Jan 31, 2007
1/31/2007
Running in Louisville
From the moment I arrived in Louisville, Kentucky I have been given the opportunity to breathe new life into my running, which has fallen off over the previous couple of years due to the health issues. Now I have surrounded myself with a great group of people and I may still attain some of those goals that I thought had long since past.
Hurricane Rita
Currently I live in Old Louisville, just walking distance from the university. I share an apartment with my girlfriend who is also a distance runner and a student. We moved here after she transferred from a university in Texas that ended up being ground zero for hurricane Rita. That was a crazy time as I was visiting her the same time that Rita moved in. I had to cancel my return airline ticket and rent a car as my flight home was scheduled for two days after the hurricane would have hit. Renting a car was a mission within itself, but through persistence and a bit of luck we were able to get one. We had just witnessed hurricane Katrina and the damage it had caused and we didn’t want to take the chance of going up against this storm. By renting a car we believed we could get out of the storms way and when it had passed she could then return to school, or so we thought. At 5:30am we drove out of the city and later that day we heard on the radio that an immediate evacuation had been declared for that entire region just 30 minutes later at 6am. We had missed chaos that ensued just by half an hour. That southern Texas city was hit full force and was left with an incredible trail of destruction. We ended up watching it unfold on CNN from the safety of a motel room that evening. As a result, she had to transfer. It just so happened that I was looking for a place to start Graduate school and the University of Louisville ended up being the perfect fit for the both of us.
My Travels
Before moving to Louisville in January 2006, I lived in Ypsilanti Michigan 2003-2005, Fayetteville Arkansas 2000-2003, Cambridge Ontario 1997-2000 and a short stay in the big city of Toronto 1997-1996. However, before the great travel began the story originates from Dublin, Ireland, my home for 15 years. We left for Canada on September 4th 1996; when you immigrate you never forget the date.
Running
As for my running career it has had many ups and downs, much like a roller coaster. In fact, my entire life seems to have followed that pattern. I have been ranked as high as 25th in the world for the indoor 5k and have competed at major international competitions and on the flip side; during my senior year I had to face the reality of not being able to exercise (let alone run) as I was lead to believe there was the potential for me to have an athletic induced heart attack. Yep, I was 23 years old and feared for my life and couldn’t care less about running. Something like that will make you wake-up and put things back in the correct order of priority. Today my physical condition is at the point that I need not worry about it, however I now look at things very differently.
From the moment I arrived in Louisville, Kentucky I have been given the opportunity to breathe new life into my running, which has fallen off over the previous couple of years due to the health issues. Now I have surrounded myself with a great group of people and I may still attain some of those goals that I thought had long since past.
Hurricane Rita
Currently I live in Old Louisville, just walking distance from the university. I share an apartment with my girlfriend who is also a distance runner and a student. We moved here after she transferred from a university in Texas that ended up being ground zero for hurricane Rita. That was a crazy time as I was visiting her the same time that Rita moved in. I had to cancel my return airline ticket and rent a car as my flight home was scheduled for two days after the hurricane would have hit. Renting a car was a mission within itself, but through persistence and a bit of luck we were able to get one. We had just witnessed hurricane Katrina and the damage it had caused and we didn’t want to take the chance of going up against this storm. By renting a car we believed we could get out of the storms way and when it had passed she could then return to school, or so we thought. At 5:30am we drove out of the city and later that day we heard on the radio that an immediate evacuation had been declared for that entire region just 30 minutes later at 6am. We had missed chaos that ensued just by half an hour. That southern Texas city was hit full force and was left with an incredible trail of destruction. We ended up watching it unfold on CNN from the safety of a motel room that evening. As a result, she had to transfer. It just so happened that I was looking for a place to start Graduate school and the University of Louisville ended up being the perfect fit for the both of us.
My Travels
Before moving to Louisville in January 2006, I lived in Ypsilanti Michigan 2003-2005, Fayetteville Arkansas 2000-2003, Cambridge Ontario 1997-2000 and a short stay in the big city of Toronto 1997-1996. However, before the great travel began the story originates from Dublin, Ireland, my home for 15 years. We left for Canada on September 4th 1996; when you immigrate you never forget the date.
Running
As for my running career it has had many ups and downs, much like a roller coaster. In fact, my entire life seems to have followed that pattern. I have been ranked as high as 25th in the world for the indoor 5k and have competed at major international competitions and on the flip side; during my senior year I had to face the reality of not being able to exercise (let alone run) as I was lead to believe there was the potential for me to have an athletic induced heart attack. Yep, I was 23 years old and feared for my life and couldn’t care less about running. Something like that will make you wake-up and put things back in the correct order of priority. Today my physical condition is at the point that I need not worry about it, however I now look at things very differently.
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