Finally, finally I climbed Arthur's Seat this past time in Edinburgh. I'm quite proud of myself. I'm no athlete. I'm occasionally a gymrat but I'm currently in a slump so I'm not in the best shape. However, I was still able to climb on up.
I started out slowly, but quickly felt more confident and picked up some speed. Of course, then the ground started to get a bit steeper. I tried to keep the pace but I swear it felt like my heart was gonna pop out of my chest and I had to slow down. Occasionally I would stop and take some pictures.
At the top, I ran into some other Americans who were taking pictures. I asked if they'd take mine (because you need proof that you did these things!) so we all played musical cameras. It was windy and beautiful, with late afternoon sunshine flooding over us. I looked over at the next mountain, could barely make people out who had walked up to the top and thought to myself, next time.
The walk down, while less arduous physically, certainly was fraught with it's own dangers. I took mincing baby steps down due to the steepness of the path, afraid to go faster because I knew I'd pitch forward and fall flat on my face. Meanwhile, athletic runners passed me going up and I marvelled at their conditioning. Would that EVER be me? I doubt it.
