Last year we planned a lot of our hill walking and trail running trips in advance which meant we visited some of the best places in the worst weather. This year we’ve decided to try and avoid commitments and head for the hills whenever the sun makes an appearance. So far, winter has been miserable. The crisp, white frost and blue skies of the past two years has been replaced by gales, rain and gray skies. We resigned ourselves to staying close to home and working hard on our fitness in preparation for 2012′s adventures in the hills. As luck would have it, when the sun finally came out we’d been training so hard that all we were fit for was a good rest. So much for the new Bohemian lifestyle!

We still managed to get a good dose of sunshine close to home though.

Having completely fried all my muscles with speed sessions and power-lifting over the past fortnight I’m on a strict diet of easy runs this week. Beanie and Biggles are very happy about this as it means plenty of nice 90 minute runs on the beach for them. Today we trundled along in a civilised manner until their dad appeared with the camera part way along our course. Things got a bit exciting then….especially when dad lured the pups through ice cold water dragging their hapless mum behind them!

That water was FREEZING – there was no way Beanie was going in!

Blue skies, blue sea, warm sunshine and the snowy white peaks of Arran peaking out above the haze. What more can you ask for?

Such well behaved pups!

I’m a firm believer that most things in life are good for you in small doses. And that goes for canicross too. A little bit of pulling in harness is very good for the dogs – it is strength training after all. But just as you and I need to keep strength and speedwork in moderation – and build it on top of a strong fitness base, so too do the pups. As such, the dogs are on flexi leads for most of our long runs (today was an exception because my arms were killing me after a hard gym session!). This is the next best thing to running free as it gives them plenty of scope to vary their speed and run the way they choose. We’ve been trying to take this a step further this winter and have been working on ways to get them off-lead on a regular basis. We’ve come up with lots of off-lead games for the beach which are working well and keeping them close to us, but we also take them to a safe enclosure where they can let rip.

And of course, the sunshine has prompted plenty of play sessions in the garden.

Hopefully our winter training will get us in great shape for the spring and summer. We’ve got lots of trips planned (although no dates set!), the main one being a week long extravaganza of trail running, hill running, hill walking and hiking on the Isle of Skye.

It was a lovely sunny day today with a nice crisp frost on the ground. The ideal day for a bit of Beagle-cross! What is Beagle-cross I hear you ask?

Enjoying a cross country romp…with a difference

We all know that the ideal sport for a Beagle is drag hunting – a pack of Beagles running across the countryside following an aniseed trail with humans following the hunt on foot. In the old days the pack would have been hot on the tail of a bunny, but that’s illegal now so an aniseed trail laid by a human is the next best thing.

There are two obvious drawbacks for the typical Beagle owner:

1. Finding a farmer that’s happy to let a pack of Beagles go careering across his land is not easy (Although it has to be said that the farmer next door to us has offered. In fact the fox hunt used to meet at the end of our road!).
2. How likely are you to get your Beagle back? Are you willing to take the risk that he’ll favour deer or sheep over aniseed?

The next best thing we could think of was to have our Beagles follow the trail whilst on lead. Sounds dull? Well actully it’s superb fun because you run with them! Here’s how it works:

• The trail layer runs off dragging an aniseed rag behind them. Their objective is to loose the Beagles.
• A little later the Beagles are set off to follow the trail. They’re attached to a runner via a harness, bungee line and belt. The Beagles will go full pelt and stick to the trail like glue. Through streams, mud, woodland, over walls and fences….the level of chaos depends entirely upon the imagination of the trail layer. For the humans it’s the ultimate cross country running experience! The game ends when the Beagles catch the trail layer.

We aim to make it last for about 2 kilometers. Of course a Beagle can run much further, but when attached to a human they’re pulling a heavy load. They won’t let you know they’re tired as they’re driven to hunt so for safety reasons we think it’s best to keep it short and sweet. In addition, you’ll run much faster over a shorter distance and that’s more satisfying for your Beagles!

The more Beagles in the ‘pack’ the better, but in our experience it’s best to let them hunt as a pack. That means everyone runs at pretty much the same speed. It’s not fair on a little Beagle to be left behind the pack just because he’s attached to a slow hummie. Staying with the pack is very important to a Beagle!

Warming up with a 1k cross country run

Other tips are a good warmup first – we even do a little 1k cross country run before hand to really get their blood pumping. And a nice long cooldown walk afterwards. If you try Beagle Cross with your Beagle please send us a video of the fun!!

Situated on a cliff edge on the Mull of Galloway, this used to be the most southerly fog horn in Scotland:

…until Biggles visited for the day and his distinctive warning siren echoed across the waves to Ireland.

We’d been planning a day trip to the Mull of Galloway since our return from the West Highlands last week and had just been waiting for a sunny day. Quite unexpectedly we opened the curtains on Friday morning and saw clear blue skies and sunshine. We bundled the pups in the car and were on the road within half an hour.

We’d only been out of the car for a couple of minutes when Beanie and Biggles noticed a sign instructing them to “walk this way”. At least, they think that’s what it said. They oblidged with their usual noisy enthusiasm and really couldn’t understand why mum got so upset.

The Mull of Galloway has two fog horns. One is big and red and the other is tricoloured and goes by the name of Biggles”

After exploring the lighthouse and foghorn for a while we headed off on our cliff-top walk. We’d actually planned to run the 10k trail but sadly the sunny day came along when we were really all due a day off from running. So we opted for a walk this time instead and I’m actually very glad it worked out that way. The scenery is just stunning and you really don’t get to appreciate the views quite so much when running. The route runs along the edge of the cliff tops of the West side of the Mull for about 4 kilometers before heading across country then following the East shore back to the lighthouse.

I wouldn’t say that I suffer from vertigo, but I do have a healthy fear of danger. So I was a little alarmed when I saw large warning signs on the gate at the start of the route saying “Dangerous Cliffs – Proceed at your own Risk”. Beanie and Biggles clearly read something very different from me and lunged through the gate and bounded along the path before I had too much time to think about it. You don’t have the option to walk further inland as the farmer has erected a fence to stop live stock toppling over the cliff edge. You’re forced to walk on the cliff side of the fence.

At some points the route ahead looks quite daunting – sheer cliffs with waves crashing against them and the little path winding precariously close to the edge. It’s tempting to reach out and put your hand on the fence to steady yourself. But as I discovered to my cost it is actually an electric fence!

It’s not long before the views back toward the lighthouse start to look truly stunning.

To give you an idea of scale, that tiny dot on the top right is Beanie, Biggles and I!

I don’t know if you can make out the little white dots on this picture? That’s sea foam. The wind was so strong that it was blowing blobs of foam all the way up from the sea and carrying it quite a distance inland.

There are a couple of very short sections where the path winds down to a little rocky beach, but it quickly winds back up onto high cliffs.

This is about as far as the path goes before crossing through fields to the East coast. If you look very closely you’ll see the lighthouse way off in the distance. That’s where our walk started, winding all along the coast. It looks as if the lighthouse is on an island but it is actually connected to the mainland.

The trouble with this time of year is that you run out of daylight very quickly. But fortunately we had the lighthouse to guide us safely back to our car.