A trip into town...remind me to catch the bus next time!

Today was long run day, and I'd managed to convince my father-in-law that he'd like to be my outrider. Saying that, he didn't take a lot of convincing as he likes to get out and about on his bike, and I think it was a good opportunity to get away from the decorating that he's been doing at home!

He collected me just before 10am, and we parked in Kings Norton and hopped onto the canal towpath and headed towards town.

The first mile or so went without a hitch, and then there was a bit of confusion about which direction to go in and we found ourselves on the Rea Valley Route. Hmm...how did that happen?!

A very kind cyclist going in the other direction led us back through a housing estate, and after a mile detour we waved him off and were back on the canal towpath and heading in the right direction again.

For those of you who know my father-in-law, you'll know he enjoys talking to everyone. Today that included everyone going past on their canal boats.

Well it did - until he lost concentration mid sentence and nearly took a dunking.

From that point on we stuck to hissing back at the geese that made us feel very unwelcome on 'their' towpath.

The Edgbaston Tunnel upset my Garmin, but we were soon through its 56 metre length and back out in the sunshine.

It was really interesting to see a different side of the city - the back of Kings Norton, Bournville and Cadbury's, Selly Oak and on into the city.
We arrived in the centre of town just before midday, and stopped for five minutes for a drink and some fudge.

It would have been nice to sit down for longer, but I knew if I did that I wouldn't get back up so we turned round and headed back.
Although we'd just covered the route it took on a different perspective running back in the opposite direction, and there was always something to look at.
I can't tell you how lovely it was to have someone to chat to along the way, and was a great distraction from my tired legs and sore feet as the miles clocked up.

We ticked off the London landmarks as we went along - 6 miles got us to Cutty Sark, and as we headed back into Kings Norton we imagined crossing Tower bridge at mile 12.

The final picture shows the Specialty Minerals kiln outlined against the skyline.

This is where hubby works, and I was hoping he'd have climbed to the top to cheer me on, but sadly not.
Not long after that we got back to where we'd parked. While father-in-law headed straight for the car to put his bike up on the bike rack I did a circuit of the playing field to get just that bit closer to my 14 mile target.
So - another long run...done.
There's now just under five weeks to go until the big day. Tomorrow evening is my fundraiser event, so it's going to be a busy week.
I'm hoping to fit in one more long run before the big day, and then the taper will start.

Hmm...I wonder what my father-in-law is doing in two weeks time....