The route that I have been liking recently to run is the bus route from my local pick-up spot towards the city. This does two thigs. The first being that it is then easy for me to just hop on the bus and go home after I am done. I much prefer this over just running in a loop as I get to see and explore more. The second benefit of it is because I am not very familiar with Dublin (only here a couple months and don’t have a car) I don’t have to frequently be getting my phone out to look at maps to make sure I’m going in the right direction. I’ve taken the bus enough times to have the route to the city memorized. So, Vaughans of Terenure seems like the perfect choice as its on the route and well known locally.
The run
The run ended up being 4.58, mostly on flat ground with a clear sky which is just about all I can ask for. My average pace for this one was 9:30, which is about usual for these casual runs. But my heart rate seemed lower than usual, staying under 165 until after the third mile. Which is probably because I sped up the pace to 9 minutes for that one on accident. The cool part about this route is that there are sections where you are off the sidewalk and onto a trail beside a GAA pitch or a neighborhood trail shaded by big trees. All in all, the run was fairly straightforward and uneventful aside for the occasional wait at a stoplight, which I very much dislike.
The Pub
The pub itself was pretty decent, I wouldn’t say there was necessarily anything special about it. They do make the claim that James Joyces mother was born upstairs on the second floor in something like 1849. They had a plaque outside advertising it as being on the Dublin tourist attraction website. Not exactly saying this was a stretch but it is funny to see how many places claim any relation to something famous that could label them a tourist attraction. I’ve found it to be quite common.
The inside of the pub was very traditional looking, and I got a Guinness 0.0, which was fairly tasty. I’ve found the Guinness 0’s to not stray too far away from the taste of an actual Guinness, which is very nice for the non-alcoholic version. The Premier League was also on when I was there, so I got a seat at the bar right near the TV. That TV was definitely old and not great quality, very fuzzy picture. They could use an upgrade there. My experience sitting there for an hour and a half was a good one though. Quiet and very neighborly, not sure that it warrants another visit. The type of pub I would walk down to if I lived nearby but I wouldn’t necessarily got out of my way to go there.
Overall, the run was good and calm, the pub was nice but very run of the mill.
RATING: 6.0