Heart of the glens; Take 2

08.08.15

I had the next two weeks all planned out. Packed full of things to do and places to show Emma and Ander; along side Shane wanting to run Cushendall's Lurig run again this year, I wanted to bring the guys to the Antrim coast, show them what it has to offer as well as Emma wanting another tick on her bucket list; with a visit to the Giants Causeway.

Along side all the excitement and build up to my guests arriving, Shane was also arriving home the same time. He was returning from Norway where he took part for the second year in a row in the Tromso Sky-race, a gruelling 45kilometres with an elevation of 4400m; overall an outstanding ability to first of all consider taking part in and secondly beat his time from last year. His decision to take part in the Lurig run was with an outlook of simply having fun and he had no preconceived idea of pushing himself since he was only home a couple of days and was recovering from injures.

With that as his outset from the beginning of the race, we cheered him on with excitement has he set off with a strong confident pace that would exhaust me if I attempted to keep up. Non the less he blistered in at a time of 30:25 coming out No.7 overall improving his position from 10th last year. Just goes to show the strength he has, some times he doesn't even realise his own ability.

After all the excitement that Cushendall had to offer we headed north along the coast and decided to add a stop to our tour that we didn't do last year, Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. I had not been here since I was in the scouts and that was quite a few years ago. Summed up very well by Ander "so its a rope bridge out to a big rock surrounded by water?"... eme Yes. Thats about right. Fun Fact, not far from the rope bridge there is an old quarry that was used to film scenes from 'Game of thrones'.

Next stop the Giant's causeway as Emma says 'Finally'. I was surprised as to how good the weather managed to be, with the past two months showing signs of winter rather than summer conditions, we got a mostly dry day with good visibility over to scotland, allowing us to tell the guys an old myth of Finn MacCool the giant.

I was having such an incredible day yet I couldn't stop myself from becoming somewhat nostalgic. Exactly this day last year, mum and I had watched Shane's race, walked the interlocking basalt columns of the giants causeway and as we done this I was constantly thinking of how many days I had until I was leaving for america; I had already left my job and in my final week of preparations. 

So much has happened in one year, so many decisions have been made; so many people I have met that formed into friendships. As I watched Ander plod around on the rocks and Emma smiling from ear to ear as she pinched herself in relation to where she was, I couldn't help but close my eyes and cherish this moment. The idea had never crossed my mind that I would be standing here in exactly the same place a year on with friends that I had made in Colorado. Woooh does life move quick.

2014                                                                         2015

With some extra stops on our whirlwind tour including a drive through Bushmills town, a sneak peak at Dunluce castle and the cherry on top; fish and chips in Portstewart by the sea.

Next american ninja warriors in training

If you thought that was everything, think again. To round this 'relaxing' day off nicely, we had to get the guys a sup of the black stuff especially since Guinness tastes best in Ireland. Fact!