welcome to the heat and humidity of virginia. was up at 3:30am but did some inside stuff waiting for the sun to come up and went to the track at 6:05am. my morning pulse was 51 and that was not good, but it shows what some jet lag and less sleep will do for you. was 85 degrees according to the tv people. the track had 4 walkers already when we got there. i did a short warmup and ran my 15 x 200 workout with an easy 200 jog recovery that morphed into a jog and walk later in the workout as the humidity went up and the quads were tightening. never did get tired but quads did get tight.
the times started slow enough but decent and then went faster. some of my best in a while and i felt ok about that, but need to find a way to keep from getting that tight. gail did her own 200's and then we warmed down together. we hit the bakery and safeway on the way home and had a decent but quick breakfast. she went off to get her car inspected and i stayed home to deal with the bills and dr appts and maintenance appts and 2 months worth of mail and then finally to cut 2 months worth of grass as it started to rain just a bit and then was done. just enough to not help cutting the tall grass. btw- it was $14+ just to fill up the gas cans for the mower. bet people cu8t their grass less often.
anyway- lost 3.5 pounds of water cutting and weeding. then worked inside for awhile again and started to sort out what looks like a 4 person college dorm apt. as we have stuff everywhere. major problem in not being able to use the basement or family room yet. hope to work on that tomorrow and get someone out here to help rip it all out and deal with the flood damage. fun ahead there.
gail did get her car past inspection for only $218 + which included two new tires. for a 16 year old car with a zillion miles on it that wasn't too bad. the new car wouldn't start at all, not a sound and they will come get it on tuesday. tomorrow i will also look into the broken windshield on my own car or the two broken doors or the leaking skylight or the broken shower -- enough i know.
anyway, gail is still dealing with jet lag which i didn't feel at all. maybe just staying up for 4 days is the new way to deal with it. am tired but mostly from working outside in all of that heat and humidity and tomorrow will be hotter.
today after dinner i went out back and hit 200 chips and pitches and then weeded some more just to relax. then hit 250 putts. not one golf swing in two days. doesn't help my golf game but not too frustrating at all.
went through all 2 months of mail and am done with that. finished 12 things of the 55 on my list. will get some more done tomorrow. little by little the list will be dealt with and life is going on. gail misses the UK but i am too busy really to think about it right now. for me it is all about the people though i will miss running there. it was way more like being on vacation than being home will be but there is lots more to do here and everything is so much cheaper though not cheap. paid $4.09 for gas today. a joke as exxon reports record profits. they will not get anymore of my money. bp and shell did also. seemed like everyone passed on the gas hike plus their own gouge. what a joke! but i will leave my ranting for another day as the shower beckons and maybe tonight i can get some sleep. no screaming cat around at least.
i have lots more to say but it will wait. into august tomorrow. no more counting down right now. maybe a new count should be until social security. need to look into that next week. 210 days to i am eligible. how's that?
back tomorrow when i am more awake.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
back in the usa
more like a group email than a blog i just wanted everyone to know we got home tonight. no run today and after 3 hours of sleep and a cheating taxi company we made it to the airplane and had an uneventful ride home until less than an hour to go we hit turbulence and the plane fell suddenly maybe 100 feet- a pure guess on my part. i know it caught everyone by surprise and many people threw up into their "bags" and the kids all cried. when we landed many people clapped and cheered, a slight over reaction i thought at the time.
home to a lawn from the amazon and a dusty enough house and the basement still not recovered from the flood we had last time i was home and lots of mail. in a pinch we ordered in pizza- something we have never done while living here in almost 10 years, and then unpacked somewhat and did some house junk and now after being up for over 22 hours i am going to try and close down and get an early start tomorrow.
more than everyone. i owe many thanks to many people for their acts of kindness the pass few days and beyond. i will catch up.
home to a lawn from the amazon and a dusty enough house and the basement still not recovered from the flood we had last time i was home and lots of mail. in a pinch we ordered in pizza- something we have never done while living here in almost 10 years, and then unpacked somewhat and did some house junk and now after being up for over 22 hours i am going to try and close down and get an early start tomorrow.
more than everyone. i owe many thanks to many people for their acts of kindness the pass few days and beyond. i will catch up.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
just the wakeup to go now / 2986 miles
no real time to do this so i will be quick. more packing up and cleaning up to go. we ran 5 miles this morning before dealing with the bank and post office and book movers. the post office wanted $150 to leave a forwarding address. skipped that made a deal with a friend to take care of it for us in exchange for some goodies we left behind. sold one bike and gave the other one to a friend who gave us cheesecake which we just ate as dessert to wash down our burritos. nice trade. and then most of the rest of the day went to doing what we all know we have to do when we move basically- add in some golf range stuff, saying good bye to friends and packing. i made that sound so simple but it involved many bus rides and lots of walking back and forth to town but it is mostly done. had the good fortune to deal with the nicest people today and that helped a lot. still more to do and away i go.
will get into it more after we get home. taxi comes in 8 hours and we are still tossing stuff out and packing. a good year mostly, but the best part has been the people we met. hopefully we will stay in touch. when you get older you start to realize the relative unimportance of stuff and the importance of the people you come to know and like. the people give you energy and substance. the stuff provides some memories maybe. was it hard throwing away some things? yea a little, but it got easier as i went. the old race shirts were just that - old shirts full of yesterday's memories and it is time for new ones. the only shirt i regretted throwing away was the presque isle 12 race shirt but the washing machine had killed it off anyway. and i will do the race again this fall so i will get another.
and yet this is the point i tried to make. this year i will run in rick's memory as he is no longer with us. the cancer we both had finally ended his battle and as my own continues i will treasure this year's shirt as part of his memory. 53 year olds are not supposed to die and yet i know they do. i will be pressed to not turn my little blogging diary into a runner's memorial and i will try. and i was thinking that this year i would re-kindle the old tabbo 6 hour runs as part of the memories of frank and john and steve and andy- has been awhile since i have run 6 hours and no doubt i cannot run 45 miles in that time anymore. the longest run here i think was 3:45minutes. with stops that was probably 20 miles. my best 20 mile time was 2:17as i recall. oh well-
anyway- life is good. we will go home and get back in the swing of things. this may be the year we finally get the inner drive golf club off of the ground. will i get the old job of golf secretary back/ will hilltop have saved my place as the monday starter? am i still on the handicap committee? how fast can i run 5k? will i finally run the 60 miles to harper's ferry again? all ahead ---
but first the car needs a new windshield and we need to deal with the flooded out basement and we have trips to ireland and france again soon and cincinnati and erie and va beach and philly and caps games and the harrisburg run.
hope some of this made sense but i have to go.- a younger dumber larry would have not ever let this year end at 2986 miles. i have seen a lot of oxford over and over, a beautiful place to run. it is good to have stopped short; shows the compulsive part of me is growing up. now for the rest of me to catch up.
next time from the USA- if they let us in.
memory jogger to self- builth, wales and leith, scotland
will get into it more after we get home. taxi comes in 8 hours and we are still tossing stuff out and packing. a good year mostly, but the best part has been the people we met. hopefully we will stay in touch. when you get older you start to realize the relative unimportance of stuff and the importance of the people you come to know and like. the people give you energy and substance. the stuff provides some memories maybe. was it hard throwing away some things? yea a little, but it got easier as i went. the old race shirts were just that - old shirts full of yesterday's memories and it is time for new ones. the only shirt i regretted throwing away was the presque isle 12 race shirt but the washing machine had killed it off anyway. and i will do the race again this fall so i will get another.
and yet this is the point i tried to make. this year i will run in rick's memory as he is no longer with us. the cancer we both had finally ended his battle and as my own continues i will treasure this year's shirt as part of his memory. 53 year olds are not supposed to die and yet i know they do. i will be pressed to not turn my little blogging diary into a runner's memorial and i will try. and i was thinking that this year i would re-kindle the old tabbo 6 hour runs as part of the memories of frank and john and steve and andy- has been awhile since i have run 6 hours and no doubt i cannot run 45 miles in that time anymore. the longest run here i think was 3:45minutes. with stops that was probably 20 miles. my best 20 mile time was 2:17as i recall. oh well-
anyway- life is good. we will go home and get back in the swing of things. this may be the year we finally get the inner drive golf club off of the ground. will i get the old job of golf secretary back/ will hilltop have saved my place as the monday starter? am i still on the handicap committee? how fast can i run 5k? will i finally run the 60 miles to harper's ferry again? all ahead ---
but first the car needs a new windshield and we need to deal with the flooded out basement and we have trips to ireland and france again soon and cincinnati and erie and va beach and philly and caps games and the harrisburg run.
hope some of this made sense but i have to go.- a younger dumber larry would have not ever let this year end at 2986 miles. i have seen a lot of oxford over and over, a beautiful place to run. it is good to have stopped short; shows the compulsive part of me is growing up. now for the rest of me to catch up.
next time from the USA- if they let us in.
memory jogger to self- builth, wales and leith, scotland
Monday, July 28, 2008
a gnarls barkley sort of day and 2981 miles done
and the finish line is in sight, but the weight of so much to do seems to be holding me back, though in this race the clock keeps going and the taxi will be here at 6:30am on wed. ready or not.
a crazy day for sure as i got up to run with a morning heart rate of 47 and out the door i went and down towards north hinksey village, but not quite that far and did the bike path back and forth and then over to the fake track. stretched and then ran 23 x 100. odd number but that is where i felt my form start to give way so to be careful i just called it a day and jogged two miles home. after a very sluggish and tight start when i couldn't stride out very well at all, the legs started to loosen up and the last 14 went really well. never had so much trouble getting going, but it was ok and i knew i didn't feel tired so i would come around.
then a hurried up morning as we went off to the "box" place and bought some boxes to mail home more books and then missed three buses on our attempt to go up to mailboxes etc. to find out about mailing some pictures home after we had dropped off gail's work at her school. then gail went back to school and i headed back to town to run errands and go the bank and arrange withdrawals and deposits to pay for everything. BUT!!!!!! every ATM machine in the UK was down as something was going on in london and nobody could get money out for several hours so i will need to try again tomorrow. i did wait for an hour or so and never did do my errands as i had to get back to pick up the boxes. seems like a lot of time wasted and it was. decided to hit a bucket of balls and they gave me a going away bucket present which was really nice of them. but i was terrible and finished with some chipping to not feel so bad and went home.
and back to packing and throwing away stuff. a couple of hours of that and cleaning up the house and trying to get it back to where it was when we came - meaning getting rid of most of what we bought. put some more stuff out front with my FREE sign and everything went but one nice coat. funny. then had to get ready for tomorrow and then we decided to take a walk as it is a zillion degrees in the house. was pleasant enough outside and the thames was very pretty as darkness descended on the water and the sky reflected the blue, black and some yellow of the coming storm.
can hear the thunder now and see flashes and the rain has finally started so maybe it will cool down some. "listen to your heart" says roxette as i type. not a good thing to tell me right now.
anyway- many, many things didn't seem to go right today but somehow we made it to now and have one more day to finish up. going away meeting at the driving range tomorrow and then they come to get the bike and then i walk the other one over to sell it. and then the box man comes to get the boxes. and then the books go at 3pm or so. etc, etc,,,,,,,
and then the $180 taxi ride to the airport. and home. that's the plan. will reflect on it all after we get back. will miss some of it and not miss some of it. would take the weather home with me if i could, rain and all. and some of the people and some of the food. more later. would we do it again? gail would i know. would i? not the same way we did it this time. the only time i have not hated living in this house was the time beth was here. but i digress....
one day and a wakeup- hope everyone reading this is sitting in air conditioning. this is much closer to a camac sauna.
moved on to Heart singing "alone". and bonnie tyler is on deck.
peace!
afterthought- this info came from the you tube page of horaciocambeiro info page-
All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" is a song recorded by American rock band Heart. It was composed by veteran songwriter and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange ( i add shania twain's future husband at the time) and released as the first single from the band's tenth studio album Brigade.
The song is a mid-tempo pop/rock number which caused a minor controversy because of its lyrics. In the track, singer Ann Wilson sings of a one-night stand with a man, only to reveal later in the song that her intent all along was to use the encounter as a reason to become pregnant. The lyrics explain later, when Wilson reunites with the one-time lover, that her child is the result of their tryst and she did it only because the man she really loves is not able to give her children.
Regardless of the controversy, "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" was a success, spending two weeks at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight in the UK Singles Chart, and reaching #1 in Canada and Australia. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Group Pop Vocal Performance, and is the only one of Heart's singles to have been certified Gold by the RIAA. On the Adult Contemporary chart, the song climbed to number six, becoming the third of Heart's four top-ten AC hits (after "These Dreams" and "Alone").
In the liner notes of Heart's album The Road Home, Ann Wilson commented on the band's dislike for the song, stating, "Actually we had sworn it off because it kind of stood for everything we wanted to get away from. It was a song by 'Mutt' Lange, who we liked, and it was originally written for Don Henley. But there was a lot of pressure on us to do the song at the time."
