Sláinte!

My four years and 8 months in Dublin ends today.  There are so many things I’d like to say about my stay in Ireland, but I’ve been finding it hard to put words down.  Dublin is where I learned to truly be independent and with this type of independence comes loads of other responsibilities, everything adding up to teach me things I previously ignored, could not appreciate or simply did not realize.

Good bye Dublin.

( “Sláinte” is Gaelic for “health” and is used to in cheers to mean “to your good health”)

The Farewell Post

I have been writing and re-writing the introduction to this post for the past half hour.  There just isn’t an easy way to say goodbye to the Ronin crew.  I went back yesterday for my final metcon and for a chance to say good bye and good luck to those who were there.  Thank you Ronin — all the coaches and fellow members — for welcoming me into the family.  My only regret is that I didn’t manage a strict or kipping pull up while I was with you guys, but know that I did get over my fear of being inverted and managed to kick up to a handstand back in the old HQ.  Because of that, Ronin will always hold a special place in my heart…well okay, there are more reasons, but that’s one them 🙂

Strength:  1RM Front Squat (stuck with L1 30kgs to save energy for Cindy — I needed it!)

Met Con:  “Cindy”
20 minute AMRAP
5 pull-ups (blue band)
10 push-ups
15 sit ups

Although I didn’t manage to PR this Cindy,  my 13 rounds + 5 pull ups + 10 push ups is just 10 squats shy of my previous Cindy but this time, I had blue bands instead of green and I didn’t revert to box push ups even when I was close to giving up on those push ups.  In my head, I was still  ringing that PR bell!

3, Possibly Even 4

I had an interesting conversation with Jody last week.  It went something like this:

Me: Hey Jody, when are we doing Crossfit Total again?
Jody:  How about Monday?
Me: Cool.

Okay, that’s not really verbatim, but it’s the general idea. The result?  Crossfit Total day today! (Yay!)

Strength:  “Crossfit Total”

3 attempts at 1RM for: squats, press, deadlifts  (70kg / 32.5 kg / 75 kg)

Met Con: 21-15-9

burpees
double unders

I missed the 6PM class so I had to take the next one.  I couldn’t skip class as I don’t think Jody would let me hear the end of it if I did — I asked for it, I got it.  I just didn’t expect it to be followed by a Met Con.

Ouch.

I am in pain.  I went back to Ronin Crossfit on Monday to resume my 3x a week schedule and now I’m feeling the effects of being away from Crossfit for so long.

Monday
Strength:  Power Cleans 5×1 (35kgs)
WOD:  21-15-9
Deadlifts (45 kgs)
Burpees

Tuesday
Strength:  Snatch + OH Squat 5 x 1 (20kgs)
WOD:  “Death by Power Cleans” (30kgs)
minute 1 – 5 power cleans
minute 2 – 6 power cleans
minute 3 – 7 power cleans
and so on….until you can no longer do the prescribed reps within the minute.
Score is the last minute you did all reps required.

Back from Vacation (Counting up: Day 89)

I am resurfacing slowly from my holiday-induced stupor…there simply is no point fighting it, I have to get back to the real world eventually.  First up, I am resuming my count up to the big move:

Day 88:  I headed over to the embassy to submit my documents.  Funny how all the months of waiting results in pages of paper and a few combination of official letters and numbers.  From here on it will probably take 15-20 working days before I get my passport and visa.  And then not long after that, I will be off.

The idea of moving is not as difficult as it was before I went on vacation.  I guess seeing home and family again reminded me that this is no longer THE big move.  The biggest move was done almost 4 years ago.  This is merely a continuation.

I will miss Dublin — there is no doubt about it — and the friends I’ve made here, the homey city where you pretty much know where everything is and the quality of apartments I can afford to live in.  But for now, I’m still missing home and I can only afford to miss one thing at a time.