ReBoot - Exploring Wellbeing

We crossed a burn, looked out over a loch, hit some squelch, touched the top of the cairn, and bagged a Munro! (Translation non-native-speakers of Scottish: we crossed a stream, looked out over a lake, hit some squishy mud, touched a pile of stones that marks the highest point of a highland mountain, and climbed a peak of over 3,000 feet, one of 277 mountains in Scotland that are named after the early twentieth-century Scottish mountaineer, Sir Hugh Thomas Munro). There really is something metaphysical about these steep, craggy, and green—but treeless—Highland mountains. A walk to the peak of one takes you out of your smart phone, anthropocentric world order. I would recommend Re-boot to anyone looking to get off the beaten path and wanting to understand why the Scottish Highlands have drawn mountaineers for centuries.

I was really nervous to come along to the trail run. I’ve been road running a long time, but have always been reluctant to try uneven ground. When I moved to Scotland and saw what people trail run here, I was shocked and very impressed. Secretly I wished I could do that, but realistically knew I’d spend most of the run faceplanting. Then the ReBoot trail running group ended up in my inbox. You know how you can see the first sentence of a new email, well this group was about how running in beautiful spaces is almost a form a meditation. It is a way to destress and reconnect with what’s important. That’s always how I felt about running, so I impulsively joined. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the first 5K run and ended up signing up for the 10K up Allemuir Hill. Alastair and Richard were very supportive and kept stressing that all levels were welcome. Between that and the fact that I can run 9-10 miles on the road, I thought I could manage this. However, the run was shockingly hard, amazingly beautiful, but shockingly hard. I kept thinking, I can run 9 miles, I shouldn’t be thinking of bailing on a 10K. Add to that the fact that I was the only one who had never done a trail run before, so I was frustrated that I was clearly slowing down the rest of the group. That run could have been my last trail run. I could have gotten stuck in my frustration and disappointment in my current capabilities. But I didn’t because the group was so incredibly supportive. It was support that wasn’t patronizing, or even always verbalized. And, it did feel like a community run – that no one cared I was slow. I finished, and I loved it. I have work to do – continued training on challenging trails, but I feel like I am actually capable of it. So, thank you ReBoot for showing me I can do something I truly thought I couldn’t. I’m looking forward to my next one!

What an awesome experience this last weekend. Alighting from the ferry at Kinloch, Isle Of Rum, we made our way along the coast to Dibidil Bothy for the night, enjoying the amazing views of Eigg, crossing rivers and avoiding the worst of the bog!My first night in a Bothy and it was comfortable and serene to be by the sea.In the morning we headed off to the Rum Cuillen Ridge with breathtaking views. A steep first section to get to the ridge which certainly warmed us (and my quads!) up; then flattened out on the ridge where you could see the sea in all directions. You really could see and sense we were on an island!We couldn't summit every peak due to the weather and appreciated Alastair's decision not to traverse the trickiest bit due to the howling wind and rain that hovered over us for an hour.Spotted a herd of deer on the last leg and we'd timed it perfectly to get back to the ferry (and a stop off for a well deserved ice cream at the local shop before hand!).Thanks Alastair for a well planned and awesome weekend. Just what I needed to decompress after working in London for a few months without a decent break.See you again soon!