Ras na hEireann Cross Country Summary

After the personal best on Thursday I went for a short morning run with Hunter Spencer in Armagh before an organized trip into Belfast for the day. We stopped at a "Living History Farms" type place and got a glimpse at 19th century life in Northern Ireland. We spent the afternoon shopping and hanging out in downtown Belfast before returning to the hotel for a cultural reception that evening. The American team's rendition of "You Lost that Lovin' Feeling" was moving but not as interesting as the presentations of local musicians and the South African team. Saturday morning started with a nice run into the countryside and a jaunt through the historic first settlement in Armagh. It was a gorgeous day and the first time in two weeks that my knee didn't hurt while running. I picked it up on the way back in and did a little fartlek because I was feeling so good. The afternoon was spent wandering around Armagh again and doing some shopping. Unfortunately our hotel was the local hotspot on Saturday night and our room was directly over the bar. I tried to sleep through covers of 80's American rock but my efforts were fruitless and Sunday I definitely woke up as tired as when I went to bed. After breakfast we boarded a charter bus and made the 90 minute trip to the cross country course. I felt sluggish during the whole warm up, it was windy, and parts of the course were really muddy. Needless to say, my performance wasn't stellar and I was glad to have the race done despite my 10th place finish. Sunday night there was another reception and the Americans had a late night of celebrating the trip. So that's pretty much it for my trip to Ireland. It was a great learning experience and I was able to get in one solid race despite leaving Ames with a banged up knee. For those of you who actually read these posts, sorry for my delay in getting these up here.