Sunday brought me with a gang of 15 to Marlay Park and a trek to Enniskerry, 21 km in all on a nicely dry, yet breezy day, one that seemed disappointingly hazy to begin with yet somehow the sun that fractured through the clouds cast the wonderful Wicklow surrounds in gorgeous light for the day. Tonight I write to you a wounded man - though there is no physical evidence I have developed a piercing pain in some part of the back of my ankle that a poor knowledge of biology won’t leave me describe accurately. This pain distracts from the overall attacks on my collected muscles. With all the moaning that comes with the aftermath of such a walk there is no beating the adrenaline, endorphins and positive effects of finishing the journey. So too a pint of crisp Cider can help no end! Each steep hill an achievement, you catch to take a breath or construct a scam to take a picture, using the opportuinity to let your lungs reconstitute themselves. Your sandwiches taste better, you can feel the water rehydrating your body, you feel deflated for a minute on thinking that you now live in a world where you fall asleep to the hum of traffic and equally happy to be amongst a group of people appreciating their surrounds so much and making such good use of their Sunday. I hope for this to be the beginnings of a year of walking and I will dutifully report back on experiences good and bad.

Links: Wicklow Way Walking Trail