IanG

Let's hope his mobility improves 😁

View across river. Boats on marina. Slight orange sunrise in mostly grey sky.

Wooden statue of Macannan MacLir the river god at marina.

View of River along parkrun course. Boats moored in River at marina. Cloudy sky with some blue, grey and slight pastel orange.

Dog in blue coat at steel statue of Amelia Earhart. Staring at camera as I had treats.

First parkrun at Derry of 2025 after the last 2 weeks cancelled due to wintry weather.
Cold enough morning but ice free. Volunteered at the halfway turn again with my trusty companion. Will start running this course again in February.

It is great to have goals like that.

Enjoy the forthcoming rehearsals. You will be a maestro by April at this rate.

My daughter played cello for 10 years from when she was 8. It was a fair few years before we heard anything resembling a tune. She did come good in the end 😀

Wow that's amazing progress for 6 months.

I find that as I'm older and slower I enjoy running more now that I'm not chasing a PR.
I am running further distances though.
When younger I didn't do much more than 5k but lately I've upped the distances I run which is a great buzz.

Daybreak at River. Boats in River. Sun rising purple, blue orange sky

Boats in River. Sun rising grey sky.

Mural of Amelia Earhart. 3 images of Amelia and red airplane

Map of my route around the Derry bridges and along the river today.

First run outside in a week after the icy conditions.
Beautiful morning for running. Managed to put my Strava on hold for about a mile before resuming, so it looks like I took a swim in the River Foyle.

That's what Hearts does to you. I once had a full head of hair too 😁

Good news for me is that I will still get to see him play

Will be interesting to see how he does here.
The Derry pitch is particularly bad, on par with Kilmarnock, so not ideal for injury prone players.

Wise move to stop. 55 day running streak still very impressive. A wee break and you'll be raring to go again.

Boats in marina on River. Sky mostly grey with some blue.

Tree lined promenade on Derry City Walls. Canon on right hand side.

Ca ons at Double Bastian on City Walls. View over city to Donegal hills.

St Columbs Church of Ireland Cathedral. Black Gate in foreground with gold ornate design on top with coat of arms.

Parkrun cancelled today due to icy conditions. So took the dog on a walk along the Quay and around the city walls. Quite slippy underfoot especially on the Quay which is part of the Parkrun course.
Sensible decision to cancel though I am sure Finns and Norwegians would probably disagree 😁

Beach at Buncrana in early morning looking out to Lough Swilly. Mainly cloudy sky.

Lough Swilly at sunrise. Large cloud and blue sky.

Statue of Tip O'Neill on shorefront. Lough Swilly in background

Me at Buncrana beach wearing black t-shirt and maroon hat.

No New Years Day event in Derry this year so went over to the Buncrana #parkrun for the first time in ages.
Beautiful coastal path run. Rain stayed away until the end too.
Haven't run since Edinburgh Holyrood in September as I have been volunteering since then.
Will get more runs in 2025.

I should add that they are still very much a big part of my life now that I am 61.
Happy New Year.

Thank you for being part of helping Rush being discovered. In my teens Rush were the greatest band in my life and you were part of making sure that was the case

Yeah I saw an interview with him online recently and ordered the book after that.
Looking forward to reading it.

I've lost patience with him but realistically I feel we have to give him a chance.
However we were told on his arrival about his ability to improve players and get the best out of them. I don't think he has delivered on that so far.
I'm just hoping he surprises me and comes good.

Boats on River Foyle at daybreak.

View of the Peace Bridge looking across the River Foyle to the city.

Beige coloured dog in blue coat beside steel statue of Amelia Earhart. Path leading down through trees.

Steel statue of Francis Ledwidge. Trees and River in background.

Final marshalling duties for 2024 at the halfway turn on the Derry City #parkrun.
Very mild today and a big crowd of runners.
Again, I had Honey for company. She is happy as long as a regular supply of treats is part of the deal.

We are so easy to play against. Opposition managers must tell their players to just let us have the ball as we do nothing much with all our possession. Allowing them to conserve their energy.
We are badly in need of pace.

When he got the job we were told he had a reputation for improving players. I haven't seen much evidence of this.
We cannot say we weren't warned though. What I read on the Blackpool fans forum has unfortunately turned out to be true so far.

View on Peace Bridge looking towards city.

Path towards bridge. Sun starting to rise in sky.

Dog in bright coloured coat with steel statue. River in background.

3 steel statues. Trees and River in background.

Marshalled at the half way turn on the Derry City Christmas #parkrun this morning. So got a 5k walk out and back with my loyal helper Honey.
Huge turnout today and such mild weather.
Great way to start the festivities. Merry Christmas everyone.

Solo. No pressure to run faster or slower. Just run at the pace I feel comfortable with.

Mornings for me. Sets me up nicely for the day.

The problem with our style of play this past while is that it is so pedestrian. It is very hard to get enthused about, so I understand how easily negativity is generated in the crowd.

View looking over River Foyle. Boats in foreground.

View of River Foyle looking towards Peace Bridge. Sun breaking through clouds.

Beige coloured Lurcher dog in blue coat. Lead tied to steel statue. Trees in background.

Sunshine and rain on the Derry City #parkrun today.
Had my trusty friend, Honey, with me again today to marshal at the halfway turn.

Very reasonable. You're more positive than me.
I'd have Forrest, Boyce, Grant and Dhanda joining McKay on 0.
Beni down to 6. I feel he is by far our best player but doesn't play enough.
Also Devlin too high for me. Would rate him a 6 also. To me his lack of creativity is an issue.

Yeah we will have trouble offloading them. Can't see a rush to take them off our hands.
I would add Dhanda to that list too. He's been a major disappointment.

Cheers. I have been mainly volunteering since July as was training for Derry Half Marathon in September and did a long run every Sunday.
Really love the marshaling stints so stuck at it, but will get back to running parkrun a bit more regularly in the new year.

View over River with boats and feint sunrise in the background.

My lurcher Honey wearing blue coat standing on path.

Tail Walker on parkrun wearing orange coat walking on path through trees.

Bridge across river looking towards city.

Volunteered today as a marshal at the halfway turn on the Derry City #parkrun. Grey old day but nice and calm.
Had Honey for company who made sure no-one cut any corners. She's prepared to assist as long as treats are involved.

Yeah one of the cons of living here for sure. But I will order some to coincide with our next trip over.

They look amazing but unfortunately they don't post to NI.
Will order some to deliver to my daughters place in Edinburgh next time we are over. Thanks for sharing.