A big lump of rock!

Sheesh....a day off and we were out the house at 05:50am to go swimming at the Commie Pool. The legend that is Scott Balfour was coaching and it's always nice to see this hero! I was amazed at how fast everyone was swimming in the warm-up and I even put in one of my fasted 100m's ever, trying to keep up. I ended up at the back of the lane as a result and then got a wee but frustrated how a number of people slowed up when we were actually meant to be swimming fast! Grrrr......!

After our swim we headed to Peter's Yard on the Meadows for breakfast. I was ravenous, eating a pistachio bun and a nutty scone! The coffee was good too! Rosemary had her favourite, a cardamom bun but I'm less sure of the sweet taste with this spice. Afterwards, are headed off to a meeting and I went a bike ride down the coast. The tiredness from the swim was somewhat negated by a rather strong tailwind, albeit until Aberlady. From then on it was a ride of attrition with the wind slowing me down to a snail' space. Still, the roads were quiet and it's always nice to get back on my old training grounds.

70km worth of bike riding and a hard swim had me fast asleep again even before lunchtime. I awoke to R buzzing the door buzzer just before 2pm. After more chill time, we got ready to go out and headed up to friends' Neil and Jess for pre-cycling dinner dinner drinks. A couple of the club's sponsors were there and I made a major faux pas by not recognising the name of their company! I suppose it is my second claim club so I'll excuse myself.

I get annoyed sometimes at big dinners because the veggie choice is usually an afterthought. The food was definitely passable, and I made a conscious effort to minimise wine intake because I was working the following day. Dan Lloyd the ex-pro who rode for Cervelo test team was after dinner speaker. The poor guy......it's a joy to have so many juniors involved in the sport but Mr Lloyd had to bin his pre-planned rude jokes as he wasn't expecting 13 year olds to be present.

Rosemary won the triathlon trophy which was a massively heavy lump of slate! "Am I expected to carry that thing home on the bus" I thought! Arnott and Heather, two stalwarts of the sport were at the dinner and I always enjoy chatting with them. Arnott is 80 years old but still competes in triathlon and does the World Championships every year, regardless of where they are. Arnott's mother was best friends with my Great Granny Thorburn so we had a good chat about her.

I'm not sure if people like Great Granny exist anymore. As a wee lad, I was always expected to behave impeccably in her presence. I had to knock to enter her sitting room and she was always sitting bolt upright in her chair like the Queen Mother. In fact they shared the same birthday of the 4th of August 1901. She had an imposing demeanour, speaking in a slightly Morningside accent too. Great Granny would always wear a large diamond broach and would not leave the house without wearing a very expensive fur coat. I'm sure she had a fox that was worn as a scarf too.

It was yucky kissing her reptilian like cheek though, and whilst she always wore expensive smelling perfume, it didn't quite cover her old person aroma. She was the 1st person I knew who died, probably in 1980 or so. I loved Great Granny.

Arnott and Heather offered R and I a lift home and normally I would have said "nahhh....it's fine" we had to transport a massive hunk of rock home and I welcomed it. They had a huge Mercedes with an electric boot and a monitor to tell you when you're sleepy! Such technology adds a feeling of safety when the driver is almost double my age!