About Me

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I'm not a serious runner, and I'm certainly not that competitive. I'm someone who has two children, reached her 40's and simply wants to stay fit and feel good. I am writing this blog to share my thoughts, experiences and hopefully inspire others to take up running and explore green spaces in a city and further afield. I work as a freelance journalist and a part-time school librarian, and write this blog purely for love. Please feel free to comment and I'll do my best to reply and continue to write an entertaining blog.

Monday 28 February 2011

Skiing in Scotland with a bit of running

I'm not really showing off, but it was a quite a surreal experience coming back from Scotland after three days skiing. No flights were involved, no waiting at airports, just lots of driving. Despite the weather being gloriously mild and sunny, there was still plenty of snow for skiing. OK I know its not the Alps. The pistes were short and narrow and some runs had tufts of grass poking through, but it was skiing in the UK and it was fab.

We stayed in Aviemore and arranged ski hire at Loch Insh Watersports Centre - a short distance away. We weren't that organised with ski school and ski hire and thought we would just leave all that until we got there. Being half term we were lucky to get any skis at all and ski school for the kids was fully booked everywhere. But that didn't matter. Dave and I drew on our rather limited knowledge of skiing and gave the girls a very relaxed introduction to skiing.

Intially we thought we would ski at Cairngorm, but it seemed everyone else had the same idea and the place was packed. Instead we took the quieter option by driving to The Lecht ski area - about 40 mins from where we were staying. This was perfect for the kids - lots of easy runs - and Dave and I took it in turns to ski down the blue runs. By the end of the three days Jess had also mastered skiing blues. All without ski school! So a big thanks to the lady I spoke to in the swimming pool changing rooms who gave me the tip of trying The Lecht.


I also managed to squeeze in a 8km run through the forests near Aviemore. I often run with other people so it was quite a treat to take myself off and run on my own through this beautiful woodland.  This is what running is all about. The only sounds were the wind blowing through the trees and the nearby river. Perfect. The Aviemore 10k looks very inviting.

So if you fancy a bit of cheap skiing, there is still loads of snow in Scotland, so get on up there!

1 comment:

  1. How fabulous! We go to Scotland every October and drive through the mountains, past the ski slopes at Glen Shee even though in October there aren't skiers!!

    CJ xx

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