Ireland day 1198. Wednesday 08 January 2025- Fast to Sutton

Today’s summary	Phone call re tax first thing followed by a nice video call with Val. Then got up and did a fast walk to Sutton and back. Did the 23.8k in 3h27m, a pace of 8m42s/k, which I was quite pleased about. Had light dinner, spoke to Val again, and watched some tv in the evening.
Today’s weather	Lightly overcast but dry and cold. Light north westerly wind. Appx 2c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The grey line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Fast to Sutton and back

Commentary

It’s said that there only two things in life that you can’t avoid and that’s death and taxes. Well I hope to avoid the former as long as possible but I’m not doing very well on the latter. So, true to form I spent the first part of the morning on the phone trying to sort out a tax matter. Not entirely satisfactorily but at least I made a start.

I followed that with an altogether much more enjoyable video call with Val in London. She’s continuing to have a good time and meeting up with lots of friends. I’m looking forward to her coming back tomorrow.

Most of the rest of the day was spent on exercise. I’m working hard to get fitness levels up and to shed excess Christmas weight – only modest progress so far, I have to add. Anyway, to continue the programme, I decided to try and walk as speedily as I could – without running – to Sutton and back today.

There is a decent route to Sutton that I quite like – over the hill and through Baldoyle then back via the coast. I decided to give it a go today, but to extend it a bit by adding in a loop round the Demesne first.

It was a perfect day for a speed-walk. Refreshingly cold and frosty, but not too slippy underfoot, and hardly any wind. So I set out with a spring in my step and zoomed off as fast as I could without injuring myself.

I quite enjoyed the walk – though to be honest it was all a bit of a blur as I whizzed along. Although I do remember the gentle giants on the Baldoyle Greenway taking a good look at me as I scooted by. In the end I completed the 23.8km circuit in 3h27m, which equates to a pace of 8m42s/km. I was quite pleased with that result, and my joints certainly felt a lot less battered afterwards than when I’ve tried jogging recently. I think though that I need to resist the temptation to over-train, so will probably have a few easier days before I attempt any more heroics. I’m sure there is still room for improvement though.

Once back in the flat, I spent some time rehydrating and stocking up on fast-burn carbs to replenish my depleted stores.

The rest of the day was spent quite quietly. I didn’t feel particularly hungry (I never do after a big workout) so had a light salad and some porridge for dinner. Another video call with Val was the highlight of the evening, then I rounded off proceedings with a bit of TV before retiring for an early night.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Setting off in the demesne and looking enthusiastic	Coming into Portmarnock – good walking conditions (cold, dry, little wind and paths frosty but not slippy)

Looking south towards Howth from the Greenway	Halfway there and still looking a bit enthusiastic

Homeward bound overlooking Malahide beach	Back at the Casino at the end – and looking less enthusiastic (and you can see why I think I need to work on weight loss to regain that chiselled appearance!)

Had to return from Sutton over the station bridge as an approaching train caused the level crossing gates to be closed just as I wanted to go across