St. Patrick's Day, as crazy as any other day

Despite another round of shaking heads and "You're crazy "frequently aimed at me, I accomplished my St. Patrick's day goal around 11:15, finishing the second 5K of the morning.

The first took off from Flannagan's, the meat market bar on the edge of Dublin that opens at 5:30 a.m. Checking in at 7, I had no choice but to carb up and finish my first of the day before the WNCI Morning Zoo guys roused the crowd. Then it was off to snowy Snouffer Road and another race below freezing (the second won't probably didn't beat 30 degrees either

Done by 8:30, I turned south to Dublin proper for the round two, escaping my car before those first 3.1 miles stiffened my legs into relaxation. Amazingly, the stomach cramps that plagued every 5K of 2007 were a non-factor.

But there was no relaxing. Not today, not in a nation populated by green beer lovin knuckleheads (Try a Guinness, Harp, Muphy's or Smithwicks, you won't be disappointed).

What made it easier was Ed, one of the two 5K guys I meet reguarly, was trying for the same kingdom. He finishes six minutes ahead of me at each run, but it was nice to know someone else trying something considered out of whack by non-runners.

Talking with Ed easily spanned the time between the races, and before we knew it, the horn blew on the second round, and my feet ably carried me through Old Dublin and the suburban homogeneity festering just beyond it.

It was tougher the second time, but not unbearably so. No sharp pains, no touchy muscles and I swear chewing gum staved off the cramps until the final stretch back into Metro Place. It was the first time I finished with a time beyond 30 minutes, but I carried the extra German weight and the bitter cold that limited my workouts, so time mattered little. I had too much gut to run against anyone but myself.

Two 5Ks in three hours, before most of the revelers got their drinking started .... Not a bad haul, and those runs will make my first foray into 5Ks next Saturday all the better.