The Running/Keeping Fit Thread

[Norbs]

that's amazing Norbs

Are you missing the booze at all?

Nope, not at all. I'm a serious binger and could see it happening more frequently. Did up to March 11th last year (whichever date it was we went out of the CL) and I'd like to push it further. I don't look any better yet, skin is dreadful but there's other benefits that I am seeing and feeling.

To put in to perspective, I had a binge that started 10pm on Boxing Day (having not drunk on Xmas Eve, Xmas Day or most of Boxing Day) that lasted through to NYE and I've avoided thinking how much but it included half a bottle of whisky, a bottle of gin, 1lt of Baileys, 300ml of leftover vodka, a 500ml bottle of 26% pre-mixed Negroni, 4 bottles of wine and 10 330ml cans of beer. I managed my withdrawal from 29th and slowly reduced my intake until on NYE I only had a bottle of wine spread across the evening from 4pm onwards.

Unsure if I will ever trust myself to drink again, it follows a pattern and spirals out of control. Sorry to bring the mood down

[Doc_Piptorious]

Well if that's how you take a compliment, I'd hate to see what'd happen if I was offensive

Compliment? I dead lift planets, why do you think there is gravity?


100,000kg pfffft

[Sus]

Well if that's how you take a compliment, I'd hate to see what'd happen if I was offensive

that's amazing Norbs

Are you missing the booze at all?

[Norbs]

Cheeky fecker

Was going to say that it sounds like you are flying, but now I hope you get a bad dose of the runs during your next work out

Well if that's how you take a compliment, I'd hate to see what'd happen if I was offensive

[Doc_Piptorious]

Loving my Gym Monster and the Facebook community is the best I've found with everyone pulling for each other, except for the obligatory American dudes once in a while.

I've trained daily, managed to only pick up a couple of slight muscle aches and have dropped 4cm off my waist and chest in under 2 months. There are monthly challenges with rewards and rewards for FB contributions.

February's challenge is 100,000kg, Doc would probably dead lift that, and I'm up to 38,000kg so far with 15 days to go. Bronze is 50,000kg, Silver 80,000kg and that looks achievable. There are of course users who do silly stuff and complete 100,000kg on day 1

Cheeky fecker

Was going to say that it sounds like you are flying, but now I hope you get a bad dose of the runs during your next work out

[Norbs]

Dropping booze at the end of 2025 (sounds better than dry January) has helped too

[Norbs]

Loving my Gym Monster and the Facebook community is the best I've found with everyone pulling for each other, except for the obligatory American dudes once in a while.

I've trained daily, managed to only pick up a couple of slight muscle aches and have dropped 4cm off my waist and chest in under 2 months. There are monthly challenges with rewards and rewards for FB contributions.

February's challenge is 100,000kg, Doc would probably dead lift that, and I'm up to 38,000kg so far with 15 days to go. Bronze is 50,000kg, Silver 80,000kg and that looks achievable. There are of course users who do silly stuff and complete 100,000kg on day 1

[Doc_Piptorious]

Tony has a share in an IT company, they were bought out by a bigger one last year and he’s still involved. Don’t think he’s involved in UCC, more gif be wrong. He was a world champion handballer

Different Tony Healy then.

[Irishnev]

The Tony Healy that works in UCC now?

Tony has a share in an IT company, they were bought out by a bigger one last year and he’s still involved. Don’t think he’s involved in UCC, more gif be wrong. He was a world champion handballer

[Doc_Piptorious]

I knew you tried your hand but a big unit like yourself would’ve been ideal for rugby and especially our generation rugby. Hurling is a different animal, I played underage but I just didn’t have the skill for it, the hand eye coordination as well as speed needed for that were beyond me.

Gaelic football I played to a decent level and have a lot of underage medals but that was as a wingback who could run and stop others. Again, the talent wasn’t there on my side. I was great mates with some Kerry lads in UCC who became senior footballers, then managers and also current RTE staff…. I played football with them.

Real football I was pretty good, not skillful but solid and fit. I played A league in limerick and won a few underage titles there. Played with the school as well and we won Clare a few times.

Lastly - handball, I was great mates with Tony Healy in UCC, we still keep in touch. He’s a United fan though!

The Tony Healy that works in UCC now?

[Irishnev]

I did.

Played at Thomond park in a Munster final at junior level when in secondary school, and also hurled under Paudie Fitzmaurice.

I was ok at both sports, but far far better at boxing and long distance running.

When it came to rugby and hurling I was big (for my age), strong but very quick. So at junior level that allowed me to get into teams with the far more skilled and talented guys.

Paudie used me to unsettled quick attackers. There would be a scream of "WHIP!" from the sideline and Paudie's big grok would chase down his target I had the speed to catch pretty much whomever came down my flank and the size and singlemindedness to win my battles.

Not a chance I would have ever have gone on to be good enough to hurl at a decent level for a senior team though. Same with rugby. At senior level the physical advantage would not have been as great for me but the skill and talent gulf between me and them would have been huge especially with hurling.

Pretty sure in one of the threads I mentioned to you about hurling under Paudie and defo mentioned that I played rugby when young.

Two of the guys that would have coached me a bit playing rugby would have been Frankie Bronsnan and Pat Cross.


