Carl [kahrl] -noun
1. A strong, robust fellow, especially a strong manual laborer. 2. A miser; an extremely thrifty person. 3. A 25 year old Irish guy with too much to say and not enough people to listen.
It’s very easy to ignore the east coast of Ireland when talking about our beautiful scenery. The west seems to get all the attention when it comes to “green” Ireland, while most peole associate the east with the grey city of Dublin. The following photos, taken just outside Dublin in Co. Wicklow, will hopefully show just how great the east coast can be. Also note that this is just a simple 8km walk, a teeny fraction of our wonderful coastline.
This is a very old walk, and you can clearly see how some of it has eroded the walkway, causing the path to be “offcially” closed. Although still 100’s walk it every day.
Along this coastline, you can see the train tracks of the train I took to get to Greystones, along with 2 tunnels… the one currently in use, and another that was used many years ago before the eroding coast made it too dangerous to use.
In total, I must have walked about 10km from start to finish, and I have to say it was an amazing short ramble. I cerainly now believe that the key to being fit and active does not lie in a gym or on a threadmill, but rather in the open air where one can actually have reason for being fit. I mean… what’s the point in being able to run forever if you’re not outside enjoying nature in the process? Short answer: there isn’t one.
A day later than expected (see last entry for reason), here’s the info from week 2:
Cycled 6 miles. Hiked 6 miles. Walked 6 miles. Make what you want of that, but it’s 666 for me this week in terms of ground covered. That’s 18miles covered in each of the last 2 weeks. Admittedly they’re not huge numbers, but with the first hike complete, and a new bike purchased, I feel a lot was done this week.
Today’s weigh-in has me at 156.8 lbs, which is a weekly gain of 2.6 lbs. Total gain of 5.8 lbs in 2 weeks. I’m not expecting to repeat such levels of weight gain in the next couple of weeks, while I try work more on cadio exercise instead of muscle building.
Physically, I’m feeling better than I have in a long long time, and mentally, I’m feeling more “up for it” when it comes to getting out there and doing things. So all-in-all feeling positive about the whole project.
I intend to start scheming tonight and figuring out what’s next in terms of hiking, travelling and having fun outdoors.
20 followers may be a small number on the grand scale of the internet, but considering I don’t know most of the people following me, it’s a great honour to have you on board, following some unfit irish guy.
So thanks to all of you, and a special thanks to all those who have recently been “recommending” my blog via this link.
I guess there’s only one way to thank you guys right now… with a thank you photo. :o)
So we’ve been having this amazing weather this last 4 or 5 days. As warm as you get for April here in Ireland. So Muggins here decides he’d get up early today and enjoy a refreshing sunny morning walk to start off the day on a high. What do I get? SLEET & HAIL!
It was a little cloudy when I first went outside, but thought “ah sure the sun is just breaking through the clouds… it’ll we warm in a bit”. Idiot Carl.
Of course, the sun is now beaming down again for another glorious day of weather. Moral of the story: Never get up early.
Apparently, the ash covering Ireland and the UK is making our sunsets look more spectacular. You judge for yourself.
The quality isn’t great because I took these on my phone while cycling, and the landscape isn’t the best since I was cycling in what is basically a dump, but when you look to the horizon when it’s like this, I think you can excuse that.
Despite having today’s cycle early this morning, I figured I’d have another light one this evening just as the sun was setting. Brought my camera with me and came back with these… (Click photo or link for higher definition)
I just ran the track that I usually cycle. I can complete a cycle in just over 7minutes. I jogged about 60% of the track in 8mins, then finished with a walk. Took me 17mins in total.
So I wont be worrying about track times just yet… I’ll be happy when I’m able to run the full track and still feel good afterward. I could have kept running, but knew I’d be in a piss-poor state afterwards if I didn’t slow it down.
Anyway, I’m tired and a little annoyed that I didn’t finish properly… and I’ve just remembered I’ve been given out to for not having enough photos on here, so here are some pics of Dublin at night to make us all feel a little better.
So I look out my window and decide it’s a good time to go for a cycle since the sun is out. Spent maybe 5 minutes getting dressed and looking for my shoes, then my room very eerily darkens.
A quick rumble of cloud echoes through my window pane to announce the arrival of a tropical storm, with slabs of rain now pelting down, trying to penetrate my roof (or so it seems).
My old friend Madame Nature seems to be telling me to take a break today… but she’ll have to do more than that to stop me from seeing her. Expect a very wet Carl to return complaining about having a cold later.
