rain stops: play!

Mary woke me on Monday morning with a cup of tea and the news that since the sun was out we would be driving to Gullane and running along the beach. Excellent. 

Being a Monday (Falko's closed) we caffeined-up at the Village Coffee House. It was quiet and the normally gruff owner was even doing his best to be friendly and accommodating. Or maybe the good weather put him in a jolly mood? And the coffees were good. We parked at the beach, ran back into Gullane, through the golf course on the JMW then crossed the bridge at Aberlady. The clouds cleared and we soaked up the sunshine feeling it chase away the winter blues and specifically my below par run the day before. Mary was so buoyant she leapt up onto this tank trap for a photo. (Leapt = clambered, with help.)

Which is not to say the rain hadn't taken it's toll. The paths were dotted with puddles and in places there were small ponds (close up above) you had to splash around. Feet were damp but not soaked through by the time we hit the beach. The tide was more than halfway in: subs well covered. We ran west to get the whole length of the beach for some intervals. We had thought to do 5 mins x 3 with 2 mins recovery but after the first 5mins Mary threw in the towel. I didn't put up a fight as I had seen lots of photos I'd had to run past (carrying the big camera) calling out to slow down or stop. There seemed to be shoals of anemone shells and flocks of Stints, glimpsed as I puffed and gasped down the soft sand. We were happy to slow down and mess about - setting the tripod on the sand and trying to count the ten seconds self timer, as we ran away from, then towards the lens.

There's a Starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds

Around Gullane Point the light was just fantastic and I asked the boss if we could extend the run along to the woods. We were having a great time and at the car park we continued past to the woods. The sun stayed out for pretty much the whole run although by the time we were in the car heading home it was clouding over. We definitely got the best part of the day and it was just a fab day to be out enjoying the low sun, sparkling light and muted winter colours.