The single was Heart's last pop chart top ten hit. The band had one more top ten AC hit afterward, with the follow-up, "Stranded"; "Stranded" and 1994's "Will You Be There (In The Morning)" were also top 10 Album Rock hits.
a crazy day for sure as i got up to run with a morning heart rate of 47 and out the door i went and down towards north hinksey village, but not quite that far and did the bike path back and forth and then over to the fake track. stretched and then ran 23 x 100. odd number but that is where i felt my form start to give way so to be careful i just called it a day and jogged two miles home. after a very sluggish and tight start when i couldn't stride out very well at all, the legs started to loosen up and the last 14 went really well. never had so much trouble getting going, but it was ok and i knew i didn't feel tired so i would come around.
then a hurried up morning as we went off to the "box" place and bought some boxes to mail home more books and then missed three buses on our attempt to go up to mailboxes etc. to find out about mailing some pictures home after we had dropped off gail's work at her school. then gail went back to school and i headed back to town to run errands and go the bank and arrange withdrawals and deposits to pay for everything. BUT!!!!!! every ATM machine in the UK was down as something was going on in london and nobody could get money out for several hours so i will need to try again tomorrow. i did wait for an hour or so and never did do my errands as i had to get back to pick up the boxes. seems like a lot of time wasted and it was. decided to hit a bucket of balls and they gave me a going away bucket present which was really nice of them. but i was terrible and finished with some chipping to not feel so bad and went home.
and back to packing and throwing away stuff. a couple of hours of that and cleaning up the house and trying to get it back to where it was when we came - meaning getting rid of most of what we bought. put some more stuff out front with my FREE sign and everything went but one nice coat. funny. then had to get ready for tomorrow and then we decided to take a walk as it is a zillion degrees in the house. was pleasant enough outside and the thames was very pretty as darkness descended on the water and the sky reflected the blue, black and some yellow of the coming storm.
can hear the thunder now and see flashes and the rain has finally started so maybe it will cool down some. "listen to your heart" says roxette as i type. not a good thing to tell me right now.
anyway- many, many things didn't seem to go right today but somehow we made it to now and have one more day to finish up. going away meeting at the driving range tomorrow and then they come to get the bike and then i walk the other one over to sell it. and then the box man comes to get the boxes. and then the books go at 3pm or so. etc, etc,,,,,,,
and then the $180 taxi ride to the airport. and home. that's the plan. will reflect on it all after we get back. will miss some of it and not miss some of it. would take the weather home with me if i could, rain and all. and some of the people and some of the food. more later. would we do it again? gail would i know. would i? not the same way we did it this time. the only time i have not hated living in this house was the time beth was here. but i digress....
one day and a wakeup- hope everyone reading this is sitting in air conditioning. this is much closer to a camac sauna.
moved on to Heart singing "alone". and bonnie tyler is on deck.
peace!
afterthought- this info came from the you tube page of horaciocambeiro info page-
All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" is a song recorded by American rock band Heart. It was composed by veteran songwriter and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange ( i add shania twain's future husband at the time) and released as the first single from the band's tenth studio album Brigade.
The song is a mid-tempo pop/rock number which caused a minor controversy because of its lyrics. In the track, singer Ann Wilson sings of a one-night stand with a man, only to reveal later in the song that her intent all along was to use the encounter as a reason to become pregnant. The lyrics explain later, when Wilson reunites with the one-time lover, that her child is the result of their tryst and she did it only because the man she really loves is not able to give her children.
Regardless of the controversy, "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" was a success, spending two weeks at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight in the UK Singles Chart, and reaching #1 in Canada and Australia. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Group Pop Vocal Performance, and is the only one of Heart's singles to have been certified Gold by the RIAA. On the Adult Contemporary chart, the song climbed to number six, becoming the third of Heart's four top-ten AC hits (after "These Dreams" and "Alone").
In the liner notes of Heart's album The Road Home, Ann Wilson commented on the band's dislike for the song, stating, "Actually we had sworn it off because it kind of stood for everything we wanted to get away from. It was a song by 'Mutt' Lange, who we liked, and it was originally written for Don Henley. But there was a lot of pressure on us to do the song at the time."
The single was Heart's last pop chart top ten hit. The band had one more top ten AC hit afterward, with the follow-up, "Stranded"; "Stranded" and 1994's "Will You Be There (In The Morning)" were also top 10 Album Rock hits.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
run, pack, golf, and , mozart
busy, busy day here in the heat, 2nd hottest day of the year at 82 and i know that doesn't sound bad by virginia standards, but in very closed houses with no air conditioning it is not pretty. more on it later-
out to run early sunday morning and it was warmer than it has been lately for sure. we ran north and headed up towards the old nunnery. but we ran into my friend lorraine out sitting on here moored boat trying to turn herself into the tanned goddess of oxford and somewhat succeeding. we took a minute to catch up and arrange to stop by for a drink on the way back. then we headed north again. running was ok as long as we kept it slow enough and about a mile or so north we turned back south. lots to do today and only so much time to run. down the thames we ran for almost the last time.
ran into a woman walking to london and we chatted a bit while i jogged next to her for a minute. she has been averaging 12-17 miles a day. says she was over 50, but in her heart she is 27- good attitude. said goodbye and caught back up to gail and then we did stop at Lorraine's boat for that drink, which was pretty good at this point. made arrangements to meet on tuesday afternoon to exchange books and give her one of our bikes as her trusting sole had her's stolen recently.
then we went headed back down the river past the grazing horse and cows and ducks and geese on the river. this would be our last run on this part of the trail as they will start working on it again tomorrow. but it was pretty out despite the heat and the drink helped get us through. down to the swan bridge and over and headed back towards home. caught back up to the london bound walker, a sweet lady, and she headed down towards abingdon and we headed back towards botley. and eventually we stopped at the store and headed home.
a quick breakfast and then we started in throwing things away and putting things out for FREE for anyone who would take them and packing and doing laundry, etc. a few hours of this in the very warm house despite the fans and i was ready for a break and headed up to the range to hit some balls and say so long to mark for now. went ok as i am hitting the good ones better than ever, but missing more often both left and right and you cannot play golf missing in both directions. will keep working on it but frankly i have too much to do to worry about it right now. more important is how will we send all of the books and pictures home?
and back home - to pack some more, make a few quick phone calls and grab some dinner and then head off to the jack gibbons "mozart" concert at the holywell music room, a great venue to hear a concert and jack g. is more than terrific. he was great! and with 225 other people we sat and listened and it was also very warm in the building, which like most buildings here is not air conditioned. very, very warm---but everyone but a few came back after intermission and he played a couple of encores, including a chopin which woke up everyone. just great. and then we walked the almost two miles home and suddenly it was 11pm. still, more to do as they collect refuse tomorrow, every other week whether we need it or not and this is our last shot so we did that and that brought me to the blog and now it is time to pack up some more. running out of time to wrap up everything and gail has to go to school tomorrow and we need to go to the shipper's also. all good and who needs sleep anyway.
someone took everything we put out except one nice coat that would be perfect for here and we will try it again tomorrow. bet it goes.
and off i go. 2974 miles done this year. two more runs to do i hope. we threw out several pairs of running shoes today and will throw out the rest after tuesday. a new wind is blowing and i am anxious to see how it goes. time will tell.
out to run early sunday morning and it was warmer than it has been lately for sure. we ran north and headed up towards the old nunnery. but we ran into my friend lorraine out sitting on here moored boat trying to turn herself into the tanned goddess of oxford and somewhat succeeding. we took a minute to catch up and arrange to stop by for a drink on the way back. then we headed north again. running was ok as long as we kept it slow enough and about a mile or so north we turned back south. lots to do today and only so much time to run. down the thames we ran for almost the last time.
ran into a woman walking to london and we chatted a bit while i jogged next to her for a minute. she has been averaging 12-17 miles a day. says she was over 50, but in her heart she is 27- good attitude. said goodbye and caught back up to gail and then we did stop at Lorraine's boat for that drink, which was pretty good at this point. made arrangements to meet on tuesday afternoon to exchange books and give her one of our bikes as her trusting sole had her's stolen recently.
then we went headed back down the river past the grazing horse and cows and ducks and geese on the river. this would be our last run on this part of the trail as they will start working on it again tomorrow. but it was pretty out despite the heat and the drink helped get us through. down to the swan bridge and over and headed back towards home. caught back up to the london bound walker, a sweet lady, and she headed down towards abingdon and we headed back towards botley. and eventually we stopped at the store and headed home.
a quick breakfast and then we started in throwing things away and putting things out for FREE for anyone who would take them and packing and doing laundry, etc. a few hours of this in the very warm house despite the fans and i was ready for a break and headed up to the range to hit some balls and say so long to mark for now. went ok as i am hitting the good ones better than ever, but missing more often both left and right and you cannot play golf missing in both directions. will keep working on it but frankly i have too much to do to worry about it right now. more important is how will we send all of the books and pictures home?
and back home - to pack some more, make a few quick phone calls and grab some dinner and then head off to the jack gibbons "mozart" concert at the holywell music room, a great venue to hear a concert and jack g. is more than terrific. he was great! and with 225 other people we sat and listened and it was also very warm in the building, which like most buildings here is not air conditioned. very, very warm---but everyone but a few came back after intermission and he played a couple of encores, including a chopin which woke up everyone. just great. and then we walked the almost two miles home and suddenly it was 11pm. still, more to do as they collect refuse tomorrow, every other week whether we need it or not and this is our last shot so we did that and that brought me to the blog and now it is time to pack up some more. running out of time to wrap up everything and gail has to go to school tomorrow and we need to go to the shipper's also. all good and who needs sleep anyway.
someone took everything we put out except one nice coat that would be perfect for here and we will try it again tomorrow. bet it goes.
and off i go. 2974 miles done this year. two more runs to do i hope. we threw out several pairs of running shoes today and will throw out the rest after tuesday. a new wind is blowing and i am anxious to see how it goes. time will tell.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
2965 miles with three more runs at most
another late day as i read until 1am and then got up a little late. we are dealing with cat issues right now that make a normal day or night hard to find. plus it is very warm for here at about 78 degrees. hot as heck even with our fan on as i type this and gail deals with the cat. only a few windows in this house open and no real need anyway with the heat outside. three days and a wakeup and we go back to the desert but with ac working i hope, as our ac guys had to skip our last appt to, take care of senior citizens. not me? kidding --
but i ran anyway. my morning heart rate was 45 and i seemed to have recovered somewhat and i ran north towards port meadow and the river. ran well headed up and then over and across the rainbow bridge. the cows and horses were running around and several boats were out on the river. spent a moment talking to a family of four about their fishing outing and they had caught about 20 crayfish. she is from cambridge and he is from london and we like comparing the towns and the level of friendliness in each. our consensus is that cambridge is smaller and friendlier and has more of a community feeling due to its size.
ran down the trail as they open the trail on the weekends when they don't work and have fixed a little detour for people to take. i was hoping to take the makeshift bridge over to the train trail and canal, but they had that blocked so i kept going and ran towards osney island instead, then cut back to see the school's water pond one last time. the kids did a great job.
cut down the alley and over to osney road where i ran into a woman in a wheelchair and we had a nice chat as she pulled and i ran. couldn't help thinking of the big and rich song as we each finally went our own way. and finally over to the bike path and did a loop down and back to the made up track and ran 14 x 100. nice and easy with some a little quicker and some working on pace. all good and off i went around the park path again and then home.
lots to do now - laundry, packing throwing out and giving away stuff. i put some stuff outside the house with a "FREE" sign on it and it is gone. got a thank you note. nice touch
anyway- need to get back to it and do some more laundry and fold some more as just sitting here in this heat is sort of disgusting. more tomorrow. still need to figure out how to mail several things back there.
but i ran anyway. my morning heart rate was 45 and i seemed to have recovered somewhat and i ran north towards port meadow and the river. ran well headed up and then over and across the rainbow bridge. the cows and horses were running around and several boats were out on the river. spent a moment talking to a family of four about their fishing outing and they had caught about 20 crayfish. she is from cambridge and he is from london and we like comparing the towns and the level of friendliness in each. our consensus is that cambridge is smaller and friendlier and has more of a community feeling due to its size.
ran down the trail as they open the trail on the weekends when they don't work and have fixed a little detour for people to take. i was hoping to take the makeshift bridge over to the train trail and canal, but they had that blocked so i kept going and ran towards osney island instead, then cut back to see the school's water pond one last time. the kids did a great job.
cut down the alley and over to osney road where i ran into a woman in a wheelchair and we had a nice chat as she pulled and i ran. couldn't help thinking of the big and rich song as we each finally went our own way. and finally over to the bike path and did a loop down and back to the made up track and ran 14 x 100. nice and easy with some a little quicker and some working on pace. all good and off i went around the park path again and then home.
lots to do now - laundry, packing throwing out and giving away stuff. i put some stuff outside the house with a "FREE" sign on it and it is gone. got a thank you note. nice touch
anyway- need to get back to it and do some more laundry and fold some more as just sitting here in this heat is sort of disgusting. more tomorrow. still need to figure out how to mail several things back there.
