The Brick – Q&A Session – Niall Guerin

  1. FULL NAME: Niall Guerin
  2. BIRTHPLACE: Born in Tipperary, moved to Offaly when I was 8. Dublin for about 12 years and living in Galway since 2009.
  3. WHEN DID YOU JOIN GTC AND WHY? January 2022. I really just wanted to join a club for social reasons, to get fit, and try something that got me out of my comfort zone. My wife Sinead had been a member for a few years, and she said it was a very friendly and supportive club. The beginner’s evening convinced me. They said you can do one, two, or all three disciplines and that made it accessible. I’ve made great friends here who are a key part of my life now, and I’m extremely grateful for it.
  4. OCCUPATION: Platform Engineer in a high-performance computing (HPC) group, based at the University of Galway and collaborating with other HPC groups in Europe.
  5. PREVIOUS SPORTS: The only sport I played as a kid was soccer, and I loved it. I did not do athletics, and I never learned to swim until my wife booked me into an adult class for a few weeks in my late 20s. Did martial arts in college for a year. Managed about 5 park runs over a ten-year period before joining the club.
  6. SWIM / BIKE / RUN, WHICH DO YOU PREFER AND WHY? Run. And that love for running has only developed since joining GTC. The year I joined, Miriam showed how to slow down on long runs on Saturdays so you recovered properly to be able to work hard at track and tempo sessions the next week. I really enjoy the GTC track sessions, the structure, the camaraderie at track. I got to know a lot of people in the club through running. Swimming I’m making more of an effort at this year, so also getting to meet new people there. I just find I’ve to concentrate much harder on swim training sessions!
  7. FAVOURITE EVENT: Berlin Half Marathon was the best atmosphere I ever experienced at a half marathon race. It’s flat and fast with an electric crowd, so I would definitely recommend it. Lough Key is probably one of the nicest triathlons if you want a less competitive race vibe. Very friendly club up there. And I went back there last August after a two year break from triathlon. Swim Trek is something I hadn’t considered until Sinead signed us up last year. That was really cool having an active holiday like that, as previously I would never have dreamed of signing up to such a trip.
  8. SPORTING CLAIM TO FAME: Hannover Marathon in April this year. It was my first marathon. Jonathan Gibson, a coach I’ve been working with in recent years, had set it as a goal with me last year when I said “I think I’ll do a ¾ marathon” and he said let’s just do the full distance! I think I still have a high from that one. We eased very steadily into training and it was the most enjoyable training period in my life.
  9. 3 MUSIC TRACKS THAT POWER YOUR TRAINING SESSIONS: I generally don’t wear headphones running or during any training session, unless it’s a gym workout. The Moby “Everything is Wrong” album would be something I play a lot, with Anthem dialled up to the last, and I would play tunes in the car before a session. Journey, Chappell Roan, Britney, Twenty One Pilots, Billy Idol, M83, Joy Formidable, Muse, and Fear of Tigers get plenty of play time depending on whether it’s a fast workout or an LSR when more chilled vibes are needed!
  10. YOUR ALL-TIME SPORTING HEROES AND WHY? Paolo Maldini. He represents the pinnacle of longevity in sport and spent his entire career with AC Milan. I idolised him when I played soccer as a teenager. He was an extremely disciplined, intelligent, calm, and adaptive player. Other players from that era all speak very highly of him and his approach to diet, recovery, and general professionalism.
  11. YOUR GTC HERO AND WHY? I’ve a few. Miriam Wall, Karen Cassidy, Luke Canavan, and Laura Daly. Both sets of people have helped me so much in two different disciplines. Karen and Miriam for running, and Miriam also for swimming, particularly in open water in my first year. Luke and Laura for swimming in the pool blocks since the start of this year. Both have very different styles and both push you out of your comfort zone for sure in the pool. They are super coaches, extremely kind and helpful.

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