Djouce is a mountain in County Wicklow. Ireland sometimes has a generous definition of mountain, but at 725 metres high, it is starting to feeling like a proper hill. It is a 7-8k round trip that takes around two hours to complete, a lot of which is on boarded paths.
It forms part of the Wicklow Way which was created by J. B. Malone. Malone was a Leeds lad, so we’re claiming the Wicklow Way and hill-walking as a Leeds invention now.
Our building recently held a cheese and wine night for residents. We’ve been trying to work out what these is. ChatGPT thinks it is a Spanish-style cheese coated with paprika such as a Pimentón Ibérico or Idiazabal, but when I searched for those, they did not look that similar.
We’ve just launched the new-look Leeds Anxiety Clinic website. Same great service but with a more modern look.
Last week we hiked up Tibradden Cairn via Three Rock and Two Rock. It is about 10k there and back from Ticknock. Two Rock is the highest point in the Dublin Mountains at 536m, although the Dublin Mountains are part of the Wicklow mountains which go higher (they’re just the other side of the county border).
I’m excited to share that I’m now a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society.
I’ve been in psychology for many years, and chartership is something we work towards over the course of our careers. It’s nice to hit that milestone. Of course, I’m still the same person I was yesterday – just now with a few extra letters and a slightly longer email signature.
It was wet. Proper wet. Soaked to the skin wet. Lovely course through the woods, though. Thank you so much to all of the volunteers who came out in the rain.
The Causeway Coast race takes place on the north coast of Ireland and passes the Giant’s Causeway. There are distances of 10k to ultra, with the half marathon involving a bus ride to Carrick-a-Rede where the race starts and the course follows the coast line back to Portballintrae.
The race starts in the quarry and heads up along the headland. There are several chokepoints and stiles so it is easy going at first with lots of queuing, but it isn’t the kind of race you try and go fast in anyway. You pass through Ballintoy Harbour, which is a beautiful sight.
It then drops down onto the beach and there is lots of scrambling over rocks, followed by a kilometre or two along the beach. The sand wasn’t soft, although was a bit soggy. After that, it mostly runs along the cliff tops with plenty of ups and downs for good measure.
I started feeling anxious about half way and had a rough few kilometres. Then, just as I was feeling better and picked up my pace, I went over on my left ankle. I was worried I had done some damage but luckily, after getting back up I was able to walk and then run it off. No issues the next day.
You do see the Giant’s Causeway but it is from the top of the cliffs so it is not comparable to seeing it up close. The cliffs around there are impressive, if a little unnerving given the wind. I am not sure how high they are but I would estimate it is around a hundred-metre drop.
For the final part, we drop down to sea level again and run along the railway tracks back into Portballintrae where the finish is.
My official time was:
2:37:11
I wasn’t interested in the time; I just wanted to finish, so I was happy with anything. It is definitely one of the prettier races I have done so if you want a scenic coastal route and just want to have fun, this is a good choice.
Christie parkrun is an out-and-back along the River Bann in Coleraine. There was a warm welcome from the team and ticked off another C for the pirates challenge.
What better way to end the triathlon season than with a tip in the Atlantic Ocean?
There was no accommodation available in Westport itself so we ended up staying outside of the town in rural County Mayo. The internet download speed was 500 mb/s. This is what happens when a country invests in infrastructure.
The weather wasn’t particularly kind and it rained heavily overnight but eased off to on-and-off showers. But thankfully I had my support team with me so I had a robe to wear until just before the race.
The swim was in the harbour and a chilly 12 degrees C in the water. I was nervous about drowning and freezing to death and had a rocky first third of the course as we wam the first side of a triangle. Then we turned and swam across the bay with the second third going face on into the waves. The final side was easier but seemed to take forever so I was pleased to get out of the water.
A big thank you to the water safety crew for looking after us. The water temperature was unpleasant but I have definitely had worse and the group warm-up before the race really helped.
it is a fantastic bike course. It is an out-and-back along the Wild Atlantic Way. Relatively flat and I never felt like I was going into a headwind, but did feel like I had a tailwind on the way back. The view was beautiful across the bay with Croagh Patrick on the other side.
The run goes up the greenway out of Westport. That means it is uphill but only gently so you can still run a comfortable pace both ways. There was an aid station at the turn around point and despite the poor weather, I was so warm by this point I went for the old cup of water over the head before making the return journey.
My overall time was:
1:26:53
And my splits were:
| Discipline | Time |
|---|---|
| Swim | 12:02 |
| T1 | 5:50 |
| Bike | 42:43 |
| T2 | 2:00 |
| Run | 24:15 |
That was good enough for second place overall! With the important caveat that there were only 19 of us in the try-a-try distance. They did have prizes for the top three men and women, though, so I came home with a prize!
It’s a lovely event if you don’t mind a sea swim and want some fantastic views packed into a sprint distance.
Lough Ree is a lake in the middle of Ireland. It is where I did the Two Provinces Triathlon in July. But where that took place in Lanesboro at the north of Lough Ree, this took place at the opposite end, as Coosan Point just north of Athlone. Which is great because there is a motorway all the way to Athlone.
I think the water temperature was higher than the air temperature. Nice to get it in before the autumnal days bring the water temperature back down.
Lake swims are usually the easy option compared to sea swims but the weather is not always kind on the far side of the Irish sea. There was a real chop on the water. Not as bad as Lough Cutra, but comparable to a calm day on the sea. This was my second weekend in a row racing, after Lough Key last weekend, so I was hoping for some confidence and an ability to go for it in the swim.
Alas, no. The chop really took me out of my front crawl and it made it feel like hard work. Hard work reminds me that if I stop swimming I will drown, which leads to a bit of panic. It did not stop me, though, and towards the end i did get into some front crawl. We then turned back directly into the waves, though, and that was that.
As we got out of the water, the rain started to come down. Most of the cycle was in the rain which made it difficult to see through my sunglasses. But otherwise a nice ride: a few lumps but no real hills. Three loops of the same course, so once you had completed one lap you knew what to expect. The rain eased off as I came into T2.
The run was an out-and-back along the same road that the cycle course initially went out on. I felt good on the run: I was maintaining a strong pace without feeling it too much. That said, it is always hard work and I was delighted to see the finish line. Which came with a well-stocked array of water, milk, biscuits, buns and crisps, as well as a voucher for a complementary burger from the burger van.
My overall time was:
1:16:16
And my spits were:
| Discipline | Time |
|---|---|
| Swim | 9:40 |
| Bike | 36:31 |
| Run | 22:42 |
Transition was fully neutralised so my leisurely T1 cost me nothing. The bike course was 17-18 kilometres which is why I was so snappy there. My watch had the run a little short, too, but maybe that was just the trees.
We were well loved after the whole way and there were loads of marshals on the course. Thank you to everyone at Athlone Tri Club, and to
Derek Fox and Toine Siebelink for the photos!
In addition to the support, I really liked that they had our names on the bibs, and that all of the stickers were bright yellow. It is the club’s colour and makes the stickers look much more interesting than the plain white ones.