Climbing my Everest

Beep, beep, beep. I rolled over and looked at my phone, 6.30am...what was I thinking? I can't remember the last time I had to get up at that time. I was tempted to hit snooze but I remembered why I set the alarm so early. Andrew & I were off to Killarney to hike all 1682 ft of Torc Mountain. Eeek! I had that knot in the pit of your stomach feeling, this was the first mountain I had ever attempted to climb and to be honest, I was terrified. A million self doubts rushed around in my head..could I do it? Would I make a fool of myself? Would it be worth it if I failed? I reminded myself that the last time I attempted to do any proper hiking I was over 4 stone heavier. The new, fitter, healthier me can do anything she puts her mind to. I pushed self doubt aside, told myself I would give it my all and climbed out of bed.

Saturday was glorious weather, and yesterday, Sunday was due to be the same. Perfect hiking weather apparently, crisp, dry and spectacular views at the end. We both staggered around in the dark, grabbed our hiking gear and got our food supply out of the fridge. I had packed sausages for Andrew for breakfast and bacon medallions and gluten free toast for me, both of which we were planning on cooking beside the lake on our camping stove. I had also packed sandwiches and some goodies for after our hike, all of which I pre-tracked so I knew I could eat whatever I had packed. 6.45am and we hopped into the car and headed towards Killarney. It was starting to brighten up a little, but there were a few drops of rain which we hoped would clear before we started hiking.

We arrived into Killarney at 8am and we were met with a heavy layer of fog and very heavy rain. So heavy, we couldn't even see the mountain we were going to climb! We had planned on setting off at 9am for Torc, but decided to have our breakfast beside one of the lakes & go for a small hike in a forest first to see if the weather lifted. Andrew set a time limit of 11am, and if he felt the weather was dangerous, we wouldn't be going anywhere! We parked up the car, set up a little kitchen in the back seat of the car and tucked into our breakfast! After we had our fill we headed to Muckross for a walk through the forest to see what the weather was doing. 

11am came, and the weather was still pretty rotten. We decided to drive to the car park beside Torc to see if we would give it a go. We arrived at the car park and the scale of the mountain really hit home. It was huge and given the weather, I could only see halfway up! Self doubt started creeping back in, but I decided I was worth more than that. I told my hubby that I wasn't put off by the weather and I wanted to give it a go. Why you may ask? I needed to at least try. I had geared myself up mentally, prepared myself and I wanted to prove to myself I could do this.

We started our climb, which began with a one mile hike to the base of the mountain. As we stood at the base of the mountain I reminded myself of how far I had come already and told myself again that I could do this. I have to say, my husband was amazing. He encouraged me every step of the way, slowed down without saying anything when he could see I was struggling and gave me little pep talks when I was doubting myself. The mountain is a mixture of railway sleepers and rocks and it varies in how step the gradient is. It was absolutely pouring, and at times we couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of us. Rain was pouring off my face & I had my own personal swimming pool in my hiking boots! At a few stages I have to be honest, I wanted to turn back. But I knew I would beat myself up if I did. Andrew was brilliant & kept telling me we were almost there. I was aching, sweating and struggling, but loving it. Andrew told me to literally take it one step at a time. I started counting my steps in groups of 4 and found this helped me have a regular pace. Andrew kept telling me..just one step at a time...it doesn't matter how slowly we go as long as we are moving forward.

We turned a corner, and Andrew uttered the magic words...you see that? That's the top! All of a sudden I got a massive rush of adrenaline and we marched to the top! It was blowing a gale, there was no view at all as it was raining so heavily, and we were both drowned...but it didn't matter! WE DID IT!! I won't lie, I shed a few tears...mostly because we realised I left our victory chocolate bar in the car!! We took at few photos at the top and had to head back down quickly as the weather really started closing in. I swear to you, I floated down the mountain! I was so unbelievably proud of myself!

An hour later, we were back at the car. We were soaked to the bone, freezing but very, very happy. We had our munchies in the car, turned on the heating full welly and got into some dry clothes! In total over the course of the day, we hiked 6.5 miles, burnt over 1,200 calories, were on the go for almost 4 hours and climbed 1682 ft. But most importantly, I proved to myself I can do anything I put my mind to. I have made a commitment to better my life by becoming healthier, and by doing so, I am able to enjoy wonderful experiences like this one with my best friend and my love. What could be better?

Have a great week everyone! I am still floating!