The east coast was predicted 19ft waves on Thursday night. Up north in Thurso east, the swells were expected to be 27ft tall with 15 seconds intervals. I imagined brave surfers would be paddling out to catch some waves. Spectators would gather to see such a perfect condition for photos and some experience. Jamie and I were tempted to make a trip up north, but Friday is still a working day afterall and we still needed to go to work like other civilians.
When I woke up, the waves were not much different to how they were before. Not calm, but no where near what was forecasted. It was probably 4ft max. So much for the excitement the evening before. But it was very windy and icy as I walked along the pathway. There was snow along the road on my drive to work too. I could see (small) dead animals on the road side as well as a lot of plastic bags and wastes from the bins due to the heavy wind overnight. It reached 60mph at some places especially the west coast, I heard. But by the time it reached Aberdeenshire I supposed it mellowed down a little - relatively speaking, but still strong. Not only we could hear the wind through the chimney in the living room, we could see how fast everything else moved outside through the windows. The red fairy lights dangling looked like they were about to be blown away. It was one of those nights. Very rare, but when it happens, it is very exciting.
Since there have not been good swell and fresh powder since the past three weeks, surfing and skiing have been on a halt for me. I am now back running to keep fit, although I'm not sure if 'fit' is the word to describe it. I still get breathless and tire easily after short runs. What a loser. Jamie has joined my one person running club and he's good at it. He has done a lot more running than I have and even ran up the hill behind the house. 17%, it says on the road sign, referring to the steepness of the hill. I would never be able to do that but then again, I did say the same thing about running a marathon. We are still trying to find good places for our training - nothing too steep or flat, to prepare ourselves for the Edinburgh course.
Banff provides some great paths for running. The air is not poluted, the pathways have no dangerous holes unlike back in Aberdeen city and there are options to run on the grass along the beach. The town is 15 minutes drive from where I live and its beach is popular among local surfers. The people are friendly and nice enough to not blow their car horns when passing by runners. In Aberdeen, people honked every 10 minutes like they have never seen a woman running before. It was annoying and there was so much need of an MP3 player back then to block away noises and distractions.
The weather is expected to be wet and chilly this weekend. But we have a plan to go surfing anyway and maybe do a bit of running before. To continue learning how to paddle and work on your arm muscles is good to prepare for good sets of waves when the weather gets better, says Jamie. I have informed Carole, who is staying over this weekend with beautiful Kelyan, to bring along her wetsuit and surfing gear. Leave your board, I said, we have enough boards for everyone this weekend.
I have a new wetsuit to be baptised. Let's see what 5mm can do in a 4 degrees Celcius of water. I cannae wait. Until next time, have a very good weekend, everyone and unless you're going surfing, keep warm.
When I woke up, the waves were not much different to how they were before. Not calm, but no where near what was forecasted. It was probably 4ft max. So much for the excitement the evening before. But it was very windy and icy as I walked along the pathway. There was snow along the road on my drive to work too. I could see (small) dead animals on the road side as well as a lot of plastic bags and wastes from the bins due to the heavy wind overnight. It reached 60mph at some places especially the west coast, I heard. But by the time it reached Aberdeenshire I supposed it mellowed down a little - relatively speaking, but still strong. Not only we could hear the wind through the chimney in the living room, we could see how fast everything else moved outside through the windows. The red fairy lights dangling looked like they were about to be blown away. It was one of those nights. Very rare, but when it happens, it is very exciting.
Since there have not been good swell and fresh powder since the past three weeks, surfing and skiing have been on a halt for me. I am now back running to keep fit, although I'm not sure if 'fit' is the word to describe it. I still get breathless and tire easily after short runs. What a loser. Jamie has joined my one person running club and he's good at it. He has done a lot more running than I have and even ran up the hill behind the house. 17%, it says on the road sign, referring to the steepness of the hill. I would never be able to do that but then again, I did say the same thing about running a marathon. We are still trying to find good places for our training - nothing too steep or flat, to prepare ourselves for the Edinburgh course.
Banff provides some great paths for running. The air is not poluted, the pathways have no dangerous holes unlike back in Aberdeen city and there are options to run on the grass along the beach. The town is 15 minutes drive from where I live and its beach is popular among local surfers. The people are friendly and nice enough to not blow their car horns when passing by runners. In Aberdeen, people honked every 10 minutes like they have never seen a woman running before. It was annoying and there was so much need of an MP3 player back then to block away noises and distractions.
The weather is expected to be wet and chilly this weekend. But we have a plan to go surfing anyway and maybe do a bit of running before. To continue learning how to paddle and work on your arm muscles is good to prepare for good sets of waves when the weather gets better, says Jamie. I have informed Carole, who is staying over this weekend with beautiful Kelyan, to bring along her wetsuit and surfing gear. Leave your board, I said, we have enough boards for everyone this weekend.
Photo: Green room paint on canvas by Jamie Harris (www.harrisjam.com)
I have a new wetsuit to be baptised. Let's see what 5mm can do in a 4 degrees Celcius of water. I cannae wait. Until next time, have a very good weekend, everyone and unless you're going surfing, keep warm.
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