It’s hard coming off Tonlagee at the best of times. Every year, IMRA runs the Circuit of Glenmacnass, a 20km race that takes you up and over 1000 metres of climb, summiting Brockagh, Tonlagee and Scarr on your way. Though the race is consistently run in June when it is broad daylight, even in clear … Continue reading Coming off Tonlagee … at Night
It was that time of the week for tempo training, that fast session to help keep your speed after all those slow endurance runs. I decided to head down to the local sports stadium to do the run on the track. This time I was in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Being a communist country, … Continue reading Tempo Training in Laos
We were in Sydney for a single day, on transit to our friends’ wedding. After a good night of wining and dining, we’re up early before for a leisurely morning run. And where else would you be jogging but up and over the Harbour Bridge with stunning views of Sydney to left and right. Back over … Continue reading A Day in Sydney
Bangladesh is bursting with people. With 159 million residents in a country the size of Wales, it definitely looks and feels overcrowded. In Dhaka, roads full of rickshaws and cars, trucks and pedestrians, make it neigh impossible to walk, let alone run around the place. Even the city’s parks are so full to capacity that … Continue reading Tracking down Treadmills in Bangladesh
My rationale for running at the crack of dawn whilst overseas is quite simple. First, I avoid the worst of the sun whilst still benefiting from first light. The second reason is slightly more complex. In many developing countries, the sight of a white woman running half naked through the streets is often a serious … Continue reading 5.30am … Isn’t that a wee bit early to be running around?