Big Curly Baby

Yesterday was pretty hectic but not quite as heroic as I'd planned. Our friends Ben and Alison and babies 1 + 2 have returned from SOUTH to God's own country, and settled in North Berwick, so we planned to go and see them.

1st of all I thought I could get my long run in early to accommodate the Lasswade 10 on Sunday. I work 8.30 to 12.30 on a Friday, so I thought I might get home, have a quick turn around and run down the coast the 23 miles to NB. Meanwhile the Buchanan would be charged with the responsibility of taking a change of clothes for me via train. He was going to meet up with Ben who would be finishing up work and commuting home and we'd all meet later. My mind likes a plan but my body doesn't always like it. I got home and I was tired and also HASSLED by the thought of everything that needed to be done. What I wanted most of all was just to chill out and wind down a bit. My weeks are hectic and bitty at the moment. So I revised my plan to going out a tough 10 miler incorporating Arthur's Seat, the Innocent Railway path and Duddingston.

By the time I got out I felt tired  and I had a sore left hip I'd picked up from somewhere. "Okay, maybe I'll do the 8 miler" I told myself. By the time I was round the back of Arthur's Seat 5 miles seemed plenty and I headed home. It was kind of humid and when the sun came out it felt really hot. Some flies obviously thought so too and hatched out from somewhere. One big lazy fly went in my left eye and while I was trying to blink it out another got me in the right eye. Ha, very funny.

Happily the rest of the day went much better. We met Ben catching the train and went to see where he and Alison and the babies are staying. We'd met the older one Reuben before but we'd never met Donald the big, curly baby before. Alison handed him to me for a moment or two and he squirmed like something possessed to get away. I could only just hold him.

While Ben and Alison got the kids off to bed, we drank wine in the kitchen. Then we had a big catch up and the hours passed like minutes. At about 10pm we had to decide pronto whether we were going to go for the last train or stay the night. Staying the night seemed a good short term solution but I was craving having a big long sleep so we decided to go for the train. We don't normally have a big meal and a pudding and lots of wine and beer before setting off on a run but that's what we did last night. It went surprisingly well considering. North Berwick was  pretty quiet and still as we raced down the road and hopped on the train. At the other end of the journey, Leith was just warming up to the task of a Friday night out. We avoided any interaction. As one young lady was screaming for her friend Chantelle I had to reflect that it seems like no time since people started calling their babies Chantelle, (What started it?) and now those babies have grown up and are young adults, screaming in Leith Walk. Time moves on apace and we can't seem to stop it. You make a decision and before you know it its an established fact, a part of history.....

And so to bed. I went out like a light and never stirred til 10.30 today. Today is to be a low-key day with certainly no running ahead of tomorrow's hilly 10 mile race. My weekly mileage continues almost criminally low but maybe I'll rectify that in March somehow.