I conquered Croghan Mountain!

This morning at 8am, cousin Peter Byrne picked me up and we made the 10-15 minute drive to the base of Croghan Mountain. Here is a little information for ya:

Croghan mountain is 1,988 feet tall and lies on the border of Wicklow and Wexford in the Wicklow Mountains. The full name is the Croghan Kinsella Mountain, named after a historically powerful family that lived in the area. Croghan was also the site of Ireland's only gold rush when a nugget was found in river gravel on the mountain in 1795. The gold is now gone, but many poor people benefited from it at the time as the gold was retrieved by mainly local people. Three thousand ounces are known to have been found.

It took Peter and I close to an hour to reach the top and my goodness it was a challenge. There were some parts of the trail that were incredibly steep and made my lungs work! My legs were feeling okay, but the huffing and puffing slowed me down. The fresh, country air was awesome and taking deep breaths felt very nice. It was also nice to not have to worry about listening for rattle snakes, coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats. I didn't think twice before jumping into the long grass.

Peter is one fast walker! When we were going up the hills I was struggling to keep up at some points. But it was one amazing workout and I can feel already that I will be sore and stiff later!

When we made it to the top it was well worth the hard work. I stood at the very top and could spin 360* and see for miles. It was such a clear day though very windy. I would definitely do it again  :)

Onwards and Upwards fellow runners ... waaaay upwards  ;)

Ah Runner's Itch, we meet again.

Dad and I finally made it out the door in our running shoes today. It had been 7 days since we'd both had a decent workout and so we didn't want to push it too hard. So we went out and my GPS watch was having some trouble finding me because it had to find a different satelite. It didn't find me till we were done! hahaha, so I'll have to guess on how far we actually went. We left Fr. Redmond Park, went through St. Peter's Place, up the Coolgraney road, past the cemetery and then through Fern Hill back to Fr. Redmond pk. We were gone no more than 30 minutes, so I'd say was somewhere between 1-2 miles. Perfect for having had a week off.
Coming down through Fern Hill though, I could feel the runner's itch starting in my legs. This is where the nerves on my legs are no longer used to all that oxygen moving through them and so they expand and contract at a very fast rate creating what feels like itching. It was intense to the point of where I couldn't not scratch it. I knew it was possible for it to happen since it's been 7 days and it is my own fault, but I never learn haha.

On a none running note ... My cousin Peter is a firefighter and after having coffee at Murphy's he took me out to tour the fire station. It was awesome :)  I've always wanted to tour a fire station and get into a fire truck. I took a few photos which I will post soon. The coolest thing was probably the jaws of life, which is freaking heavy for a tool that has to be lifted up by hand. I also got to try on Peter's firefighting coat, which was pretty heavy its self, but then again it was way too big for me. I very much enjoyed my tour  :)  Thank you Peter!

Tomorrow Peter and I have planned to walk up Croghan Mountain which is about 10 minutes out the road. So that will be fun and I will take some photos of the views  :)

Onwards and Upwards!