* Written by Liam Hennessy & Andrew Coscoran 

Once upon a Wednesday bright and sunny

I awoke to the delightful thought of running

The thought of training in the scorching sun on April first

Gave every runner an unquenchable thirst

But before our easy run we had to break our fast first 

As hunger as well as thirst needs to be nursed

Too Hot!

The temperature outside was taxing

Without doubt far far from relaxing

"Is it too hot?" Andrew began asking

As he made his porridge while multitasking 

Trails

The running trails were firm and dusty

And the session the day before had all athletes feeling rusty

The sticky sweat quite frankly was disgusting

But Stephen kept me company, both reliable and trusty

Academics

On return the kind cleaners had put all our rooms in order

The dirty clothes had gladly been removed from the corridor 

I sat down to start my study crossing the athlete and student border

Our study session length; two hours and a quarter

Lunch

Lunch once again was delicious

But most importantly was nutritious

Alas, my cutlery wasn't clean, confirming my previous suspicions

Coach Macklin

Suddenly there came a tapping

As if someone gently rapping, rapping on my apartment door

Tis merely the spring breeze and nothing more

However the unwashed cutlery I immediately ignored

As I now saw Coach Macklin standing in my apartment door

Afternoon Snooze

Our lunch Coach Macklin approved

And I called into Garry O'Sullivan who was very deep in an afternoon snooze

Despite my callings he never stirred or moved

Benefitting greatly from his recovery all afternoon

Blister!

Poor Louise Shanahan informed us of her awful blister

Fortunately, the dreaded local insect bites had missed her

Joining us for a chat was her partner in crime Karen Twomey

Who informed me of all her news although none of it now is coming to me

New Drills

In the evening our task was stretches with Joe Warne

And it was a relief from the pounding running we had endured earlier in the morn

Warm up drills are vital and undoubtedly important 

And to all our usual routines, new drills were immediately imported

Highs and Lows

Our third day in Portugal was nearly coming to a close

What Thursday will bring, nobody knows

As we retire to our rooms in our apartments lined in neat linear rows

I reflect on the days highs and lows;

Our meat that never froze, the blister on Louise's toes and dance music over chart music that Evan luckily chose

April Fools

Our group is looking forward to another day of training

Enjoying the assurance that it most certainly won't be raining

Or maybe take it easy and just hang out by the pool

Only messing, April Fools