Testing Times Tomorrow…

Ireland’s Highest Mountain

I’m getting up in a few hours to drive to Kerry to climb Carrauntoohil and undergo a fitness test with Pat Falvey Worldwide Adventures.  It’s a training weekend to see how my fitness is shaping up for climbing Mount Elbrus in July.

A bit ‘hot and bothered’

Already things have not gone  smoothly. The plan was to drive down from Dublin this afternoon and get up early tomorrow, fresh and well-rested to tackle the challenge ahead.  However, heading out on the N7 in the height of rush-hour, my 23-year-old car ‘Little Red’ got a bit hot and bothered and I ended up stranded in Dublin for the night.

So tomorrow I get up at the crack of dawn, drive to Kerry in a borrowed car, and climb a mountain – then on Sunday I climb it again ‘against the clock’ – and then head back to Dublin, to run the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon on Monday.

If I sound a bit sorry for myself….  I’m not, but I do feel a bit nervous.

I’ve been dogged by injury since February and I’m carrying extra weight, and I haven’t got enough training under my belt to tackle Ireland’s highest mountain.  This has not been an ideal preparation; so I know tomorrow will hurt, and Sunday will hurt. I don’t mind if I find it tough – as long as I can do it.

Ok, scrap that. Rewind, change the record.  Let’s put all this in an entirely different way.  Tomorrow I WILL climb a mountain.

Countdown to Elbrus