Friday, July 25, 2008
blogging to the monkees
can you hear them singing in the background? nah i guess not- singing my favorite monkees song "she" and don't ask me why- just like the beat- their "daydream believer" song actually had meaning once in my life a long time ago. but i digress as i like to say.
was up early after yet another restless night of trying to sleep. morning pulse was down to 44 and it changed my mind to rest and have some fresh legs on saturday when the trail would be opened as they don't work on saturdays here no matter how inconvenient they make life for everyone by closing the trail. but at 44 i thought i might have some life and could do an easy run.
wrong! the legs were not there, despite the warm and sunny morning. sun is up here about 5am so i cannot beat it. UV would be high today at 6, but not yet. out i went and headed down to north hinksey village and the rugby stadium and tennis club. i took the long way around the bike path loop and went down to the village. a cute little village full of nice gardens and thatched roof houses. went all the way down to the dead end at the rugby stadium and came back to the hill we used for hill repeats and for old times sake ran 3 hill repeats but not all out and under total control. hard enough hill -smaller version of mt vernon's hill on the trail.
then went back to the bike path and ran some loops around the park until i had 6 miles in and headed home. met nobody and talked to no one today. stopped for some food and a newspaper and went home to continue to pack and toss stuff out before a quick little trip to the golf range to hit one so-so bucket and back home. lots to do and back at it.
short and sweet again, but not enough time to do more. takes so long to do some stuff on-line and not everything works once you are out of the states. we are not totally global yet i guess.
we have little scheduled for the rest of the time here except for one mozart concert and a few runs. there are boxes to deal with and packing, etc. the bikes have to be taken away and some furniture has to go. lots of stuff is already gone. the year crawled by and now the days are flying by. will sleep next weekend.
leonard cohen replaced the monkees and lara fabian. fabian has a nice voice in case you haven't heard her. my already eclectic music tastes are even more eclectic since we have been here. so much of what i like depends on words and sounds and the scots and french do that really well, but so do the koreans and chinese and germans and dutch. and more and more i am not listing here. but i am and have always been a leonard cohen fan. it is also fun running by a college and knowing bill clinton or kris kristofferson went there.
days of rain are forecast -will see. it seems like pure guesswork here and that is not meant to be critical. it is just the way the wind moves and the timing. it did get really dark about 4pm but it never rained.
time to go- have 4 more runs to do and three more shots at the range. would like to bring my golf buddies and especially my bookclub home with me. but not this house which falls a little more apart each day. cohen sings laugh about it all as i typed that. funny timing.
i never said that i was brave. oh so long marianne, it's time that we began to laugh and ..... have you heard "the partisan?"
was up early after yet another restless night of trying to sleep. morning pulse was down to 44 and it changed my mind to rest and have some fresh legs on saturday when the trail would be opened as they don't work on saturdays here no matter how inconvenient they make life for everyone by closing the trail. but at 44 i thought i might have some life and could do an easy run.
wrong! the legs were not there, despite the warm and sunny morning. sun is up here about 5am so i cannot beat it. UV would be high today at 6, but not yet. out i went and headed down to north hinksey village and the rugby stadium and tennis club. i took the long way around the bike path loop and went down to the village. a cute little village full of nice gardens and thatched roof houses. went all the way down to the dead end at the rugby stadium and came back to the hill we used for hill repeats and for old times sake ran 3 hill repeats but not all out and under total control. hard enough hill -smaller version of mt vernon's hill on the trail.
then went back to the bike path and ran some loops around the park until i had 6 miles in and headed home. met nobody and talked to no one today. stopped for some food and a newspaper and went home to continue to pack and toss stuff out before a quick little trip to the golf range to hit one so-so bucket and back home. lots to do and back at it.
short and sweet again, but not enough time to do more. takes so long to do some stuff on-line and not everything works once you are out of the states. we are not totally global yet i guess.
we have little scheduled for the rest of the time here except for one mozart concert and a few runs. there are boxes to deal with and packing, etc. the bikes have to be taken away and some furniture has to go. lots of stuff is already gone. the year crawled by and now the days are flying by. will sleep next weekend.
leonard cohen replaced the monkees and lara fabian. fabian has a nice voice in case you haven't heard her. my already eclectic music tastes are even more eclectic since we have been here. so much of what i like depends on words and sounds and the scots and french do that really well, but so do the koreans and chinese and germans and dutch. and more and more i am not listing here. but i am and have always been a leonard cohen fan. it is also fun running by a college and knowing bill clinton or kris kristofferson went there.
days of rain are forecast -will see. it seems like pure guesswork here and that is not meant to be critical. it is just the way the wind moves and the timing. it did get really dark about 4pm but it never rained.
time to go- have 4 more runs to do and three more shots at the range. would like to bring my golf buddies and especially my bookclub home with me. but not this house which falls a little more apart each day. cohen sings laugh about it all as i typed that. funny timing.
i never said that i was brave. oh so long marianne, it's time that we began to laugh and ..... have you heard "the partisan?"
Thursday, July 24, 2008
hottest day of the oxford uk year, etc
weather report says it hit 86 here today. but i was out to run pretty early and it was 61 degrees when i started towards the king george's park and related bike paths. actually felt a little cool and nice and i was running ok. morning heart rate was back down to 48, which is still not good, from yesterday's ridiculous 51. i must have been really tired then, but even after a restless night of sleep i felt ok. wanted to do some striders and keep the effort comfortable and stretch a lot.
so after a decent warmup and stretch i ran 24 x 100 and 3 x 200. the 200's were 55, 53 and 54 and given the layout that was ok. i put them into the mix and ran them every so often in the middle of the 100's. a decent workout and not bothered by anyone during it as the dog walkers gave me some room today. just mostly tried to stay relaxed and stride and breathe correctly and use the right leg more often than i have lately. the night hamstring and ITB stretches are helping, but at home i must add soleus and more PF stretches also.
after a good hard last 100 i could tell that was enough and ran the loop backwards and did the trail along the creekbed for probably the last time while we are here. it was warming up fast also. i ran into a woman who had on a vancouver t-shirt, nicoli i believe she said her name was, and she was training for the half marathon in london this coming october. a really cute and sweet girl who just loved running in vancouver's stanley park like i did also. we chatted about that for a bit and then we each had to go our separate ways. then ran into my guy who writes musicals, everyday an adventure here. interesting guy and we talked about getting old and slowing metabolism as he said he was up to 14 stone but didn't know how many pounds that was- 196 i told him. certainly didn't look it and he seemed to be in decent shape and after a bit we also went our own ways.
we had a lunch to go to at noon and i had several things to do so i headed off with about 8 miles in at this point. with the sprints of course, it is not a steady run but easy enough to figure out how far you ran and the estimate is not as important as the sprint work and how the legs handle it. eventually i will do much longer and harder workouts when i get home and that is pretty close now. what i need to find is someone who will run their slow days with me on my fast days. my 200's range right now from 48-55 and that is about 6:30-7:30 pace roughly. the last 400 i ran was at 7:20 pace so there is hope and much room for improvement. but it is the process i like so the speed will get better or not.
stopped at the store for some yogurt and fruit and stuff and was checking out when a young woman came in and asked about a jam sandwich which they didn't make she was told. obviously she was hungry and had been working somewhere and i left some money on the counter for her to use and she thanked me more than i deserved. had it been easier i would have given her more, but she really didn't want to appear that hungry. even the guy behind the counter tried to let her buy something and bring the money back later. i have been poorer than now, but not hungry and there is just no need for that in this world.
especially as i was headed home to pack and get ready to go to a luncheon. it is a shame we keep discovering half decent places to eat and today the lunch was at a place like giovanni's in philly or riviera in alexandria. was $90 for three of us as we also paid for a friend of gail's as a way of paying her back just a little bit for all of her help as we would not have our bank account without here. but at least the service was better than anywhere else in oxford i had eaten at and the food was good actually. we have paid 90 bucks for bad food and service here before.
then gail headed back to school and i headed off to run many errands i won't bore anyone with the details of. highlight though was trading back in many books we had bought over time here. i like darrell the book guy and we have had a sort of customer friendship and we trade books now rather than buy and sell. works for both of us as i am a softee and always give him the better of the deal. and we had to get rid of the books anyway this time so i took one book for the plane. i still have several of his books.
then off to the golf range where i arranged to give away my 4 golf books i have here and the trolley i bought also. then a few of us hit balls and tried to help each other with our swings. i am still a work in progress, but it was nice hitting the green sometimes from 200 yards. not as nice then blocking and hooking. all in a day's practice. and back home to deal with getting ready again. gave the potted plants to my next door neighbor who gave us a lovely print and a golfer's pen and a carved judas tree. was really nice of him. made arrangements to sell the bikes tomorrow.
in retrospect one year was not long enough as it takes far more time to break in here than it would have back home. i meet more golfers everyday and just plain nice people. i still think the culture is so different from ours and it takes awhile to learn how to deal with that. my own enfp personality is a far cry from the norm here, but being nice and caring about people will win some of them over.
anyway, a decent day- a bit too warm and a pre-cursor to what is ahead back in the states. there is some rain in the forecast for the next several days and we shall see. lots to do and a good part of it won't get done i am sure.
five days and a wake-up now. many places to see that will wait for next time.
so after a decent warmup and stretch i ran 24 x 100 and 3 x 200. the 200's were 55, 53 and 54 and given the layout that was ok. i put them into the mix and ran them every so often in the middle of the 100's. a decent workout and not bothered by anyone during it as the dog walkers gave me some room today. just mostly tried to stay relaxed and stride and breathe correctly and use the right leg more often than i have lately. the night hamstring and ITB stretches are helping, but at home i must add soleus and more PF stretches also.
after a good hard last 100 i could tell that was enough and ran the loop backwards and did the trail along the creekbed for probably the last time while we are here. it was warming up fast also. i ran into a woman who had on a vancouver t-shirt, nicoli i believe she said her name was, and she was training for the half marathon in london this coming october. a really cute and sweet girl who just loved running in vancouver's stanley park like i did also. we chatted about that for a bit and then we each had to go our separate ways. then ran into my guy who writes musicals, everyday an adventure here. interesting guy and we talked about getting old and slowing metabolism as he said he was up to 14 stone but didn't know how many pounds that was- 196 i told him. certainly didn't look it and he seemed to be in decent shape and after a bit we also went our own ways.
we had a lunch to go to at noon and i had several things to do so i headed off with about 8 miles in at this point. with the sprints of course, it is not a steady run but easy enough to figure out how far you ran and the estimate is not as important as the sprint work and how the legs handle it. eventually i will do much longer and harder workouts when i get home and that is pretty close now. what i need to find is someone who will run their slow days with me on my fast days. my 200's range right now from 48-55 and that is about 6:30-7:30 pace roughly. the last 400 i ran was at 7:20 pace so there is hope and much room for improvement. but it is the process i like so the speed will get better or not.
stopped at the store for some yogurt and fruit and stuff and was checking out when a young woman came in and asked about a jam sandwich which they didn't make she was told. obviously she was hungry and had been working somewhere and i left some money on the counter for her to use and she thanked me more than i deserved. had it been easier i would have given her more, but she really didn't want to appear that hungry. even the guy behind the counter tried to let her buy something and bring the money back later. i have been poorer than now, but not hungry and there is just no need for that in this world.
especially as i was headed home to pack and get ready to go to a luncheon. it is a shame we keep discovering half decent places to eat and today the lunch was at a place like giovanni's in philly or riviera in alexandria. was $90 for three of us as we also paid for a friend of gail's as a way of paying her back just a little bit for all of her help as we would not have our bank account without here. but at least the service was better than anywhere else in oxford i had eaten at and the food was good actually. we have paid 90 bucks for bad food and service here before.
then gail headed back to school and i headed off to run many errands i won't bore anyone with the details of. highlight though was trading back in many books we had bought over time here. i like darrell the book guy and we have had a sort of customer friendship and we trade books now rather than buy and sell. works for both of us as i am a softee and always give him the better of the deal. and we had to get rid of the books anyway this time so i took one book for the plane. i still have several of his books.
then off to the golf range where i arranged to give away my 4 golf books i have here and the trolley i bought also. then a few of us hit balls and tried to help each other with our swings. i am still a work in progress, but it was nice hitting the green sometimes from 200 yards. not as nice then blocking and hooking. all in a day's practice. and back home to deal with getting ready again. gave the potted plants to my next door neighbor who gave us a lovely print and a golfer's pen and a carved judas tree. was really nice of him. made arrangements to sell the bikes tomorrow.
in retrospect one year was not long enough as it takes far more time to break in here than it would have back home. i meet more golfers everyday and just plain nice people. i still think the culture is so different from ours and it takes awhile to learn how to deal with that. my own enfp personality is a far cry from the norm here, but being nice and caring about people will win some of them over.
anyway, a decent day- a bit too warm and a pre-cursor to what is ahead back in the states. there is some rain in the forecast for the next several days and we shall see. lots to do and a good part of it won't get done i am sure.
five days and a wake-up now. many places to see that will wait for next time.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
a quiche blog-
remember the joke about president bush and asking for a quickie for breakfast and cheney tells him it is called quiche?
our systems here are up and down all day and crashing and losing emails so this will be quick if i can finish it. short 4 miles in the morning so legs can recover and also everything else as the morning heart rate was 51- that is near sick levels for me. went as easy and slowly as possible mainly just to be outside and loosen up the back. then home to get ready for the house inspection.
the inspection went ok as it was pretty quick and not very thorough at all. does it matter as it was our third in a few weeks but it did give me a chance to nicely tell the mgmt. person that i wouldn't move my daughter into this house until they did a lot of work on it.
spent the rest of the morning throwing out stuff and dealing with emergency problems of the people we are renting from who are being forced out. i did sell our tv and will work on the bikes tomorrow before or after our next going away luncheon.
