Get Up Go Outside - Everyday Adventures 17

Winter walks and weekends in the snow.

We’re in the midst of the colder months, where pink morning skies rise over misty, dew covered grassy fields. There's a crunch of frost under our feet as we walk the trails. If you don't mind wrapping up a bit to avoid the chill, the world is quiet and peaceful.

Here are a few small adventures I’ve been on over the past month:

Snow Day in Cannock Chase

An early year get away on the van seen us taking Betty to Cannock Chase to enjoy the miles of gravel trails through the hillside woodland. A few mountain bikers flew past us as they braved the muddy trails, cross crossing the walking paths.

A local pub let us camp the night in their car park after having us for dinner, and we woke up the next morning to a couple of inches of snow. It was back out to the trails to leave out foot prints.

Hill Walking

Work has been busy and my weekends full. I made the most of it though, taking some time back in the mornings during the week to enjoy quiet dog walks at Bradgate Park whilst everyone else was at work.

The sloping, grassy hills leading up to the Old John tower at the top of the hill we scattered with deer and you get a great view of Leicestershire in every direction from the peak.

Winter Nature

The trees and hedges are mostly bare and miserable during the winter months, but it’s also a chance to notice nature changing as we start to move back into the warmer seasons. The route to a nearby nature reserve is banked by gorse, which has beautiful yellow flowers, bringing some colour back to nature. Have you noticed any winter nature emerging?

A Lunchtime Run

I'm trying to get back into running, so made the most of a particularly beautiful day and ran to the top of a nearby hill and back in my lunch break. Just over 1.5 miles but a lung buster that got me out of the autonomy of clicking through emails.

When I find myself with free time that isn’t spent outdoors, I usually end up reading or watching other people spend their time outside. Here are a few things that have taken my interest recently:

• GeoWizard got dropped off 20 miles from his house on a random spot and tried to find his way home without a map or using any main roads.

• Watch this short film about Imo Boddy’s attempt to become the fastest female to run the British 3 Peaks. That's over 700km of running and more than the height of Everest in elevation!

I enjoyed this book so much that I bought the authors second book straight away as soon as I had finished!

Out of Thin Air is Michael Crawley's account of his time spent living in Ethiopia, where he emersed himself into the running community, by living and training with an Ethiopian running club, to understand how one country could dominate international running.

The book is informative, providing insight into how the runners train, whilst also full of fun stories of Michaels attempts to keep up with them.

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