The Cliffs of Moher

WE’RE GOING TO THE CLIFFS!! Big day. Big day. It’s 645, and I unfortunately went to sleep at 2 so I’m not exactly feeling prepared for the long day ahead of us, but I’m very excited! I’ve heard so many great things about the cliffs and can’t wait to experience them. Our tour guide said anyone who wants to join him on a run along the cliffs can, it’s known to be a good trail and gets you further along the cliffs faster to see more with your time there! I haven’t ran in 2 weeks, but was in a good running routine before finals and this trip, so I think I might be up to it! I figured this is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I should take advantage of it, we’ll see!

5 long miles and many breaks later... 

I learned that if someone asks me if I’m a runner I should probably say hell no instead of kind of. Signing myself up to run along the dangerous terrain of the Cliffs of Moher with a experienced marathon runner leading our pack was slightly ambitious to say the least! The first miles were insane, I was honestly having the time of my life. A smile never left my face and my only thought inside my head was “this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” Euphoric is the best word I can think to describe the feeling although I don’t think any word could really explain how amazing it felt to be running along the cliffs. I had to be extremely careful of my footing and speed, since the edge of the cliff was not fenced off and I could easily easily fall right off the edge at certain points. The views were unbelievable, so it was hard for me to look at the ground when all I wanted to do was stare out at the landscape instead! The euphoria quickly faded as our guide’s sprinting seemed faster and faster up harder and rockier hills and with several fence hops later I was barely hanging on. I quickly regretted my previous statement of “yeah I’m a runner!” I was falling behind the faster people in the group, and certainly behind Gavin, our tour guide. At the worst of it I really thought about if it would be possible to come get picked up or if I could just quit in the middle for good. But neither were plausible, we were in the middle of the cliffs on the way to the restaurant where the rest of the group was patiently waiting for us. And when’s the next time I could say that I ran along the freakin cliffs? Probably never. So I pushed along even tho I really contemplated death for a quick minute. I no longer tried to keep up with our marathon runner leader and ran at a slower pace, and realized I was not in fact dying but actually living in the most incredible moment. The cliffs were 100% the most surreal experience I’ve had thus far in my life. Obviously me saying I might be dying was just the slightest bit dramatic, but I truly was not prepared for the 5 miles on that terrain as I thought. But I did it, and I had never been happier!