What is harder getting fit or loosing weight ?

When I started my weight loss journey a couple of years ago I kind of thought with loosing weight I automatically get fitter, unfortunately that's not the way it works, at least for me.
I always thought getting fit would mean just running around the House once or twice a week would get me to such a fitness level that I easily could do a 10km race or even a half Marathon
How wrong I was, looking back at my journey so far I have to say , loosing weight is certainly not easy but in comparison of getting to my dream fitness level it's child's play.
I have learned that I will have to fight for every bit of improving my fitness.
I still have to loose 10-12 kilos of weight but I'm sure I will get there slowly but surely.
I'm very curious to see how far I can get my body to go in regards of getting fitter.
Last weekend I did do a 28 km Charity hike and even though the last couple of km did really hurt ( not only from my blisters) I never doubted that I would be able to finish that hike, that is something that would have been impossible 3 Years ago.
Anyway to finish this off, for me loosing weight and getting really fit are two very separate journeys which are still somehow connected to each other, with that in mind I'm looking forward to my next sprint Triathlon next weekend

Pictures from the Charity Hike

Did I already mention that I love Hiking ?

Yesterday I did the third annual Charity Hike for our local mountain Rescue Team , it was a 28 km Hike through a rather well known Area here in Ireland called Glendalough. In previous Years this Hike was a night Hike which was along the Dublin Wicklow County Border, very though very mucky but the sense of Achievement tremendous.
Since I don't have any sense of orientation I'm really happy that the Wicklow Mountain Rescue organizes this Event once a Year. They get some really needed funding and I can safely Walk during the Night with an experienced Guide .
Something I would never do on my own.
This Year they had to change the Format into a Day Hike and it had to be done on sustainable Trail , I was not very happy about that, when I heard this.
Actually I was really disappointed because this would mean I would miss out on my Night Hike but I also would Hike in an Area which I thought I knew extremely well and therefor it would be rather boring.
Anyway  I still singed up ,  I kind of felt obliged because I'm really grateful that these Guys are out there and when I do my Hikes on my own it is a very good to know that if I get in trouble I can call them to get me out.
So with not too high expectations I started that event and as usual with me I was very wrong, I Hiked in Area's in Glendalough that I might have glimpsed at some stage or more often I never had seen before, the Organisation was again perfect and even though the Weather was as usual a mix out of Sun and pretty heavy Rain it was just really good fun.
It took me just under 8 hrs to do the Hike which included a couple of nice Breaks where the Rescue Guys showed us bits and pieces of their Work and how the Rescue people from the Mountains.
I also managed again to get really bad Blisters on my heels which I will have to nurse today quite a bit
This was also probably the longest Hike I ever did but not the thoroughest one , when  we did this charity Hike in 2011 the first time , i firstly was defiantly not at the fitness level I'm today and i had to be pulled out of Bog holes more than once.
So whatever the Route for Charity Hike 2014 will be I want to take part again since every time I think I know it all , I get the big reminder No I don't , which brings me nicely back to earth ;o)

Triathlon just rocks ....

It finally had arrived again on Saturday , this Beautiful and Amazing Season called Triathlon Season, ok strictly speaking I was on a Triathlon Event a couple of Weeks ago but since that had turned into a Duathlon it doesn't really count.

So on Saturday , it was time to Swim ( 750m ) to Cycle ( 20km ) and to run ( 5km ) and I enjoyed every single meter of it, I can't even remotely describe the buzz I felt when I did put on my Wetsuit, I so much had missed this feeling, it was like meeting a very good old friend again.

I couldn't wait to get into the Water ( River Swim by the Way ) and I'm not even a really good swimmer but this Time I didn't just want to  get the swim done and dusted, I wanted  to do it well and I think I did do it well ( first Personal best of the Day ) . I still was not in the strong front group of Swimmers but I was defiantly not last in my group and no one from the next Wave did pass me on the swim ( that was a first as well ).

I did really put  Work into the Swim and was so existed to finish it in style , then the hardest part of the Race started , getting the flipping Wetsuit off, where I once again did get a leg cramp, really have to sort that out. 

After I finally managed to get the Wetsuit off ,I jumped practically on my bike and I was taking over people , me slowpoke Rodriguez for the second time of that day I took over other Competitors ( had done the same in the swim ) . Ok many passed me as well but that was ok with me. 

For some reason I decided to work really hard on the bike and I fully knew I might risk that I would need to walk on the Running part but I was willing to risk it ,so the second personal best of the day happened .

So the last part started Racking the bike , trying to get my Garmin from the Bike getting the runners on  ( felt like it took ages ) and off to the run , I was hoping to do the 5km in under 40 minutes but that was the realistic Goal , the dream goal was doing the run in 35 minutes . The Run was a mix out of Trail and street run which is not easy to navigate but i like Trail running so really enjoyed it , did I mention already that the Weather was gorgeous  as well ? The Sun was shining and i was running along a beautiful River , It did hurt but at the same time I was the happiest person on the planet. At around the 3rd km of the Run I realized that I would be finishing this Race in about 15 minutes and I didn't want it to be over so soon. I gave it all on the run and I huffing and puffing like a old Steam Train but I was really competitive against myself I wanted to do this one in a good time and bang 3rd personal best of the Day which was 35min and 35 seconds.

To put in perspective I'm still in the back of the pack but I shaved 15 minutes off the Time I did this Triathlon last Year and as mentioned before it was the best fun I could imagine.

If I compare last Saturday ( Triathlon ) and the Saturday before that ( Adventure Race ) It couldn't have been more different , I know now that I'm a Triathlete with all my soul and my goal will be to be as good as possible in that. 

When I'm doing these Events I'm not thinking about my possible Alpha1 complications which might come one Day or my thyroids which keep on growing into my Lungs , I'm just a very happy triathlete doing what I love to do, so in 2 weeks time is the next Sprint Triathlon just that one with a  difference , it's a open Water Swim and a 7km run and I can't wait for it to start.

City of Athy, amazing Crowd amazing Event