Mallow 10mile run

I have been a bit neglectful of the blog recently so here is a bit of a catch up. Since I returned from Scotland in Feb I haven't managed to get out on the hills as often as I would like. I have been to the MacGillycuddy Reeks a couple of times in different conditions. About three weeks ago we had a bit of snowfall and I went back to enjoy a bit of a winter outing. I climbed Carrauntoohil in soft powdery snow and even managed to get an attack of the hot aches. It was nice to experience winter conditions again. No need for ice axes and crampons though and I have news on that front as well. I am now the proud possessor of a new pair of Petzl Quarks and Grivel G14 crampons. I got a great deal from Kerry Outdoor Sports on the axes that I couldn't pass up. I may head to Scotland again in the middle of April if there is anything left. Otherwise I will have to wait until the Alps in June,(I have booked from June12th to 28th), before they get used in anger.

Snowy Eastern Reeks

I took the lovely Ruby to the Galtees a couple of days after Carrauntoohil for a climb up Galty Mor, at 920mtrs an Irish Munroe. There was a dusting of snow and the day was fine and calm. This was about 14k and had about 1000mtrs of ascent. Her short little legs ate up the ground but I think she was exhausted by the time we got back to the car. Ruby is my little dog by the way.


GaltyMor fron Lough Curragh

Margaret and me headed to Fort William again via London for a few days touring. We traveled up and back on the Caledonian Sleeper train and enjoyed spectacular weather and snow blanketing everywhere. I would really recommend this train as a way to travel, of course it helps that as an employee of Irish Rail I get a massive discount. Anyway a great trip that showed Lochaber and Argyll at their best.

Last Tuesday I went to the Reeks again and as I had been a little piggy on the Scottish holiday decided that I needed a good outing, so I opted for the Hags Glen horseshoe. This is a big outing that basically covers all the Reeks in one big round. This involves about 15 kilometers and about 1800mtrs of climbing so it served as a fitting purge after my slurge. I covered this in five hours twenty minutes and was well pleased.

This brought me to yesterday where I decided to enter the Mallow 10 mile road run. I have been having a few problems with my knees so I was a little wary of ten miles on the road. It was also a new experience for me running in a crowd. I started off quite tentatively but soon got into my stride and was feeling good. I was going a good pace and found my competative instincts kicking in as I was constantly picking out the next target to overtake. Anyway I was really delighted to finish in 71 minutes 48 seconds. There is a bit of life in this old dog yet. The training for the Alps has oficially started. I finished 282nd out of over 800.