a hard day in the office

Sometimes when the (metaphorical) clouds descend I have doubts, and worry that somewhere along the way I missed a turn, too addled to see the path I should have taken. However sometimes when the (literal) clouds lift and I can down tools and sneak off for an afternoon run like today, I think there's not much wrong with life.

Hottest day of the year so far. I had forgotten what it was like to leave the house in a t-shirt and not carry a jacket, or jumper for later. I am only just managing to avoid sunburn after a weekend of warm weather and blue skies, and can feel the tops of my arms complain lying in between warm sheets.

Jotun make quality paints.

The legs felt unusually worked today. On Sunday in the Pentlands I was messing about taking pics then I would rush to catch up with Mary giving myself maybe 30 sprints on uneven ground. My quads are reminding me of this today which doesn't bode well for tomorrow evening's Caac 5. I hoped today's 6 or 7 miles would somehow be the equivalent of a massage before tomorrow. That's how it works isn't it? I should probably get the foam roller out.

Birds keeping an eye on me while a ship flushes its tanks.

Mary knew I had seen the forecast of wall-to-wall sunshine and agreed it would be a sin not to make a space in the day to head down to Gullane and run along and back on the beach and maybe through the woods. We had a couple of chores to do that we could arrange around so quickly threw the wetsuits in the van and headed down the road.

I suspect all the junk in the top half of this photo is Muirfield where a crowd will gather in July to watch grown men hit their balls with sticks.

Predictably Gullane car park was busy. The tide was quite far in but left a spit of wet sand making good running. We started on the grassy trails above the beach and ran West to Aberlady, which was nearly deserted by comparison. A few nooks were filled with early-retirees and parasolled pensioners slowly baking in the unseasonably warm afternoon. There was a cool breeze travelling West with us which inspired Mary to put in a couple of impressive sprints before we got to near the mini subs. Which were submerged today. We found three fluro green tennis balls, one which made a wheezing squeak when depressed. The office chair at the East end was still there and we messed about on it, taking photos and film.

the last of the tree trolls

We ran back to Gullane then took the high road past the car park and along to the woods. Sadly the tree trolls have been dismantled leaving just Minty the sole remaining troll. The dappled light between the trees was delightful. As we exited to head to the beach again a kangaroo lazily watched us. I moved closer to get a blurry long distant pic. Now, I said to Mary, (but really, she reminded me, to myself,) IF I had a long lens say 3 times the zoom of this one, I wouldn't have to chase this animal across the field. The kangaroo only reluctantly hopped off, to play the part but couldn't really be bothered any more than the Eider Ducks earlier who were happily sunbathing on some rocks. The lens question comes up intermittently (and frequently on Amazon) when I have too much money burning a hole in my bank account. Should I spend more than the camera, and ALL the kit cost, to buy a lens that I can only try when it arrives? Reviews are good. I am humming and ho-ing. Several times today I would have had the benefit. Instead I have a blurry magnified pic of a kangeroo.

skippy

Nope, don't know.

Back onto the beach and with the wind behind us we did a last sprint or 2 along Gullane Bay. We had some other stuff to do including a Tesco's run, so left the wetsuits, dry, in the car. The only REAL reason to go through that palaver today, would be to make AGH seethe with jealousy. Which is not the kindest motivation. Lovely weather though. My apologies and condolences to everyone stuck in offices.

Yak galloping.

Moonwalk (8th June) Marquee going up in Leith Links