How Much!!

After arriving back from Brussels to late for training with the group on Tuesday evening I knew I had to do something on Wednesday. Brussels was a great place to visit for a long weekend, the restaurants and bars were always busy, certainly towards the evenings restaurant wise. The bars were busy all day. The weather was great too so most of the day was spent strolling around the narrow streets and The Grand Place. It did not take long to realise the closer to the Grand Place you got, bar wise, the beverage price escalated quite rapidly. We went from a extremely cheap €8 in one bar for 4 drinks to €37 in another that was on the square itself. Luckily, me getting the first round in worked well, as every other round seemed to be the most expensive. The hotel we stayed in was just off the Grand Place so around 20:00hrs we returned to the room for a freshen up. At this point I fell asleep until being woken by my phone around 23:00hrs, it was the couple we had travelled with asking if we were ready to go back out. Christine had decided it was to late so I joined them both and away we went to do it all again. the bars we frequented earlier, which were already busy, were now heaving! Most had bands on, it was only the next day we realised that everything band or DJ wise started after 2300hrs. Breakfast the next morning was the typical continental affair..... a big greasy fry up would have been more welcome than a croissant and yoghurt as some kind of medicinal hangover cure I must admit. All in all it was an enjoyable trip, the travelling was a little annoying to say the least. Sitting in Airports and on coach's / trains really does get frustrating but it is all part of the experience.

The Grand Place

As I guessed the afternoon in Liverpool was for me spent stood outside shops whilst wifey went shopping. We did find a nice garden bar to have a couple of drinks before heading back to the airport for are evening flight home so it wasn't all bad.

On Wednesday Christine dropped me at kirk Michael and I headed back on the main road to Peel. It is the same 6 mile route I do quite often and was what was needed to slip back in to training. I also went out in the evening and walked the route of the Peel Hill race held as part of the Easter Festival next weekend, hopefully i can get a swap or day off so I can take part. Next week starts and finishers at the House of Mannan though which is far more convenient for The Creek afterwards!
Thursday lunch time I got dropped of at the same spot by wifey but walked / ran back on the Raad ny Foillan route, once I had picked it up at Glen Moor. This is the reverse direction to what I will hopefully be doing on the day but was an ideal recognisance of the route. I wrong slotted almost straight away and headed further up the glen than what was required due to missing the small cut up the side of the old railway line bridge pedestal. I would not of made this mistake coming from the correct direction, however, although this year sees the route take on a clockwise course it does get held anti clockwise occasionally and I would have missed this cut on race day for not checking the route first. I  trained with Andy and Stew on Thursday evening around a lap of White Hoe, Port Soderick and Marine Drive. I wore the same shoes as what I had worn to go up Peel Hill the night before with no issues, but maybe due to the higher pace, I managed to tear the fresh skin of the healed blister the shoes had caused, a fortnight ago Saturday, on are walk around Glen Roy. With the Firemans Memorial Walk now only 16 days away I need to decide if I am going to persevere with the shoes and hopefully break them in in time, dig out a pair of  DS 10's I have in reserve or wear one of the other many pairs of trainers I have tried over the course of the last 8 months to aid the Achilles recovery. I think it has more to do with where I have cut the back of the shoe, exactly the same as my original set, than the shoe itself but I am reluctant to order a fresh set in case it is the shoe. Stew and Andy both said last night that they find the size a little more generous than the previous DS's causing them to slip a little on the heel. It is a bit late in the day now to change things so maybe it will have to be a case of taping up the area affected and going with it.

As its such a nice afternoon today I am going to have a stroll round the Western 10 route but missing the part that goes from Ballacraine to Ballig due to traffic. Saturday training will go from the NSC as usual with firm plans to be made later on with the group on distance and route.

Christine has just asked are we out tomorrow for the Grand National  .......... she does come up with good ideas occasionally!!