Well I say action-packed. Peter was off to a spin class so I sat about in a warm room playing on the computer for a while in the morning. When he got back we got our kit together and headed out Gullane way. It was bitterly cold outside and really the old actor's self-inquiry "What's my motivation for this?" doesn't touch the level of self-questioning that the thought of going in THAT IRON GREY SEA encourages. Habit is the key. I haven't missed a weekend yet and now I just plain don't want to. I've been doing this malarkey since last September. Next weekend is where it gets interesting. I'm doing a therapy weekend thing and my only time to get in the water will be Saturday night (IN THE DARK!!!) or Sunday night (IN THE DARK!!!!). I'm thinking it will have to be just a cossy on and into the water at Portobello...
Anyway, arriving at Gullane it all seemed so difficult. It occurred to me that we should go to Falco's and get a big coffee each for some courage...but it doesn't seem right to start drugging to get it done either. As the fates would have it, we set off up into Gullane for our run and a frantic knocking at a window drew our attention to Lucy and Amanda. Lucy's just temporarily moved into a house in Gullane. So we got to say Happy New Year to friends and we got our big coffee and then set off again half an hour later with an extra runner!
This kind of tom-foolery is really the only way to get going.
Six miles done and Amanda declined our generous offer of having a swim in our sea with us! With the coffee and the run behind us we had more courage and we listened to the 3rd movement of the stirring Symphony no 5 by Sibellius on Classic FM as we struggled into our wetsuits in the car in the carpark and tried not to look like doggers as the windows steamed up.
Our thermometer showed the water was a little shy of 4 degrees Centigrade. It was quite a thought. Maybe I really am adjusting because there was less protest from me than from Buchanan, who claimed that his teeth were hurting with the cold. Because of this he took to back-stroke. I really tried to do some proper swimming. Which is never much. It goes okay but then my arms and legs just gradually stop working.
Swim done we went to do a Tescos shop in Musselburgh so I could take advantage of the fuel saving on my Clubcard. I know, you couldn't be more thrilled! Shopping in an unfamiliar Tescos is challenge enough but we were cold and it was dark and we hadn't eaten since breakfast, so we decided it would be best all round if we ate something. Don't ever say we don't know how to enjoy ourselves. We had a romantic dinner for two in the Tescos cafe. I went to the toilet and discovered I still had sand all over my face. I probably smelled salty too, but that's the kind of thing you don't know about when you're in it.
You'd expect the excitement to end there...but no. That morning Edinburgh Bike Co-op had phoned to say that my mountain bike was ready to be collected. I haven't seen it since early December as my suspension fork went to spend Xmas in Amsterdam. I don't know what it had been up to there but it was looking good, and I had to hand over a disheartening amount of cash to get my bike back. I suspect it's practically perfect now though. We arrived at the EBC at 5.30pm and Buchanan shot out of the van like a greyhound out of the traps because he wanted to take advantage of the Sale. I picked up my bike and at 5.59pm he emerged with his arms full raving about all the new things he had.
You'd expect the excitement to end there but....I had to go to a friend's house to pick up some keys so I dumped Peter off and went on to the next part of my mission, hoping that he might take care of tea and do the dishes, but when I got home he was still standing about looking at his new cycle helmet in the mirror and writing things on facebook.
This morning he is off to the Feel the Burns Hill Race and I'm going to stop whizzing from one thing to the next....
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