then met some friends at the range and hit some balls together. tom's sister is about to move back here and david's daughter just moved to the states. we talked about that a lot and hit ok-i was so -so probably but getting closer and the good shots were really good; just not used to so many bad ones. i am two golfers right now. but i will live with the really good ones and keep working on it. at least in my mind i have a good plan now. then i helped the pro here a bit and that was fun. i could be a caddy here if i wanted to stay and caddy on the pro tour here - like a level below nationwide. would be fun-
then home to keep cleaning out stuff and tossing out as much as possible. then dealing with bills and other admin type stuff. and off i go. i will get tossed off very soon anyway- down to three bars and my norton stopped working and so did my volume- all weird tonight-
less than a week now-- more on all of it soon! hang in there texas.
blog about symrna is for gail's class. interesting though.
our systems here are up and down all day and crashing and losing emails so this will be quick if i can finish it. short 4 miles in the morning so legs can recover and also everything else as the morning heart rate was 51- that is near sick levels for me. went as easy and slowly as possible mainly just to be outside and loosen up the back. then home to get ready for the house inspection.
the inspection went ok as it was pretty quick and not very thorough at all. does it matter as it was our third in a few weeks but it did give me a chance to nicely tell the mgmt. person that i wouldn't move my daughter into this house until they did a lot of work on it.
spent the rest of the morning throwing out stuff and dealing with emergency problems of the people we are renting from who are being forced out. i did sell our tv and will work on the bikes tomorrow before or after our next going away luncheon.
then met some friends at the range and hit some balls together. tom's sister is about to move back here and david's daughter just moved to the states. we talked about that a lot and hit ok-i was so -so probably but getting closer and the good shots were really good; just not used to so many bad ones. i am two golfers right now. but i will live with the really good ones and keep working on it. at least in my mind i have a good plan now. then i helped the pro here a bit and that was fun. i could be a caddy here if i wanted to stay and caddy on the pro tour here - like a level below nationwide. would be fun-
then home to keep cleaning out stuff and tossing out as much as possible. then dealing with bills and other admin type stuff. and off i go. i will get tossed off very soon anyway- down to three bars and my norton stopped working and so did my volume- all weird tonight-
less than a week now-- more on all of it soon! hang in there texas.
blog about symrna is for gail's class. interesting though.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
boys of summer
listen close and maybe you can hear don henley singing "boys of summer" while i type. walked gail to the train station early this morning and then headed north around the train loop and over to the oxford canal and went north and just kept going. legs were tired after three straight harder runs, not something i would recommend, though i had reasons for doing them. just stayed on the trail and ran past the punt boats and backyard gardens and let the bikes going to work slip by me going south.
about an hour up the trail and past wolvercote and summertown i got off of the trail to see what was around and ran through a rather "posh" neighborhood of young adults and children - passed at least two all day nursery's. (don has moved on to "dirty laundry". love this song. anyway, i did a quick trip around the neighborhood and then ran back to the canal. stopped and stretched for a bit and then headed south. nice and simple. had about an hour back and enjoyed the sunny day and the warmer temps, but the legs were not all that fresh. but not that far to go -funny how an hour can seem short after awhile.
back down the canal past the same stuff going south this time, the bikes passing me without warning of course. at port meadow i decided to get off just to see the wild flowers that grew along the train trail. ran up the hill and the slope felt good so i went back down and then did it again and turned through the parking lot at port meadow and went down the train trail.
as happens so often here as i started down the trail and the wildflowers were all blooming in their colorful splendor i could hear and then see the huge lawnmower machine coming up the trail and cutting them back from the trail. ("heart of the matter" is on now- a great song.) smelled good but was funny that they were cutting them down after i got off to see them.
anyway. kept going smelling the cut stuff for some time down the trail and cut over at the train station on the new temp bridge and was turned back by construction and went back and down the trail and just took the long way home. worked ok. a little over two hours in total. a nice run even if tired. will go short or not at all tomorrow.
homeward bound and did laundry and started to pack and throw stuff away and make up piles to give away with little name tags. dealt with some internet issues as email wasn't working but the web was. took a break to hit golf balls with gordon who was also at the range and after we chipped some i went back home to keep packing. cleaning up and tossing stuff out.
and that was the day. one less to go and we are running out of time. 4 more things to sell or give away and will trash the rest. what do you want to hear now? ("lying eyes" it is.) i can listen to old music all night long and have done that a few times here. one night i listened to two neil young concerts and an hour of kate wolf-interesting contrast. pretty song.
market day tomorrow and the post office. also the phone company- stopped to top my phone off as i might have mentioned and there were about 35 students trying to buy phones. gave up and bought a mcflurry instead. trying to keep my weight up right now.
actually we have eaten pretty healthy here but not enough variety as some things are just hard to get.
not quite midnight now and have some things to do. have to be out the door at 6am tomorrow so off i go. hot days ahead here. will be good to be home, but will be back in the uk next summer i am sure. maybe cambridge next time. ireland and france coming up in sept this year also. ("peaceful easy feeling" if my brother reads this he may remember the time we drove across the states and stopped in winslow, az to see what it was like. i have that picture etched in my brain still. wasn't what i had anticipated.
good luck to texas and mexico with the hurricane coming their way. ( had to listen to "take it easy" and there is winslow now-)
searching for balance somewhere. have to keep typing so i can listen-"already gone" and the eagles look so young as they sing. does this bring back memories? but joe walsh wasn't with them in this version. these guys could play though. enough i know.
neil young and "four strong winds" and i am out of here. but first "hotel california". night all.
about an hour up the trail and past wolvercote and summertown i got off of the trail to see what was around and ran through a rather "posh" neighborhood of young adults and children - passed at least two all day nursery's. (don has moved on to "dirty laundry". love this song. anyway, i did a quick trip around the neighborhood and then ran back to the canal. stopped and stretched for a bit and then headed south. nice and simple. had about an hour back and enjoyed the sunny day and the warmer temps, but the legs were not all that fresh. but not that far to go -funny how an hour can seem short after awhile.
back down the canal past the same stuff going south this time, the bikes passing me without warning of course. at port meadow i decided to get off just to see the wild flowers that grew along the train trail. ran up the hill and the slope felt good so i went back down and then did it again and turned through the parking lot at port meadow and went down the train trail.
as happens so often here as i started down the trail and the wildflowers were all blooming in their colorful splendor i could hear and then see the huge lawnmower machine coming up the trail and cutting them back from the trail. ("heart of the matter" is on now- a great song.) smelled good but was funny that they were cutting them down after i got off to see them.
anyway. kept going smelling the cut stuff for some time down the trail and cut over at the train station on the new temp bridge and was turned back by construction and went back and down the trail and just took the long way home. worked ok. a little over two hours in total. a nice run even if tired. will go short or not at all tomorrow.
homeward bound and did laundry and started to pack and throw stuff away and make up piles to give away with little name tags. dealt with some internet issues as email wasn't working but the web was. took a break to hit golf balls with gordon who was also at the range and after we chipped some i went back home to keep packing. cleaning up and tossing stuff out.
and that was the day. one less to go and we are running out of time. 4 more things to sell or give away and will trash the rest. what do you want to hear now? ("lying eyes" it is.) i can listen to old music all night long and have done that a few times here. one night i listened to two neil young concerts and an hour of kate wolf-interesting contrast. pretty song.
market day tomorrow and the post office. also the phone company- stopped to top my phone off as i might have mentioned and there were about 35 students trying to buy phones. gave up and bought a mcflurry instead. trying to keep my weight up right now.
actually we have eaten pretty healthy here but not enough variety as some things are just hard to get.
not quite midnight now and have some things to do. have to be out the door at 6am tomorrow so off i go. hot days ahead here. will be good to be home, but will be back in the uk next summer i am sure. maybe cambridge next time. ireland and france coming up in sept this year also. ("peaceful easy feeling" if my brother reads this he may remember the time we drove across the states and stopped in winslow, az to see what it was like. i have that picture etched in my brain still. wasn't what i had anticipated.
good luck to texas and mexico with the hurricane coming their way. ( had to listen to "take it easy" and there is winslow now-)
searching for balance somewhere. have to keep typing so i can listen-"already gone" and the eagles look so young as they sing. does this bring back memories? but joe walsh wasn't with them in this version. these guys could play though. enough i know.
neil young and "four strong winds" and i am out of here. but first "hotel california". night all.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Karen Briggs -Violinist/// Wikipedia
something to check out sometime for those of you unfamiliar with her. try you tube -easy enough.
Karen Briggs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karen Briggs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
lost cat to start the day and seven more miles run
up early enough to run and then found out the cat was "missing"- what does that mean? the cat was in the house somewhere, but where? turns out he broke into a closed door and hid under the night table- did it twice today as it turned out, but talk about wasting time in a little bit of a panic- one cat already put down and not wanting to be responsible for losing the other cat....
then out to run an hour later than i needed to be- turns out i was right - was doing sprints when the class came out and i had to give up the field- teacher said to me- aren't you running late today? funny--
but i did get in 20 x 100 and then ran the bike path and dirt trail around the park to get in my little 7 miles and head home. went ok and i know i should not have done sprints today, but i was curious after all of the stretching i did yesterday if it actually helped at all and it did. will keep it up i hope.
everything just takes so much longer than it should given the state of the house and having no car. but at any rate- we went off to a luncheon to say goodbye to a friend of ours and that went well. was nice getting together again and the food was even ok for a $40 lunch. then gail went off to the library and i went to run errands. soem done and some- at the phone store to top off my phone there was a class of 35 language students in line to get phones- no room for me there and i will try again on wed. or thursday. did the bank stuff and the adventure there was the "hole in the wall" machine ate my card and it took a bit to get it back. then the printer was broken and wouldn't finish the transaction. eventually i was able to get into the queue and wait through 15 people to make a deposit.
then the 1.5 mile walk home. so basically 15 minutes of errands took 2 hours and one didn't get done. i did manage to pick up a USA today on the way home for $2. got home to find the cat missing again as i mentioned before. but this time i knew where he was hiding. then did laundry and went off to the driving range. with winds blowing at 20 mph+ it went as well as it could, some good and some bad. kept up my streak of at least one shank a day-three today.
then home to do paperwork and clean out some more stuff and fold clothes to pack and have dinner. the computer was working and not working and it was hard to stay connected and eventually i gave up. can work offline and then see if i can get connected like i am doing now and then see if i can send it. what can i say?
did watch a tv show for a change and read the usa today then. another day almost over. some yanni playing in the background. running out of time to do stuff and i can see that eventually it will just get left undone.
more tomorrow.
then out to run an hour later than i needed to be- turns out i was right - was doing sprints when the class came out and i had to give up the field- teacher said to me- aren't you running late today? funny--
but i did get in 20 x 100 and then ran the bike path and dirt trail around the park to get in my little 7 miles and head home. went ok and i know i should not have done sprints today, but i was curious after all of the stretching i did yesterday if it actually helped at all and it did. will keep it up i hope.
everything just takes so much longer than it should given the state of the house and having no car. but at any rate- we went off to a luncheon to say goodbye to a friend of ours and that went well. was nice getting together again and the food was even ok for a $40 lunch. then gail went off to the library and i went to run errands. soem done and some- at the phone store to top off my phone there was a class of 35 language students in line to get phones- no room for me there and i will try again on wed. or thursday. did the bank stuff and the adventure there was the "hole in the wall" machine ate my card and it took a bit to get it back. then the printer was broken and wouldn't finish the transaction. eventually i was able to get into the queue and wait through 15 people to make a deposit.
then the 1.5 mile walk home. so basically 15 minutes of errands took 2 hours and one didn't get done. i did manage to pick up a USA today on the way home for $2. got home to find the cat missing again as i mentioned before. but this time i knew where he was hiding. then did laundry and went off to the driving range. with winds blowing at 20 mph+ it went as well as it could, some good and some bad. kept up my streak of at least one shank a day-three today.
then home to do paperwork and clean out some more stuff and fold clothes to pack and have dinner. the computer was working and not working and it was hard to stay connected and eventually i gave up. can work offline and then see if i can get connected like i am doing now and then see if i can send it. what can i say?
did watch a tv show for a change and read the usa today then. another day almost over. some yanni playing in the background. running out of time to do stuff and i can see that eventually it will just get left undone.
more tomorrow.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
run, fete, driving range and packing
ok day today as we were up early and out of the tent house and headed over to the park to run some striders. looped around the park and then ran 20 x 100 and 4 x 200 keeping an eye on the right leg and how it felt and stretching occasionally. gail ran loops almost the entire time i was doing the sprints and she finished up with some starter sprints to ease back into doing them. the striders themselves went pretty well and the 200's were just over 50 seconds which was ok. will get them back down to 47 or so after we are home and i can get this leg worked on.
it was 52 degrees when i ran, a far cry from what is going on back in virginia. will be interesting to run again unable to breathe. finished the workout and ran a long loop around the park and then headed home. another 10 mile day in and 2928 miles so far this year with 10 more days here. will miss two of them for sure due to travel and maybe one more if i get to play golf again. figure 7 runs averaging 8 miles and will just miss 3000 at 2984. given the the few days off to rest the leg and travel it could have been a 300 mile year. has been a long time since i have done that- not since the 2:56 marathon days but that was quality and this is just slugging along. i have put in enough time that at my old pace i would have probably had closer to 3500 miles. oh well.
after the run we did our usual house stuff and also threw out some more stuff and then headed up to the binsey "fete". this was almost interesting just to see what they did and it was ok. at least people got together and they had some games for the kids, a chicken beauty pageant, a pig roast and some books, cakes and plants for sale. we bought a lemon cake of sorts that was pretty good for dessert tonight and we had a chance to talk and meet with some people we knew and some we didn't. most of the people i knew from the village weren't there though.
