Some seasons slip past without you noticing, but others leave you feeling heavy and a little soft around the edges. That’s exactly how this spring started for me.
After months of short walks at best or simply skipping the outdoors altogether because of the endless rain and dark evenings, my body had forgotten what proper movement felt like. My boots had been sitting there gathering dust, and the idea of heading out again seemed more daunting than exciting.
I wasn’t broken, just paused. The sort of pause that creeps in when the clocks go back, the weather turns miserable, and it’s far easier to stay indoors than face the mud and the cold.
Then one morning the light changed. There was a proper warmth in the sunrise that I hadn’t felt in months. The blackthorn hedges were starting to bloom white, the birds had remembered how to sing instead of just surviving, and something inside me finally clicked. It was time to get moving again.
I didn’t set myself any big ambitious plans or decide to jump straight into something tough. I kept it straightforward and headed out to one of the familiar Wexford trails I’ve come to love over the years – nothing dramatic, just the kind of route that winds up through the hills with views that always make the effort worthwhile. This time though, I made a small change that felt significant: I left the old trusted and well travelled heavy boots behind and laced up a new pair of mountain runners instead. It was a bit of a test, something lighter and more responsive to see how they’d hold up on the softer ground and the occasional rocky bits.
The first couple of kilometres were harder than I expected, there’s no getting away from that. My calves were burning and my breathing felt short and laboured, like my legs and lungs were both reminding me how long it had been since I’d asked them to do real work. There was that deep ache in my hips too, the one that comes from too many quiet evenings on the couch, and two old knee ops! I found myself smiling through it though, half embarrassed and half genuinely relieved, because even with the discomfort I could tell my body was starting to remember what it was capable of.
As I kept going the rhythm slowly came back. The path felt gentler under the lighter mountain runners, the air carried that fresh scent of damp earth and new growth all around me, and after a while I was able to peel off a layer and properly feel the spring sun on my arms. I wasn’t going to rebuild my fitness in one morning, but I could sense it beginning to stir again, step by steady step, the same way it always has.
It’s not only the scenery that makes spring special in Wexford, although the fresh green spreading across the hills and the open views from places like Forth Mountain or over towards Croghan and Tara Hill are hard to beat. It’s the quiet reset it offers. The days are getting noticeably longer, so you can slip out for a trail after work without needing a headtorch. The weather still flips between sunshine and sudden showers, which keeps you paying attention and reminds you to dress sensibly. And the fitness returns in its own gentle way out here on the trails. You’re not counting reps in a stuffy gym – you’re climbing steadily, dropping down the other side, breathing deeper, and gradually realising that the hill which used to flatten you is starting to feel manageable once more.
I stopped at a viewpoint, and simply listened. The wind moving softly through the gorse, a chorus of noisy birds, and my own heartbeat slowly. That’s the moment when the winter fog really starts to lift. Not because I'm magically fit again overnight, but because I'm out there doing the work.
One thing every quiet comeback and every day on the hills has taught me is that the right gear quietly gets out of your way so you can focus on what actually matters. This spring the new mountain runners have been a pleasant surprise so far – lighter on my feet and giving me more confidence on the changing terrain – and I paired them with the Fuarté Ultralight Protective Jacket (excuse the advert!). It packs down small, keeps out an unexpected shower without making you overheat, and weighs almost nothing even when your legs are still carrying a bit of that winter softness. It’s exactly the kind of kit that makes it easier to say yes to the trail when the forecast is still making up its mind.
A few weeks on and the difference is already noticeable. My legs feel stronger, my mind is clearer, and that quiet confidence is starting to return – the kind you only get when you’ve paid the small price of showing up again and again.
If you’re reading this and feeling the same gentle pull to get back outside, don’t overthink it. Just lace up whatever you’ve got, pick a trail you know and like, and accept that the first couple of times might feel a bit tough. Then let spring do what it does best.
The hills and trails are still waiting...Getting back out there on the Wexford trails, one spring step at a time.
– Micheal
Founder, Furté Outdoor Gear