Running Away: A Winter in Lockdown

Like, well, almost everyone else Scotland I haven’t ventured too far since before xmas so I do hope that you are not expecting this blog post to be very exciting because it isn't. Local we were told it had to be and so local it has been. For weeks. I’m not actually too sure what I have been up to over the last few months since the last lockdown kicked in as life has taken on a sort of groundhog day feeling, a sort of constant repeating rhythm without the real highs and lows of life pre-covid. Having said that I seem to have plenty of photos of the great outdoors so I must have been up to something. I don’t seem to have too much to write about just now so I think I will just fill this blog post with photos.

These are the pre-lockdown ones

The Cairngorms before lockdown part.....whatever kicked in

A winter wonderland on Lochnagar

The summit of Lochnagar

Poppies

Everythings going to be alright....

Creag Choinnich

The last group runs before lockdown

After Xmas the mini beast from the east struck and we had the best snow in ages and then couldn’t go play on the ski slopes because of lockdown restrictions. I was miffed, which is putting it mildly. Oh well, no point in grumbling, just had to make the best of it and the best of it was at Hazelhead park at dawn or after nightfall to avoid the crowds at weekends. My new skis are a dream and fish scales are a revelation, especially after last year when I had been coating my xc skis in glide wax rather than grip wax. That made ascending particularly tricky and descending particularly exciting and it was only after a clumsy night ski at the Clash when Colin suggested this could be the issue did the penny drop. What do you mean how could I have got that the wrong way round? The instructions on the wax were in Russian. I managed some nice wee trips on the new skis and only one descent into a snow covered bunker on the golf course where I got stuck in the same manner as a beetle on its back.

And these are the post lockdown pics

Sunrise skiing

Combined with the snow and ice came the inevitable winter storms (the ones that have names) and then the thaw where the river burst its banks and the paths disappeared under water and running turned into paddling. On the plus side though “inclement weather” means there are less people venturing out on the trails and so sometimes the local paths and trails were a little bit quieter.

A submerged park bench

In amongst the snowy days there seemed to be many when the pavements and trails were covered in sheet ice and runs were often reduced to stretches of slow jogging or walking but going out running meant I was rewarded with amazing sun rises and wintery scenes. And then there were the dark evenings and the early mornings when the sleet battered off the windows and the run still had to be done. Creative challenges from various Cosmics members did make getting out the door that bit easier – the animals challenge, the bridges challenge, the water features challenge, the of course 12 hills of Xmas challenge. Although nothing compared to the hills our Aberdeenshire dwelling friends (aka lucky b%$&*) have access to there are some smaller hills within the city boundary and so 12 were selected for this particular challenge for between xmas and new year. The instructions were simple, get to the top and take a selfie for the Cosmics Facebook page. It did result in some pretty terrible selfies alongside the stunning wintery sunrise and sunset shots.

Who is hunting whom?

Snowy riverbank

Snowstorm moving in

Sheet ice and mud

Just sheet ice

Early morning mists

A (covid legitimate) trip to Edinburgh

In case anyone is wondering the 12 hills within the Aberdeen city council boundary that make up the 12 hills of Xmas challenge are as follows, Broad hill, Tullos hill, Kincorth hill, Tollohill, Kirkhill (The Tappie), Hill of Marcus, Elrick Hill, Brimmond Hill, Kings seat, Gairn Hill, Gallowhill and, very tenuously, Castlehill (it has hill in the name and there was a castle there once upon a time so it counts. Afterall, these are desperate times)