Training so far: Croagh Patrick, Mangerton and Galtee Mor

Although positivity will be important in trying to get us to the top of the mountain, wishful thinking won't get us the whole way. There's going to be some training involved. In preparation (and in fear of failure!!!) we've started out to climb as many of the Irish peaks as we can and so far we've managed to scale Croagh Patrick, The Devil's Punchbowl and Galtee Mor.

Croagh Patrick was the first trip, and although Ciara put loads of effort into planning the weekend she ended up sitting it out due to a horrible flu. I managed to make it to the top with the other girls we had roped into the weekend, I was last though. I'll post a few photos- if just to embarrass people!


Next up (literally!) was a trip to Kerry and an assault of Mangerton and The Devil's Punchbowl. The place was magnificent, and although it was our first training trip together we didn't make it to Mangerton summit and had to be content with a freezing cold picnic at the lake at The Devil's Punchbowl. Seriously, if anyone out there is looking for a walking holiday, make your way to Killarney and the surrounds- we spent the next day walking the Gap of Dunloe and it was pretty breathtaking.
So... we had to wait until our third training day to finally scale a mountain, and appropriately enough it was our very own Galtee Mor. Having said that it was our second attempt at Galtee Mor. The first day we went up we were invaded by a thick, dense, white fog that, 30 minutes from the top made us turn back for fear of ending up in God Only Knows Where, otherwise known as Anglesborough!!! Galtee Mor was a great boost for us- it's a great walk, with things only getting tricky at the end. There's a real sense of achievement from climbing a mountain, and we're so lucky to have this one on our door step. Anyone who wants to climb Galtee Mor, but who doesn't want to attempt it on your own (which of course we wouldn't recommend!) can come with us on our Mini Kili climb in August.



More details will follow in the coming months. With this training behind us, the three month countdown is nearly upon us and things will be stepping up from here on in. Any adventures will be detailed here, so you can keep an eye on us- if there are no training entries you can bully us- we'll appreciate it in September!

Lisa

You want to go where?!

The plan was hatched months and months, in fact over a year ago to
give Kilimanjaro a go. Why? As a lot of our friends have asked...
Well, why not?

At 5895 Kilimanjaro is often considered the most accessible of the 7
peaks. On the 15th of September Ciara and I will find out just how
accessible that is.

We both got the bug from different pursuits and backgrounds- Ciara
from sailing, marathons and a search for a challenge. And me an
amazing stroll around Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

The fundraising idea came later and so did the training- here we'll
attempt to keep you up-to-date with all training, fundraising plans
and events as time goes by. We'll let you know how close we're getting
to our two goals- to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and to raise €10,000 for
the Mitchelstown and Ballygiblin Juvenile GAA.

Lisa