afterwards we went home and gail worked on her book and i went to the range to hit some balls in the now 30 mph wind that was blowing. practiced my low shots and did my drills. it is still coming along. the good shots are really good, but i also hit about 10 shanks and 10 hooks. there is a tree that i constantly hit on the left side of the range. if i stayed here long enough i would kill it for certain.
then home to watch padraig harrington win the "Open" and then did some paper work and watched one tv mystery show. we watch so little tv here it is funny compared to back home. i finished my book which i had thoroughly enjoyed right up until the last two pages when i just really didn't like the way it ended. what a shame. seems like it was set up for a sequel that never was written.
and after some on-line work i am off to sleep. midnight here now, another long day over. nine days and a wake up to go.
it was 52 degrees when i ran, a far cry from what is going on back in virginia. will be interesting to run again unable to breathe. finished the workout and ran a long loop around the park and then headed home. another 10 mile day in and 2928 miles so far this year with 10 more days here. will miss two of them for sure due to travel and maybe one more if i get to play golf again. figure 7 runs averaging 8 miles and will just miss 3000 at 2984. given the the few days off to rest the leg and travel it could have been a 300 mile year. has been a long time since i have done that- not since the 2:56 marathon days but that was quality and this is just slugging along. i have put in enough time that at my old pace i would have probably had closer to 3500 miles. oh well.
after the run we did our usual house stuff and also threw out some more stuff and then headed up to the binsey "fete". this was almost interesting just to see what they did and it was ok. at least people got together and they had some games for the kids, a chicken beauty pageant, a pig roast and some books, cakes and plants for sale. we bought a lemon cake of sorts that was pretty good for dessert tonight and we had a chance to talk and meet with some people we knew and some we didn't. most of the people i knew from the village weren't there though.
afterwards we went home and gail worked on her book and i went to the range to hit some balls in the now 30 mph wind that was blowing. practiced my low shots and did my drills. it is still coming along. the good shots are really good, but i also hit about 10 shanks and 10 hooks. there is a tree that i constantly hit on the left side of the range. if i stayed here long enough i would kill it for certain.
then home to watch padraig harrington win the "Open" and then did some paper work and watched one tv mystery show. we watch so little tv here it is funny compared to back home. i finished my book which i had thoroughly enjoyed right up until the last two pages when i just really didn't like the way it ended. what a shame. seems like it was set up for a sequel that never was written.
and after some on-line work i am off to sleep. midnight here now, another long day over. nine days and a wake up to go.
BBC NEWS | Scotland | 'I'm just another Scot with MS'
this is an interesting article about a disease i have an interest in and will stay on top of.-----------------------------
BBC NEWS | Scotland | 'I'm just another Scot with MS'
BBC NEWS | Scotland | 'I'm just another Scot with MS'
Saturday, July 19, 2008
getting closer and the "Open"
they just call it the open here as opposed to the british open as we do in the states to differentiate it from our own open and the third round just finished with greg norman 2 strokes ahead. great for him and he played just great. i feel bad that david duval had such a tough day out there going over 80, but hope he can get it back tomorrow and continue his run back to the top of the golf world. was and is always a class act. tomorrow we have the binsey village fete and i will have to bug out at some point to watch the end of the open for sure.
today i decided to run. morning heart rate was 46 and that was not bad despite all of the activity yesterday. one thing i have noticed is that in my former running years i could do any workout no matter how hard or fast or hilly and the next day my pulse might have climbed from 38 or 39 to 41, but it didn't go to 47 like it does these days. still, at a resting rate of about 43 the range of 45-48 is not that bad. i can find so little info on older runners that i am my own little experiment. dr. sheehan was right about the experiment of one. i can still remember running a 3:06 with him at the MCM. the good old days? running wise anyway.
but today i went out and up to the church and looped back and over to the river. the hard rain had stopped by then and it was warming up quickly. not to 95 like back home but close to 70degrees. across the boat house road i went towards port meadow but i ran north on the river to the old nunnery. the sun was out and the sky was blue and the people out running or biking were actually friendly today. i know the weather has a big part on how people react to life here as the rain and darkness can be depressing i guess. you would think that after 2000 years of it everyone would be conditioned to it and i know i would much rather have the weather here, even the rain, than the weather we are going back to in virginia. 66 and 60% humidity is not that bad. so we get a little rain most days-
back from the nunnery i ran moving ok. the legs were not springy like the other day but they weren't dead either and i was running at a decent enough pace for me. i could feel some tightness and the right groin hurt a little, but not bad. all the way down from the nunnery and over the rainbow bridge and down the thames. the closed trail signs were out but a runner coming the other way said the detour was open so i went on down. the oxford crew teams were out doing their version of intervals and the ducks and geese and swans were everywhere. the new part of the trail was coming along and they had put in some new culverts and raised some parts of the path. i figure they needed three more weeks or four to complete it. and we will be home by then.
at the end of the trail i headed over to the canal for a bit more and then turned ck and headed home. i did notice they blocked in the area we used to see the swans in and it was now filled with sandbags and a new fence. the new willows were planted also as a flood deterrent. as pretty as they were they sure narrowed the trail down to just a few feet. can almost see the forthcoming bike accidents. well thought out.
but home i headed after running to the grocery store ad getting some things. a decent run where i stayed in or just above my 70% zone almost all of the time. the legs were not as bad as they have been and i stretched them when i was done. the right leg is clearly not good, but i think more stretching and rest will help. with just a few miles yesterday and the day off on thursday they bounced back some. with a week they might be much better. will run a day or two more and take our travel day on tuesday off. then another day the day we play golf. will see if that all helps. i i figure i have 8 more runs while i am here. and today's 8 miles is history.
after the run and breakfast and more laundry i watched some Open and read the book i am reading which i am really enjoying. then some time spent figuring out how to ship things home and then to the golf range where i did drills for 90 minutes and a little chipping. then home to watch and read some more while also folding clothes and packing up some. gail and i took a 4 mile walk along the canal and that was nice.
back to work now getting everything ready. have to sell the bikes this week and the tv and ship books and pictures. have a few going away lunches and a trip to Reading to visit a college on tuesday. we have one more good hike planned and will see when that happens.
should be a fun day tomorrow. no rain in the forecast for the next 4 days. hard to believe, though it is supposed to go up to 77 on thursday, and match the hottest day of the year. time will tell.
i hear a lawnmower somewhere. the grass in our backyard has been cut one time since last june. the owner is taking back the house from the people we rent from in sept. and giving it to his daughter and i am sure he will fix it all up. he really should be ashamed of himself for how he treats this house.
10 days and a wakeup. when i was in viet nam i remember telling my first sgt that he shouldn't even think of sending me out of the compound when i got down to 10 days to go. he had always liked me right up to the time i convinced our platoon to have a going away party and not leave our "sunshine" money behind. i remember we bought a truck of ice and lots of food. when was the last time you paid $10 for a hershey bar? sometimes money just seems like monopoly money. i paid 3 pounds 90 for a coke, a diet coke and a large french fries here. $7.80 american. might have been 4 bucks at home.
later people. stay cool. even we have the 7" fan on.
today i decided to run. morning heart rate was 46 and that was not bad despite all of the activity yesterday. one thing i have noticed is that in my former running years i could do any workout no matter how hard or fast or hilly and the next day my pulse might have climbed from 38 or 39 to 41, but it didn't go to 47 like it does these days. still, at a resting rate of about 43 the range of 45-48 is not that bad. i can find so little info on older runners that i am my own little experiment. dr. sheehan was right about the experiment of one. i can still remember running a 3:06 with him at the MCM. the good old days? running wise anyway.
but today i went out and up to the church and looped back and over to the river. the hard rain had stopped by then and it was warming up quickly. not to 95 like back home but close to 70degrees. across the boat house road i went towards port meadow but i ran north on the river to the old nunnery. the sun was out and the sky was blue and the people out running or biking were actually friendly today. i know the weather has a big part on how people react to life here as the rain and darkness can be depressing i guess. you would think that after 2000 years of it everyone would be conditioned to it and i know i would much rather have the weather here, even the rain, than the weather we are going back to in virginia. 66 and 60% humidity is not that bad. so we get a little rain most days-
back from the nunnery i ran moving ok. the legs were not springy like the other day but they weren't dead either and i was running at a decent enough pace for me. i could feel some tightness and the right groin hurt a little, but not bad. all the way down from the nunnery and over the rainbow bridge and down the thames. the closed trail signs were out but a runner coming the other way said the detour was open so i went on down. the oxford crew teams were out doing their version of intervals and the ducks and geese and swans were everywhere. the new part of the trail was coming along and they had put in some new culverts and raised some parts of the path. i figure they needed three more weeks or four to complete it. and we will be home by then.
at the end of the trail i headed over to the canal for a bit more and then turned ck and headed home. i did notice they blocked in the area we used to see the swans in and it was now filled with sandbags and a new fence. the new willows were planted also as a flood deterrent. as pretty as they were they sure narrowed the trail down to just a few feet. can almost see the forthcoming bike accidents. well thought out.
but home i headed after running to the grocery store ad getting some things. a decent run where i stayed in or just above my 70% zone almost all of the time. the legs were not as bad as they have been and i stretched them when i was done. the right leg is clearly not good, but i think more stretching and rest will help. with just a few miles yesterday and the day off on thursday they bounced back some. with a week they might be much better. will run a day or two more and take our travel day on tuesday off. then another day the day we play golf. will see if that all helps. i i figure i have 8 more runs while i am here. and today's 8 miles is history.
after the run and breakfast and more laundry i watched some Open and read the book i am reading which i am really enjoying. then some time spent figuring out how to ship things home and then to the golf range where i did drills for 90 minutes and a little chipping. then home to watch and read some more while also folding clothes and packing up some. gail and i took a 4 mile walk along the canal and that was nice.
back to work now getting everything ready. have to sell the bikes this week and the tv and ship books and pictures. have a few going away lunches and a trip to Reading to visit a college on tuesday. we have one more good hike planned and will see when that happens.
should be a fun day tomorrow. no rain in the forecast for the next 4 days. hard to believe, though it is supposed to go up to 77 on thursday, and match the hottest day of the year. time will tell.
i hear a lawnmower somewhere. the grass in our backyard has been cut one time since last june. the owner is taking back the house from the people we rent from in sept. and giving it to his daughter and i am sure he will fix it all up. he really should be ashamed of himself for how he treats this house.
10 days and a wakeup. when i was in viet nam i remember telling my first sgt that he shouldn't even think of sending me out of the compound when i got down to 10 days to go. he had always liked me right up to the time i convinced our platoon to have a going away party and not leave our "sunshine" money behind. i remember we bought a truck of ice and lots of food. when was the last time you paid $10 for a hershey bar? sometimes money just seems like monopoly money. i paid 3 pounds 90 for a coke, a diet coke and a large french fries here. $7.80 american. might have been 4 bucks at home.
later people. stay cool. even we have the 7" fan on.
Friday, July 18, 2008
fun day
short 3-4 mile outing this morning. right leg is so so but i am not sure what is wrong with the quad at all. still cannot put my right leg over the left and the sudden unexplained pain at anytime is never fun. but it doesn't really get in the way of running once i start. morning heart rate was 44 this morning so some time off helps that come down. gail and i went up to the church and back after she came out. i was already out and going back and forth waiting for her.
a quick cleanup and breakfast and dr. john came by to pick me up and we went to hinksey heights golf course and played the back nine holes. played like i hadn't been on a golf course in awhile but it was fun. john is the perfect golf partner and we both played ok with some good and bad shots- half pars and bogies. tuff greens for sure and the wind was blowing pretty good. they had the club championship there this past week and the greens were really quick and small and hard. think Shenandoah greens with links type mounds and bunkers. quick though as we played in under two hours and didn't find or lose a ball.
after we had lunch john took me home and i walked up to the range to see if i could lock down something i noticed while playing. that went ok actually. golf on a course is so much more fun than just hitting balls on a range.
shopping, laundry, bill paying and dinner made up the rest of the time. watched some open on tv-go david duval!!!- and just getting stuff ready to go home. rain is coming in for the weekend.
lots to do and looking forward to it all. not looking to the heat back home though. in the 60's here with some sun and so rain-it is my kind of weather. note that on a basic rest day of sorts with the 4 miles in the morning, the 3 miles we walked at the golf course and two miles up and back to the range and the grocery store i had 9 miles of exercise, plus golf and driving range. if you go out the front door here you seem to do 10 miles worth of something.
my new motto is vote for mc cain so i can move to france or portugal! thanks.
time to hang clothes- bet some of you have dryers don't you? ha
a quick cleanup and breakfast and dr. john came by to pick me up and we went to hinksey heights golf course and played the back nine holes. played like i hadn't been on a golf course in awhile but it was fun. john is the perfect golf partner and we both played ok with some good and bad shots- half pars and bogies. tuff greens for sure and the wind was blowing pretty good. they had the club championship there this past week and the greens were really quick and small and hard. think Shenandoah greens with links type mounds and bunkers. quick though as we played in under two hours and didn't find or lose a ball.
after we had lunch john took me home and i walked up to the range to see if i could lock down something i noticed while playing. that went ok actually. golf on a course is so much more fun than just hitting balls on a range.
shopping, laundry, bill paying and dinner made up the rest of the time. watched some open on tv-go david duval!!!- and just getting stuff ready to go home. rain is coming in for the weekend.
