New Gadget

I bought a new toy yesterday, the Garmin Forerunner 305, complete with GPS positioning and a heart rate monitor. With the dark nights I have not been running in many months and this little gadget is just the motivation I need to get going again and back into shape.

Below is the results from my run today. Average of 10km/hr over 7km, which is way off my Baker Hughes 10k result of 47mins last year. What surprised me though was my heart rate, which was way over the recommended training zone, up nearing the maximum 187 for someone my age, and over at the end with the hill climb back up to the house. I'll be monitoring this over the next few months as I get back into my stride. First target is the Garioch 10k at the end of March.

Challenge #1 - Formartine & Buchan Way

After a few Sherry's at new year M & I agreed to partake in a series of challenges throughout 2009, and the first challenge of the year was to walk the Formartine and Buchan Way from Dyce to Maud yesterday.

The Way starts at Dyce, passes to the east of Newmacher and through Udny Station before reaching Ellon after 13 miles (21 km). It continues north through Auchnagatt before reaching the crossroads of Maud. The Ellon to Maud section is 12.5 miles (20.1 km) long. Having parked about a mile from the start of the journey, we covered a marathon distance of about 26 1/2 miles.


The journey began at 08:30, with the start of daylight.

A frosty morning, with a strong southerly wind helping to push us along.




Some tricky sections to negotiate, but easy for my offshore lace-ups.

With no stops other than a freezing 5min seat on a rock at Udny Station for a sandwich, the Challenge was completed in 7 1/2 hours, arriving at Maud 4pm just before we ran out of daylight.

Sore but not broken, Bring on Challenge #2.

Happy New Year

After a quiet Hogmany knowing what was ahead, we went to M&D's for lunch on the 1st, followed by a few games.

A few houses and a masonic walk later and we ended our new year celebrations at Stuart's party on the 2nd.

How embarassing Dad's can be!

Guitar Hero

Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.