Pretty much tried my hand to most sports though. Footy, handball (loved that actually), hockey, basketball..if it was a sport openly available in Limerick, Cork or Liverpool (depending on where I was in school or Uni at the time) chances are I gave most a go and stuck with a few at the same time as just loved taking part.

I knew you tried your hand but a big unit like yourself would’ve been ideal for rugby and especially our generation rugby. Hurling is a different animal, I played underage but I just didn’t have the skill for it, the hand eye coordination as well as speed needed for that were beyond me.

Gaelic football I played to a decent level and have a lot of underage medals but that was as a wingback who could run and stop others. Again, the talent wasn’t there on my side. I was great mates with some Kerry lads in UCC who became senior footballers, then managers and also current RTE staff…. I played football with them.

Real football I was pretty good, not skillful but solid and fit. I played A league in limerick and won a few underage titles there. Played with the school as well and we won Clare a few times.

Lastly - handball, I was great mates with Tony Healy in UCC, we still keep in touch. He’s a United fan though!

[Doc_Piptorious]

That’s quite the story! Some interesting stories in there for sure, especially in Ireland back in the day.

It’s hard to beat boxing for what it gives young men in particular, in terms of discipline, courage, technique, self defence and real sense of achievement. I loved it growing up and it was life changing for me in my teens, as an angry brown kid growing up in Australia.

Love also that you’re still in the combat sports, think it’s something that can stay with your well into your sunset years, as long as you choose the right sport

It is. Enhances all those qualities within a person.

Your second point is the number one thing for me with regards being involved in an ABC.

Helping kids from all backgrounds, but especially those from less affluent areas or those who might be isolated due to colour or religion, is as important as creating the next gen of guys and girls that go on to be top amatuers and maybe even pros.

It helps keep them away from crime, from drugs, from rough homes. It gives them somewhere where they are seen and acknowledged. Somewhere to talk, somewhere to ask for help. Somewhere to get pent up rage out. And most importantly imo it gives them somewhere where they can go and discover just how much they matter as individuals.

Our biggest successes are not those of us with our pictures on walls or names on trophies, or those that will in the future be on the walls or in the sports pages.

Our biggest wins are the kids that go to school and go to uni. Our biggest wins are the ones that go to school and never go to Uni but go on to get a job and have a steady life. The ones that don't finish school but go on to get that job, or go on to be a positive force in the community. All those kids are the ones that made something of themselves by avoiding serious crime, avoiding becoming a drug dealer.

All those kids that turned into teens and then turned into adults that had proper levels of self worth and who go away from the ABC with the attitude that you define who you get seen as and not where you are from and if someone cannot see your value and only see where you are from, that is there loss and the gain of next person to meet you.


We all had it tough as kids at one point or another, and to differing degrees, but kids today, especially from a rough/imporverished area, really get the **** end of the stick and if you happen to not be white or not be a native English speaker and be from those areas I think it gets a bit tougher.

For me the local ABC, the local community centre, the local martial art club etc are forges that those kids get a taste of hard work, camaraderie and respect in a non judgemental enviroment with nobody caring where they are from or what accent they have or what colour they are.

And I say ABC, community centre etc rather than local GAA club or local footy or rugby club (all great in their own ways too) as in a lot of areas the rougher diamonds do not get a sniff at being part of those clubs be it because of a surname or the cost of being in them or whatever, so that's where the community centre, the dojo, the ABC etc come in. All are welcome, you leave your past at the door and get a clean slate. Yes there are rules and expectations of conduct that we say follow you out the door after each session, but the majority figure out that those things make them stronger mentally and help keep them out of trouble.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Mad how you never got into rugby or even GAA

I did.

Played at Thomond park in a Munster final at junior level when in secondary school, and also hurled under Paudie Fitzmaurice.

I was ok at both sports, but far far better at boxing and long distance running.

When it came to rugby and hurling I was big (for my age), strong but very quick. So at junior level that allowed me to get into teams with the far more skilled and talented guys.

Paudie used me to unsettled quick attackers. There would be a scream of "WHIP!" from the sideline and Paudie's big grok would chase down his target I had the speed to catch pretty much whomever came down my flank and the size and singlemindedness to win my battles.

Not a chance I would have ever have gone on to be good enough to hurl at a decent level for a senior team though. Same with rugby. At senior level the physical advantage would not have been as great for me but the skill and talent gulf between me and them would have been huge especially with hurling.

Pretty sure in one of the threads I mentioned to you about hurling under Paudie and defo mentioned that I played rugby when young.

Two of the guys that would have coached me a bit playing rugby would have been Frankie Bronsnan and Pat Cross.


Pretty much tried my hand to most sports though. Footy, handball (loved that actually), hockey, basketball..if it was a sport openly available in Limerick, Cork or Liverpool (depending on where I was in school or Uni at the time) chances are I gave most a go and stuck with a few at the same time as just loved taking part.

[Irishnev]

Except I am not 95kg. You need to learn how to convert stone to kg properly

I'm just over 108kg according to the scales this morning.

Mad how you never got into rugby or even GAA

[DerKrampus]

I'm 58% of the way to my goal of 99.9kg! I've lost 6.2kg since Christmas and running is starting to feel even better!