lots to do and looking forward to it all. not looking to the heat back home though. in the 60's here with some sun and so rain-it is my kind of weather. note that on a basic rest day of sorts with the 4 miles in the morning, the 3 miles we walked at the golf course and two miles up and back to the range and the grocery store i had 9 miles of exercise, plus golf and driving range. if you go out the front door here you seem to do 10 miles worth of something.
my new motto is vote for mc cain so i can move to france or portugal! thanks.
time to hang clothes- bet some of you have dryers don't you? ha
Thursday, July 17, 2008
short and not much to say with one highlight
hard to believe how little you can do and get done on some days and today was one of those days. skipped the run as planned and also skipped wales as we never were able to find a place to stay there. will see if we can resurrect that. did go to the driving range where i was almost, but not quite as horrible as yesterday. what can i say? i missed in both directions and had my block, slice, shank and hook working as well as my groundball shot. also hit an occasional really nice ball. tried 200 balls and went home and watched the "open" on bbc2. saw els shoot an 80. had empathy. i might not have broken 200 there today. Birkdale is a beautiful course and reminded me a lot of County Down. as much as i hate golf right now i do love links golf. it is an entirely different animal.
then home and gail and i took a long walk around the parks and along the thames. stopped to buy vegetables for dinner along with our pasta and mousse. never did get the heavy rain today.
the highlight of the day was an email from the very first intern i helped get into our program. who just had her third child. she had also copied another intern from our first class. two of our best and the nicest of people. great to hear from them. i was so disappointed when my last computer's virus wiped out all of my email addresses and of course, since i had to change email addresses when we moved i just lost touch with many people.
anyway- working on-line and cleaning up stuff here. 12 days to go and lots to do. will be curious to see how it all gets done. i might have mentioned that we had the first of two house inspections and it turns out the landlord is giving the house to his daughter so i suspect that everything will get fixed. words to describe that situation would be less than nice for a family blog.
more later.
then home and gail and i took a long walk around the parks and along the thames. stopped to buy vegetables for dinner along with our pasta and mousse. never did get the heavy rain today.
the highlight of the day was an email from the very first intern i helped get into our program. who just had her third child. she had also copied another intern from our first class. two of our best and the nicest of people. great to hear from them. i was so disappointed when my last computer's virus wiped out all of my email addresses and of course, since i had to change email addresses when we moved i just lost touch with many people.
anyway- working on-line and cleaning up stuff here. 12 days to go and lots to do. will be curious to see how it all gets done. i might have mentioned that we had the first of two house inspections and it turns out the landlord is giving the house to his daughter so i suspect that everything will get fixed. words to describe that situation would be less than nice for a family blog.
more later.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
run to the market and then bad day at the range
funny headline but gail and went out to run early enough after a night when i had almost 3 hours of sleep. just could not sleep. about three nights in a row now. but we ran up binsey and over the rainbow bridge and then were forced to go over the port meadow bridge as the trail was closed even where they weren't working on it. no problem and we ran around the little trail that overlooked fiddler's island and took us to the train station trail. a warm and sunny day, but not like back in virginia. would hit 68 later in the day and not rain as predicted.
headed down the train trail and cut over the makeshift bridge back to the thames on the lower part of the trail and then over swan bridge. high water and very dark green/blackish color. a short run brought us to botley road where i left gail to head home and i reversed myself back down swan trail and under the train trail and to the oxford canal. ran north on the canal to the bridge which brings you to jericho and the oxford university press. ran though the neighborhood and past the "old bookbinder's pub". need to look that one up sometime as we had an old bookbinder's in philly also.
did the loop around the little west side of jericho neighborhood and headed towards town and the public market. was running ok at this point and keeping an eye on all of the usual "spots" as well as the bikes headed towards town also. i would estimate that i get a bike passing warning from 1% of the riders. it just doesn't seem to be the way here. no problem as i crossed over walton street and into glouster green and the market place.
stopped to talk to some of my friendly vendors and then bought what i came for. the bread and olive guy was there today and picked up an olive ciabatta and some whole wheat scones and fresh apricot pastries. this market is one of those things i will miss for sure. bought a couple of large egyptian towels from the guy who knows the states and spent time in rochester, ny. he always likes to talk about snow. funny- we had about 2 inches almost here in oxford this winter, maybe less.
bags in tow i jog home. it is a mile to the house we live in from here and a pleasant enough jog as i take the long way to miss some of the walkers going in the other direction. there never seems to be enough space on the sidewalk and you just don't run down this street to get home. not even sure how the bikes do it as the bike lane maybe 2 feet wide. no wonder so many get hit. i cut up over the canal path and ran back that way to the thames. much easier and also much prettier.
at close to 7 miles i was home and also over 2900 iles for the year here so far. spent the morning do odds and ends and changing addresses on-line as well as paying bills and then headed up to the driving range. and i was just bad today hitting balls though i worked really hard i could never quite keep it going. i could say i showed signs of promise as i did hit many really nice balls, but i was blocking, slicing, groundering, hooking and just tighter than normal. 250 balls later i was done. did some chipping and pitching and that went better. the last ten balls were also ok so maybe there is hope. ha!
best part of the range were some of the people i met there. how can i help so many people with their swings and be so bad with my own? a rhetorical question i admit. and home to dinner and working on getting out of here. two weeks from right now we will be at dulles airport if all goes well.
supposed to rain a lot over the next three days-like today but it didn't. we have had trouble finding a place to stay in wales so the trip is in trouble but will see if we can find anything. otherwise we are off to Reading. also have 3 goodbye lunches planned so far and this sunday is the Binsey village "fete" and celebration of the re-opening of the "Perch" pub, just in time for us to go home. great.
and that is pretty much the day here. like a lot of other days. my plan is to rest the legs a bit as i had planned to do if we went to wales. if i pushed a little i could get to 3000 miles but i want to go home somewhat rested and with a right leg in better shape than it is so it will keep getting better there. i read it is code red and orange back there. not looking forward to that, but most everything else.
headed down the train trail and cut over the makeshift bridge back to the thames on the lower part of the trail and then over swan bridge. high water and very dark green/blackish color. a short run brought us to botley road where i left gail to head home and i reversed myself back down swan trail and under the train trail and to the oxford canal. ran north on the canal to the bridge which brings you to jericho and the oxford university press. ran though the neighborhood and past the "old bookbinder's pub". need to look that one up sometime as we had an old bookbinder's in philly also.
did the loop around the little west side of jericho neighborhood and headed towards town and the public market. was running ok at this point and keeping an eye on all of the usual "spots" as well as the bikes headed towards town also. i would estimate that i get a bike passing warning from 1% of the riders. it just doesn't seem to be the way here. no problem as i crossed over walton street and into glouster green and the market place.
stopped to talk to some of my friendly vendors and then bought what i came for. the bread and olive guy was there today and picked up an olive ciabatta and some whole wheat scones and fresh apricot pastries. this market is one of those things i will miss for sure. bought a couple of large egyptian towels from the guy who knows the states and spent time in rochester, ny. he always likes to talk about snow. funny- we had about 2 inches almost here in oxford this winter, maybe less.
bags in tow i jog home. it is a mile to the house we live in from here and a pleasant enough jog as i take the long way to miss some of the walkers going in the other direction. there never seems to be enough space on the sidewalk and you just don't run down this street to get home. not even sure how the bikes do it as the bike lane maybe 2 feet wide. no wonder so many get hit. i cut up over the canal path and ran back that way to the thames. much easier and also much prettier.
at close to 7 miles i was home and also over 2900 iles for the year here so far. spent the morning do odds and ends and changing addresses on-line as well as paying bills and then headed up to the driving range. and i was just bad today hitting balls though i worked really hard i could never quite keep it going. i could say i showed signs of promise as i did hit many really nice balls, but i was blocking, slicing, groundering, hooking and just tighter than normal. 250 balls later i was done. did some chipping and pitching and that went better. the last ten balls were also ok so maybe there is hope. ha!
best part of the range were some of the people i met there. how can i help so many people with their swings and be so bad with my own? a rhetorical question i admit. and home to dinner and working on getting out of here. two weeks from right now we will be at dulles airport if all goes well.
supposed to rain a lot over the next three days-like today but it didn't. we have had trouble finding a place to stay in wales so the trip is in trouble but will see if we can find anything. otherwise we are off to Reading. also have 3 goodbye lunches planned so far and this sunday is the Binsey village "fete" and celebration of the re-opening of the "Perch" pub, just in time for us to go home. great.
and that is pretty much the day here. like a lot of other days. my plan is to rest the legs a bit as i had planned to do if we went to wales. if i pushed a little i could get to 3000 miles but i want to go home somewhat rested and with a right leg in better shape than it is so it will keep getting better there. i read it is code red and orange back there. not looking forward to that, but most everything else.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
nice and quiet tuesday
finally got some sleep last night and the morning heart rate was about 44. i can get the hr down with less running and more rest, but that won't work at home in the states. went out to run and the run went ok for the most part. had enough in me to get 7 miles in and just as i started to feel a little tired i shut it down so as not to press the right leg more than it could handled. i am trying to maintain some running and not hurt the quad anymore and also hoping the piriformis will keep recovering. there are days coming up when traveling that it will be much easier to not run than run and i can rest it some more. would like to be able to go home and actually train rather than rest. i need the right quad to be ok so i can stride out. otherwise it is a slog and not a run. i can be happy these days running the 25 minute 5k and being in the middle rather than the back of the pack. the 18:30 days are gone, but so is being 36 years old.
the run was basically down to north hinksey village and then back to king george's park and around osney island. went around and then down the bike path towards botley village and cut back across the park and through the electric power line fields along the creek-bed trail. this is not a path for everyone but i like it as i run right next to the water and am pretty close to the ducks and i get a first hand view of the horses in the field. just have to keep an eye on the roots along the bank of the creek bed and the bridges i run over can wobble and not feel secure. right!
anyway- did that sort of thing for 7 miles or so and headed back to the store and then walked back to the house. the salvation army had already come by and gotten the clothes bag i left out for them. strangely after breakfast and doing laundry (seems we do a lot of laundry here because we do) i fell asleep and slept for 6 hours. not sure why as i didn't feel tired. got up finally and went up to the range and hit a bucket and chipped for 10 minutes and came back to the house. the we had some dinner and listened to the sunday morning talk shows from back home.
watched some videos and now am blogging this. then will read some and grab some more sleep. we have two weeks from tomorrow- which is now 4 minutes away. have three books i have to finish before i leave and am running out of time. lots of admin stuff to do before we go home. i leave most of that out of the day to day write up.
anyway- an ok day but all of the sleep cut down getting more done. can't afford anymore of that. no rain today and about 70 degrees and very sunny. a rare day.
rest day for the tour and i gather the all star game is today. i am just not keeping up with sports back home but i do know the phils are in first place.
today's run put me at 2897 miles for the year here so far and tomorrow's should get me over 2900. hardly much quality, but am stronger than when i came even with many of the days having some galloway or osler type runs. enough all run days and some short speedwork to start getting into a little better shape than when i came, but i doubt running in the humidity and cold back home will help at all. it is far easier to go out in 57 and even a drizzle than 94 and humidity; same thing for 39 and some rain than 26 and snow. will see how i adjust.
the run was basically down to north hinksey village and then back to king george's park and around osney island. went around and then down the bike path towards botley village and cut back across the park and through the electric power line fields along the creek-bed trail. this is not a path for everyone but i like it as i run right next to the water and am pretty close to the ducks and i get a first hand view of the horses in the field. just have to keep an eye on the roots along the bank of the creek bed and the bridges i run over can wobble and not feel secure. right!
anyway- did that sort of thing for 7 miles or so and headed back to the store and then walked back to the house. the salvation army had already come by and gotten the clothes bag i left out for them. strangely after breakfast and doing laundry (seems we do a lot of laundry here because we do) i fell asleep and slept for 6 hours. not sure why as i didn't feel tired. got up finally and went up to the range and hit a bucket and chipped for 10 minutes and came back to the house. the we had some dinner and listened to the sunday morning talk shows from back home.
watched some videos and now am blogging this. then will read some and grab some more sleep. we have two weeks from tomorrow- which is now 4 minutes away. have three books i have to finish before i leave and am running out of time. lots of admin stuff to do before we go home. i leave most of that out of the day to day write up.
anyway- an ok day but all of the sleep cut down getting more done. can't afford anymore of that. no rain today and about 70 degrees and very sunny. a rare day.
rest day for the tour and i gather the all star game is today. i am just not keeping up with sports back home but i do know the phils are in first place.
today's run put me at 2897 miles for the year here so far and tomorrow's should get me over 2900. hardly much quality, but am stronger than when i came even with many of the days having some galloway or osler type runs. enough all run days and some short speedwork to start getting into a little better shape than when i came, but i doubt running in the humidity and cold back home will help at all. it is far easier to go out in 57 and even a drizzle than 94 and humidity; same thing for 39 and some rain than 26 and snow. will see how i adjust.
