During the week, I met up with the main man Jerry Forde for a training session in Blackrock in Cork City. Jerry normally trains most days on the same loop around Blarney so this was an opportunity to try somewhere else as well as checking out the newly pedestrianised Marina.
We met up bright and early at Blackrock Castle at 9am and the plan was to do the Mahon walkway / old railway loop and get in about 12 miles. Just after we started, we met the one and only Tony Huff who was a regular on the road race scene for years.
From there, it was Beep, Beep, Beep and up the old railway line to Pairc Ui Chaoimh where we took a detour to have a look at the new car park near Shandon Boat Club.
From here, things went a bit off script when the heavens opened up and we had to take shelter under a tree on the Marina. After 20 minutes of heavy rain, it was looking pretty grim and it looked as if the session would have to be cancelled. But sure enough, the skies brightened, the rain stopped and we were off again.
One impact of the rain is that it effectively cleared the Marina and walkways of all the walkers and cyclists so we pretty much had it to ourselves.
The only bottleneck as such was the road between Blackrock village and the Castle but as the photo above shows, there was a nice view of the river and the city once the sun appeared again.
No training session would be complete without the cuppa however and we took another detour on the second loop to Lee Rowing Club and the small portable café there. His Lordship confined himself to just one Cappuccino on this occasion.
Between the two loops and detours, we ended up with 12.3 miles or 19.8 kms so not a bad days training. It was great to be able to use the Marina without fear of being run down by a car or van using it as a rat run to get into town. The surface of the Marina leaves a lot to be desired but one step at a time.
I'm not sure where the 2020 Main Man Tour is off to next but we might head back to Crosshaven and Camden for the views. Stay tuned! 😉
1 comment:
Well done, Keep it going
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