Sandycove coastline

I am inherently terrible at moderation, I tend to be all in or nothing at all. In life this has both served me very well (I tend to be very good at what I chose to do), and very poorly (sometimes you should probably show up to that Freshman seminar you hate, if you know, you want to pass). When it comes to athletics, sheer determination got me to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, even if I was intermittently unconscious ten minutes later and had to be run down the mountain because I didn’t acclimate properly (whoops). I am also extremely competitive, which manifests itself in the usual ways, and in slightly odd ways like disliking most board/card games because they have an element of chance, and I can’t depend on my pure ability to win. I am also terrible at “playing for fun.” So when I decided to see how I would fare at a 25km hike (about 16 miles) because I’m considering a long-distance trek this May (more on that later), instead of building up, I strapped on my hiking boots and walked along Dublin’s east coast from city center to Sandycove and back.  Continue reading →