Monday, July 14, 2008
to london and back-2 days worth
got up early and ran before we left for london. it was a really pretty morning and i tried to take it as easy as i could on my sore and tired legs. fortunately they weren't as bad as they could have been. my morning heart rate was 46, which was pretty good, though higher than yesterday's 44.
went up binsey to the church and then back and over to port meadow and down the thames. cut over the temp. bridge to the train trail and north to the trail to the canal and then south. very pretty. the sun was out and it was mid 50's. will be hard to go back to the usa and deal with 90's and humidity i am sure.
came down the canal and across the bridge back to the thames past the railway station. then down swan trail and back to botley road. did a little of the loop around king george's park and headed home. about 7 miles and a bus to london to catch now. the legs were not great but nowhere near as bad a yesterday. just need some stretching and rest. later.....
and off to london we went. did the bus, walk, tube and walk thing. had a nice lunch with michael and mary and then did the walk and tube thing down to chelsea and walked around that part of london and over to the Chelsey physic gardens. walked around the pretty gardens fo awhile and then left and walked around london and found a nice restaurant in Sloan's Square and had a really nice meal which was meant to be our anniversary celebration meal as gail had to stay in london and work today while i headed back to oxford to deal with the house inspection.
got back in oxford about 10pm and walked home about a mile. quick note- on the bus while going down what would be like I95 at home, the emergency door of the bus flew open. was weird to have all that air come pouring in right next to where i was sitting and i would not be typing this now had i been on an airplane.
but homeward bound i was and it is always interesting to walk around oxford at night while the kids and everyone else start their clubbing and partying. but i had work to do and so on i went back to the tent house and continued the earlier work of getting it ready to be inspected for whatever reason.
Monday i was up early and out again. ran over to the bike path towards north hinksey village. i forgot to mention that yesterday when i went to the thames trail there was a sign saying the trail would be closed for construction work for the next 4 weeks, so i guess we have done our last runs there for this year. did about a two mile loop and came back to run some striders. was trying to see how relaxed i could go and at what pace i could run with minimum pain.
and that pace seems to be around 7 minute mile pace though not for that long. ran 3 sets of 7 with some stretching after every 7th one. never pushed all out and kept a really good eye on how the legs were. each set i went just a bit faster, but mostly because i was warmed up and looser from the stretches. after the three sets i stretched and ran the warmup loop backwards. got in about 8 miles as i extended the run home just a bit.
stopped for some fruit at the store and went home. finished getting the house ready and dealt with the inspection people which was easy enough and done in 20 minutes. mentioned the work they had forgotten to do and the unkept promises and they said hey would look into it. ha.
off to town to get a few things and go to the bank and food store. then home and to the driving range where i did my drills after yesterday's day off. was bad for the first balls but got going and paid close attention to what i was doing. will build on that i hope.
and home to call family and have dinner with gail who came back from london. highlight was a nice Belgium chocolate cheesecake. read two papers and now this. and now off to sleep. not much sleep in 4 days now and could use some. may or may not go to wales later this week. 16 days to go now. hope it cools off before we go home.
btw- what joy is there in showing miss america falling down at the miss universe contest?
2nd btw- just for kicks yesterday i kept my heart rate monitor on while doing the london thing-the entire time. 13 hours and 32 minutes and i burned up 1797 calories according to the watch; 60% from fat. i figure we walked about 7-8 miles yesterday so with the 8 mile run it was a lot of movement. will have to give up food when i am back home and in my car.
did i mention we had 16 days to go? so i did. today's run put me at 2890 for the year here so far. will most likely run 10-12 days of the next 16 given the travel coming up. at 7 a day average that would put me at 2960 - 2974. a shame to be that close to 3000 and not get it. i would need to average 10 a day for 11 days to hit 3000. will see if i think it is worth it to crowd it in.won't run the last day for sure; not sure about the days in wales as i had hoped to give the legs a little recovery break of sorts and just do some hiking. who knows?
can still get 6 hours of sleep if i stop now -bye.....
went up binsey to the church and then back and over to port meadow and down the thames. cut over the temp. bridge to the train trail and north to the trail to the canal and then south. very pretty. the sun was out and it was mid 50's. will be hard to go back to the usa and deal with 90's and humidity i am sure.
came down the canal and across the bridge back to the thames past the railway station. then down swan trail and back to botley road. did a little of the loop around king george's park and headed home. about 7 miles and a bus to london to catch now. the legs were not great but nowhere near as bad a yesterday. just need some stretching and rest. later.....
and off to london we went. did the bus, walk, tube and walk thing. had a nice lunch with michael and mary and then did the walk and tube thing down to chelsea and walked around that part of london and over to the Chelsey physic gardens. walked around the pretty gardens fo awhile and then left and walked around london and found a nice restaurant in Sloan's Square and had a really nice meal which was meant to be our anniversary celebration meal as gail had to stay in london and work today while i headed back to oxford to deal with the house inspection.
got back in oxford about 10pm and walked home about a mile. quick note- on the bus while going down what would be like I95 at home, the emergency door of the bus flew open. was weird to have all that air come pouring in right next to where i was sitting and i would not be typing this now had i been on an airplane.
but homeward bound i was and it is always interesting to walk around oxford at night while the kids and everyone else start their clubbing and partying. but i had work to do and so on i went back to the tent house and continued the earlier work of getting it ready to be inspected for whatever reason.
Monday i was up early and out again. ran over to the bike path towards north hinksey village. i forgot to mention that yesterday when i went to the thames trail there was a sign saying the trail would be closed for construction work for the next 4 weeks, so i guess we have done our last runs there for this year. did about a two mile loop and came back to run some striders. was trying to see how relaxed i could go and at what pace i could run with minimum pain.
and that pace seems to be around 7 minute mile pace though not for that long. ran 3 sets of 7 with some stretching after every 7th one. never pushed all out and kept a really good eye on how the legs were. each set i went just a bit faster, but mostly because i was warmed up and looser from the stretches. after the three sets i stretched and ran the warmup loop backwards. got in about 8 miles as i extended the run home just a bit.
stopped for some fruit at the store and went home. finished getting the house ready and dealt with the inspection people which was easy enough and done in 20 minutes. mentioned the work they had forgotten to do and the unkept promises and they said hey would look into it. ha.
off to town to get a few things and go to the bank and food store. then home and to the driving range where i did my drills after yesterday's day off. was bad for the first balls but got going and paid close attention to what i was doing. will build on that i hope.
and home to call family and have dinner with gail who came back from london. highlight was a nice Belgium chocolate cheesecake. read two papers and now this. and now off to sleep. not much sleep in 4 days now and could use some. may or may not go to wales later this week. 16 days to go now. hope it cools off before we go home.
btw- what joy is there in showing miss america falling down at the miss universe contest?
2nd btw- just for kicks yesterday i kept my heart rate monitor on while doing the london thing-the entire time. 13 hours and 32 minutes and i burned up 1797 calories according to the watch; 60% from fat. i figure we walked about 7-8 miles yesterday so with the 8 mile run it was a lot of movement. will have to give up food when i am back home and in my car.
did i mention we had 16 days to go? so i did. today's run put me at 2890 for the year here so far. will most likely run 10-12 days of the next 16 given the travel coming up. at 7 a day average that would put me at 2960 - 2974. a shame to be that close to 3000 and not get it. i would need to average 10 a day for 11 days to hit 3000. will see if i think it is worth it to crowd it in.won't run the last day for sure; not sure about the days in wales as i had hoped to give the legs a little recovery break of sorts and just do some hiking. who knows?
can still get 6 hours of sleep if i stop now -bye.....
Saturday, July 12, 2008
testing the leg and failing
what can i say? my morning heart rate was down to 44- about normal finally. the little rest seems to be helping the heart recover. yesterday after i ran and did a bunch of stuff i went to the range and hit 300 balls and it went good and bad but the legs were good the entire time and i didn't run.
today for the first time in a long, long time my legs actually had some spring in them and they had that good light feeling i like. was curious to see how long that lasted. went to the park across botley road and ran the dirt paths around the park to the bike path and did the big loop back to oatlands playground and stopped to stretch. so far so good.
ran nice and easy 100's and a few two hundreds never pushing the pace and paying close attention to how the right leg felt. ran 3x 100 and then a 200. finished three sets like that and on the first 100 of the fourth set i could tell the right quad was tightening up. the nice light spring feeling was gone. but there was no pain, just tightness. finished up running 16x 100 and 3 x 200 and stretched again. then ran a 4 mile cooldown nice and easy. still no pain other than one split second in the piriformis when it felt like someone stabbed me and then it was gone. weird!. one day of rest was not enough. but enough rest will be when i get around to actually shutting it down for a bit.
but the point now is that the usual right quad pain was not there and the new pain was and i am sure it is some kind of muscle strain from the day i ran the sprints really hard- started to say fast, but it was hard i meant. fast is gone. effort is still there. though i must say i can run the short 100's faster now than when i started and do an entire set more quickly without getting tired. will be good to get home and work on longer stuff. will need to find a way to rest up the leg that i can live with. not this week though unless we go to wales.
not bad by the time i got home and after the usual stuff and doing some laundry i snuck up to the range. gail was at the library and i had just enough time to get some practice in. ha!. the rain started and it was quite the storm, then a bachelor party came along and took most of my practice area. i say mine because i like to practice outside on the harder tees and then use the grass to chip. no way today and i was still a little tight from the 300 balls of yesterday so i took it easy and worked on a few drills and then went home and then off to meet gail in town for dinner. it was then the right quad started to hurt a lot. oh well! i would never coach a runner like i coach myself.
back home to find a letter saying the house would be inspected monday as they are ending the lease of the people who we rent from. we go to london in the morning so there is a lot to do tonight and it is now 11:45 pm. fun time ahead but no time tomorrow and gail is staying in london so i have a choice of how much to do tonight.
on line banking also tonight and that always goes good and bad as it is not always easy to stayed logged into the email system. it closes me down for security reasons very quickly. oh well!.
all in all an ok day and i don't need a lot of sleep anyway. in a few minutes it will be tomorrow and then we will have 17 days to go, actually 16 and a wakeup as we will be gone at 6am on the last day. it is a conundrum for me as i want to go home but don't want to have to deal with what is waiting for me there. more on that later.
have run 2875 miles here so far.
today for the first time in a long, long time my legs actually had some spring in them and they had that good light feeling i like. was curious to see how long that lasted. went to the park across botley road and ran the dirt paths around the park to the bike path and did the big loop back to oatlands playground and stopped to stretch. so far so good.
ran nice and easy 100's and a few two hundreds never pushing the pace and paying close attention to how the right leg felt. ran 3x 100 and then a 200. finished three sets like that and on the first 100 of the fourth set i could tell the right quad was tightening up. the nice light spring feeling was gone. but there was no pain, just tightness. finished up running 16x 100 and 3 x 200 and stretched again. then ran a 4 mile cooldown nice and easy. still no pain other than one split second in the piriformis when it felt like someone stabbed me and then it was gone. weird!. one day of rest was not enough. but enough rest will be when i get around to actually shutting it down for a bit.
but the point now is that the usual right quad pain was not there and the new pain was and i am sure it is some kind of muscle strain from the day i ran the sprints really hard- started to say fast, but it was hard i meant. fast is gone. effort is still there. though i must say i can run the short 100's faster now than when i started and do an entire set more quickly without getting tired. will be good to get home and work on longer stuff. will need to find a way to rest up the leg that i can live with. not this week though unless we go to wales.
not bad by the time i got home and after the usual stuff and doing some laundry i snuck up to the range. gail was at the library and i had just enough time to get some practice in. ha!. the rain started and it was quite the storm, then a bachelor party came along and took most of my practice area. i say mine because i like to practice outside on the harder tees and then use the grass to chip. no way today and i was still a little tight from the 300 balls of yesterday so i took it easy and worked on a few drills and then went home and then off to meet gail in town for dinner. it was then the right quad started to hurt a lot. oh well! i would never coach a runner like i coach myself.
back home to find a letter saying the house would be inspected monday as they are ending the lease of the people who we rent from. we go to london in the morning so there is a lot to do tonight and it is now 11:45 pm. fun time ahead but no time tomorrow and gail is staying in london so i have a choice of how much to do tonight.
on line banking also tonight and that always goes good and bad as it is not always easy to stayed logged into the email system. it closes me down for security reasons very quickly. oh well!.
all in all an ok day and i don't need a lot of sleep anyway. in a few minutes it will be tomorrow and then we will have 17 days to go, actually 16 and a wakeup as we will be gone at 6am on the last day. it is a conundrum for me as i want to go home but don't want to have to deal with what is waiting for me there. more on that later.
have run 2875 miles here so far.
Skin cancer rates grow among younger women - Washington Post- msnbc.com
as many of my friends know i have dealt with skin cancer for years now having been lucky enough to survive major primary melanomas and 14 other forms of early skin cancer so far. my dr kids me that her goal is to keep me alive until a different cancer kills me. funny haha. i try not to rant about it, but here is another article about the increase in skin cancer. melanoma is something you don't want to have. if you are lucky enough to catch it early you may live; if not you face surgery and chemo and radiation. otherwise it still remains the deadliest cancer. stage 5 can leave you with 6 weeks to live. be careful about your sun exposure and use sun block. it takes 10 years of no melanomas to be considered cured. i am a long way from that still and i have dealt with this for over 12 years. i carry a picture of me running in a 5k race with no shirt on as a reminder. doctors still aren't sure about exercise and the effects on one's immune system and it seems to be that everytime i ramp up the training another primary is found. i will see about that again in sept. when i return to the states, having run about 2900 miles this year.
be careful!
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Skin cancer rates grow among younger women - Washington Post- msnbc.com
be careful!
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Skin cancer rates grow among younger women - Washington Post- msnbc.com
Former White House spokesman Tony Snow dies - CNN.com
this is truly sad and my condolences go out to his wife and family. he lived around the corner from me and while i never spoke to him i have talked to jill, his wife.
