I climbed a tree!

So today as I planned I set out for the park at around one. I brought climbing gloves, water, a hat and my phone and wallet in a backpack. As I approached the park I saw the wall ahead of me and the gate about 300m down the path. Since the plan for the day was to have fun climbing and running etc. I hopped the wall and began my day.

In the first area, an area with a tonne of ramps made for mountain biking there were a few nice trees. I spent about 20 min running up the ramps and climbing random trees. After that I decided to go for an explore. I climbed a few more trees and sprinted down and up between the small hills before climbing a few of the steeper parts. I wound up making my way out as far as Clontarf and back over a period of about 3 hours. I went up and down quite a few trees and did a lot of jogging, sprinting and walking. I had a really great time but was exhausted on the way home. I like how each tree is like a puzzle. You circumnavigate before deciding the best way up. Sometimes when you get up a bit higher new routes look more interesting. the solution is constantly evolving and always interesting.

I don't know if I will go back tomorrow but I will be going to the park a few times a week for a few hours. It is just a lot of fun. I might even get some friends in on the act. We could have races, time ourselves running up banks and it would be nice having a bit of company despite how calming the seclusion is. Four eyes are better than one and that means interesting paths to follow etc. will be spotted more often.

Got to love the public park

Park life

So today I began my new lifestyle... well sort of.... I did manage to avoid eating much more junk (I ended up eating that pack of crisps). That said I did manage to get up off my backside and go for a walk!

I was just going to walk up along the coast so I brought my PSP for music, my phone and my wallet so my pockets were pretty full. not only that I wore my new vans which have a bit of white on them. As I walked down the cycle track that runs along the coastline I saw St. Anne's Park looming ahead. I decided that I would be a nice place to go as I haven't been there in a while. I walked in the main gate and was about to go up the main path towards my home when I saw an Alsation/German Shepard running down the path and on the smaller one down to the side. I decide to follow and soon I saw one of the duck-ponds up ahead. It was a beautiful sight (despite gratuitous amounts of litter and algae) and I stopped there for a few minuets and watched a duck who had an itchy foot. There are few things quite as awkward as a Duck trying to swim and chew its foot at the same time.

After I had amused myself for a while I got back to my walk. Eventually I realized the potential for fun and exercise. There are trees to climb and hills to hike up and down. there is even near vertical slopes for climbing. The problem was that all the paths, hills, and cliff faces are dirt. The fun stuff was dirt and I had loaded pockets and white shoes. I decided to refrain from the park as a playground and just walked through normally.

Tomorrow, however, I shall return to the park in track gear and hiking boots and I will climb a tree and the hills and all that stuff in the name of fitness... ...as long as it isn't raining...