some (but not 50) shades of grey

Some running was required for today but not so much that it would take the edge off tomorrow's cross country. The forecast was crappy (again) but slightly worse later on so we got up early-ish and Mary came up with a cunning plan whereby we injected a bit of fun into the drab 8 miles from home to Joppa and back. She (travelling at 8.5min/miles) would leave 9 minutes ahead of myself (travelling at 7.5min/miles) and I might catch her towards the end of the run. This would take our minds off the criminally grey scenery. And it worked. (I would never choose this route as it features in Weds eve training most Wednesdays and there is little of interest along the coast here. As the photos plainly show.)

I ate half a breakfast (1 slice of toast, no cereal) then about 9 minutes after Mary left I left. My main focus was not to catch Mary but not to trash my legs for Paxton tomorrow. I wondered how long she had spent putting on her Garmin vs me locking the door. I warmed my Garmin up indoors at the window so got a prompt first mile in at about 7 minutes - but it is mostly downhill to the links. I tried to hang back and stopped to take the occasional photo. By the three mile mark (at Tumbles) I was ahead of schedule by 30s. By my calculations Mary should have been nearly at the turning point at Joppa. 

This is the green van mentioned in Mary's blog

Customer standing in front of "that fox from our childhood"

The further I got along the prom the more my heart sank. M should have appeared by now. Don't tell me she's been abducted and murdered again. Last time was run home Thursday a couple of weeks ago and I nearly had to miss Wintervals and cycle round Corstorphine Hill in the dark looking for her corpse in all of the shallow graves there. I was pretty much at Morton St by the time she at last appeared. After a brief chat we continued and I thought she maybe increased her pace (I tried to stick to the 7.30) because it took quite some time before I saw her again.

(Note distant blue couple ahead.)

Just before the Joppa end I saw the ceramic tile that has been placed there. I quite like the friendly font used and the fact it is quite discreet. And flat to the ground so you wouldn't trip over it. I wished I had thought harder when I passed the "start" tile and I could have measured the mile to check for accuracy. (Even though there was a reassuring spray paint beside the tile with 1609 / 1m written. Okay I'll let you off with the 34cms.) I then had a D'oh moment as I realised I could of course measure the mile on the return journey. That it would in all likelyhood be the same in this direction as that.

And it was, to the nearest .01 on the Garmin. Well done marker and measurer people. Thumbs up for the whole project.

Craig on the return, Hi Craig!

Now this rowboat was looking just great somewhere between sea and sky but I didn't take the time to stop for a proper photo thinking one taken while running would do. I couldn't see Mary ahead but should still have taken the time to stop and get a decent image. Next time.

Once onto the Cat-and-Dog section I could see Mary: she sure showed the blue couple!

Still she was up onto the main road and over the bridge before I caught her.

Last night Shery and Johnny were posting on fb about runs today. I realised we may well be in the vacinity and started to type "remember to wave when we go past". But then thought what are the chances and deleted the idea thinking it would cause more trouble than joy. And because of that, directly because of that, who should we see but Johnny bouncing and gambolling along the cyclepath above Granton Rd. And shortly after, Yana. 

Although the photos show how grey and drab it all looked , by the time we got back indoors, life had improved no end and we even had enough up-and-at-em to do a Tesco's shop in the rain. Thanks to coach Mary for keeping it fresh.