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Former White House spokesman Tony Snow dies - CNN.com
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Former White House spokesman Tony Snow dies - CNN.com
Friday, July 11, 2008
day off mostly
no run today for a variety of reasons. seemed like a good idea to rest the quad and bruise/broken left toe, and i was supposed to play golf at 11am. the quad always benefits from rest and i will give it as much as i can before we leave here. then run and do speed work and see where it is before i go to ireland and probably just golf and not run the time i am there. then will have a good idea of where it stands injury wise. still think it is a muscle strain.
but alas, this is England and we had really heavy rain most of the day. john and i hit balls at the range instead and he went home. i stayed and kept working on my swing drills. was hoping to get some chipping in and could have if i didn't mind doing it in a really nice thunder storm. no real sense to that. did some short pitches and called it a day some 300 balls later. will be interested to see how the back feels in the morning. it is still pouring as i type this.
and that was the day- some computer work, a little reading and one long phone call and it is time to wrap up. gail will work some tomorrow and then we're off to london. golf is rescheduled for next week. wales will be in there somewhere and need to deal with stuff here to go home and stuff at home to have done before we get there.
all good- some sleep wouldn't hurt. rain tomorrow also and will see when it actually comes down. almost down to 18 days to go.
but alas, this is England and we had really heavy rain most of the day. john and i hit balls at the range instead and he went home. i stayed and kept working on my swing drills. was hoping to get some chipping in and could have if i didn't mind doing it in a really nice thunder storm. no real sense to that. did some short pitches and called it a day some 300 balls later. will be interested to see how the back feels in the morning. it is still pouring as i type this.
and that was the day- some computer work, a little reading and one long phone call and it is time to wrap up. gail will work some tomorrow and then we're off to london. golf is rescheduled for next week. wales will be in there somewhere and need to deal with stuff here to go home and stuff at home to have done before we get there.
all good- some sleep wouldn't hurt. rain tomorrow also and will see when it actually comes down. almost down to 18 days to go.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
lance armstrong-"Every Second Counts";from the chapter on "My park bench."
here are some words from the book by lance armstrong that i wanted to save so i blogged them. i hope that i am legally allowed to use them as there is no intent to violate his copyright for profit. the question has been for some time now- how do you live beyond it?
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" I know this, too. the seize-the-day mentality that i carried with me from the illness doesn't always serve me well. It's too tempting, in the throes of it, to quit on any problem that seems hard or inconvenient, to call it a waste of precious time and move on to something more immediate. Some things require patience.
The question of how to live through cancer, for me, has become: how do you live beyond it? Survivorship is not unlike competition; both are emotionally complicated, and neither necessarily delivers pat answers, no matter how nice it is to think so. In both cases, you have to constantly ask yourself what the real lessons are, what's worth transferring to the rest of your life?
But both cancer and competition have taught me one great, incontrvertible lesson that i think every person can learn from, whether healthy or ill, athlete or layman.
The lesson is this: personal comfort is not the only thing worth seeking.
Whether the subject is bike racing, or cancer, or just living, comfort only takes us to a point that's known. Since when did sheets with the right thread count, a coffee maker, and an electric toothbrush become the only things worth having or working toward? Too often, comfort gets in the way of inner reckonings.
For instance, there's no math that can tell you why some people ride in the Tour de France, some never enter the race, and some ride but don't risk. I've known guys who never quite put it all on the line, and you know what? They lost. One minute, after neafrly a month of suffering can decide who wins. Is it worth it? It depends on whther you want to win. I have the will to suffer. I can do that.
There are parts unknown with regard to human suffering and those are the parts when it's just about pain and forfeit. How do you make yourself do it? You remind yourself that you're fulfilling your obligation to get the best from yourself, and that all axchievement is born out of sacrifice.
The experience of suffering is like the experience of exploring,of finding something unexpected and revelatory. When you find the outermost thresholds of pain, or fear, or uncertainty, what you experience afterward is an expansive feeling, a widening of your capabilities.
Pain is good because it teaches your body and soul to improve. It's almost as though your unconscious says, "I'm going to remember this, remember how it hurt, and i'll increase my capacities so that the next time, it doesn't hurt as much." The body literally builds on your experiences, and a physique and temperamnet that have gone through a Tour de France one year will be better the next year, because it has memory to build upon. Maybe the same is true of living too.
If you had a largely unexamined life, you will eventually hit a wall. Some barriers can be invisible until you smack into them. The key then, is to investigate the wall inside yourself, so you can go beyond it. The only way to do that is to ask yourself painful questions-just as you try to stretch yourself physically."
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" I know this, too. the seize-the-day mentality that i carried with me from the illness doesn't always serve me well. It's too tempting, in the throes of it, to quit on any problem that seems hard or inconvenient, to call it a waste of precious time and move on to something more immediate. Some things require patience.
The question of how to live through cancer, for me, has become: how do you live beyond it? Survivorship is not unlike competition; both are emotionally complicated, and neither necessarily delivers pat answers, no matter how nice it is to think so. In both cases, you have to constantly ask yourself what the real lessons are, what's worth transferring to the rest of your life?
But both cancer and competition have taught me one great, incontrvertible lesson that i think every person can learn from, whether healthy or ill, athlete or layman.
The lesson is this: personal comfort is not the only thing worth seeking.
Whether the subject is bike racing, or cancer, or just living, comfort only takes us to a point that's known. Since when did sheets with the right thread count, a coffee maker, and an electric toothbrush become the only things worth having or working toward? Too often, comfort gets in the way of inner reckonings.
For instance, there's no math that can tell you why some people ride in the Tour de France, some never enter the race, and some ride but don't risk. I've known guys who never quite put it all on the line, and you know what? They lost. One minute, after neafrly a month of suffering can decide who wins. Is it worth it? It depends on whther you want to win. I have the will to suffer. I can do that.
There are parts unknown with regard to human suffering and those are the parts when it's just about pain and forfeit. How do you make yourself do it? You remind yourself that you're fulfilling your obligation to get the best from yourself, and that all axchievement is born out of sacrifice.
The experience of suffering is like the experience of exploring,of finding something unexpected and revelatory. When you find the outermost thresholds of pain, or fear, or uncertainty, what you experience afterward is an expansive feeling, a widening of your capabilities.
Pain is good because it teaches your body and soul to improve. It's almost as though your unconscious says, "I'm going to remember this, remember how it hurt, and i'll increase my capacities so that the next time, it doesn't hurt as much." The body literally builds on your experiences, and a physique and temperamnet that have gone through a Tour de France one year will be better the next year, because it has memory to build upon. Maybe the same is true of living too.
If you had a largely unexamined life, you will eventually hit a wall. Some barriers can be invisible until you smack into them. The key then, is to investigate the wall inside yourself, so you can go beyond it. The only way to do that is to ask yourself painful questions-just as you try to stretch yourself physically."
6:08 am and out the door-july 10
wanted to get this down while i still had it fresh on my mind and the washing machine is still churning anyway. went out to run after i walked gail up to the london bus and so i got an early start on a very pretty morning. about 54 degrees and going up to 68 later in the day. no rain until 7pm they say-will see.
from the bus station i ran back to the oxford canal and headed north. i had no real plan for today other than to stay out as long as i felt like running and to keep an eye on how the right leg was doing. i know i need some rest and will get it i promised myself. not today though. i have golf tomorrow and will skip the run and see how it feels.
so north i went and since it was so early there were not even many bikes out yet and no dog walkers. the canal was beautiful and the punters were still sleeping though you have to watch out for their little boat ramps they leave on the canal path. the leg was tight but no pain yet. i just put it into third gear and stayed there. a few miles up i came to the Trap Reed wetlands area and i took a quick peek in and saw the swans in the little pond there. trap is a 3 acre wetlands area that is small, but gorgeous and attached to the canal path by a 20 second walk. they say they have 30 different bird species living there, but besides the swans i saw only two cardinals.
back up the trail towards woodstock. two women runners passed me and even said good morning and asked how far i was going. dukes lock was the answer and they said they were also. see you on the way back. i went on at my slug pace. two miles up the canal was closed for repairs to the overhead bridge, but they had made a nice detour through the woods and that kept me going north and at dukes lock i went north a little more and turned back. 6-7 miles in now and would get my minimum of two hours in. the right quad was tighter now as the hip flexors failed, but no pain yet. need that rest for sure.
down the canal i went and decided to stop at the grocery for some water in wolvercote. then i could take the thames river trail back south. they were opening up the store but wouldn't sell me water until 8am when they were actually open. i went on. who owns a store and turns down a cash sale from a regular customer?
ran through wolvercote looking at the gardens and carefully crossing the three one lane bridges back to the river and the nunnery came in sight. crossed the road and headed south. decided that as the hip and flexor was acting up i would just head home. still about 2.5 miles to go no matter what. a group of young fast runners came north and we waved as we passed each other. a mile down i was just pass tree cemetery and near the perch pub gate and ran into a herd of cattle-literally. they had the trail covered and the gate blocked. gingerly i stopped and walked through gently, very gently, guiding them aside and mooing as i went in a comforting way. i make a good cow and they parted and let me through, though the two guarding the gate were very slow in letting me by. they snorted at me and i backed around them. everyday an adventure while running here.
back on the path and over the rainbow bridge. the crews were working on the trail here and it was very, very muddy. i slid through it and kept going and was actually running faster. i noticed lately on the runs where i am just not tired i pick up speed around 80-90 minutes. i was finally running well though i could feel the piriformis now like a pin prick. but the speed was good and i just kept going. thought very briefly about cutting over to the trail trail but decided to let it go. would have almost 12 miles in and that was enough. time to let the legs rest and then work on some speed.
had 2855 miles before today's run for the year so far. not very quality like, but enough in to get some endurance back and a little speed. only one race all year so hard to tell, but i have hopes that when i get back and the chiro works on the leg and i can run with faster friends i can at least enjoy racing again despite being old and slow. time will tell.
all the way down the river and across swan bridge and over to botley road. up onto the street and across the thames bridge and headed home. slowed down and just moved on past the walkers headed towards town and work. one nice thing about starting early is that you finish early of course and seems like there is a lot of day left. want to go to the public market and trade books in and buy some new towels. first i need to wash the clothes i will give to the salvation army. little by little it gets closer and closer. get the airplane ready.
20 days to go.
from the bus station i ran back to the oxford canal and headed north. i had no real plan for today other than to stay out as long as i felt like running and to keep an eye on how the right leg was doing. i know i need some rest and will get it i promised myself. not today though. i have golf tomorrow and will skip the run and see how it feels.
so north i went and since it was so early there were not even many bikes out yet and no dog walkers. the canal was beautiful and the punters were still sleeping though you have to watch out for their little boat ramps they leave on the canal path. the leg was tight but no pain yet. i just put it into third gear and stayed there. a few miles up i came to the Trap Reed wetlands area and i took a quick peek in and saw the swans in the little pond there. trap is a 3 acre wetlands area that is small, but gorgeous and attached to the canal path by a 20 second walk. they say they have 30 different bird species living there, but besides the swans i saw only two cardinals.
back up the trail towards woodstock. two women runners passed me and even said good morning and asked how far i was going. dukes lock was the answer and they said they were also. see you on the way back. i went on at my slug pace. two miles up the canal was closed for repairs to the overhead bridge, but they had made a nice detour through the woods and that kept me going north and at dukes lock i went north a little more and turned back. 6-7 miles in now and would get my minimum of two hours in. the right quad was tighter now as the hip flexors failed, but no pain yet. need that rest for sure.
down the canal i went and decided to stop at the grocery for some water in wolvercote. then i could take the thames river trail back south. they were opening up the store but wouldn't sell me water until 8am when they were actually open. i went on. who owns a store and turns down a cash sale from a regular customer?
ran through wolvercote looking at the gardens and carefully crossing the three one lane bridges back to the river and the nunnery came in sight. crossed the road and headed south. decided that as the hip and flexor was acting up i would just head home. still about 2.5 miles to go no matter what. a group of young fast runners came north and we waved as we passed each other. a mile down i was just pass tree cemetery and near the perch pub gate and ran into a herd of cattle-literally. they had the trail covered and the gate blocked. gingerly i stopped and walked through gently, very gently, guiding them aside and mooing as i went in a comforting way. i make a good cow and they parted and let me through, though the two guarding the gate were very slow in letting me by. they snorted at me and i backed around them. everyday an adventure while running here.
back on the path and over the rainbow bridge. the crews were working on the trail here and it was very, very muddy. i slid through it and kept going and was actually running faster. i noticed lately on the runs where i am just not tired i pick up speed around 80-90 minutes. i was finally running well though i could feel the piriformis now like a pin prick. but the speed was good and i just kept going. thought very briefly about cutting over to the trail trail but decided to let it go. would have almost 12 miles in and that was enough. time to let the legs rest and then work on some speed.
had 2855 miles before today's run for the year so far. not very quality like, but enough in to get some endurance back and a little speed. only one race all year so hard to tell, but i have hopes that when i get back and the chiro works on the leg and i can run with faster friends i can at least enjoy racing again despite being old and slow. time will tell.
all the way down the river and across swan bridge and over to botley road. up onto the street and across the thames bridge and headed home. slowed down and just moved on past the walkers headed towards town and work. one nice thing about starting early is that you finish early of course and seems like there is a lot of day left. want to go to the public market and trade books in and buy some new towels. first i need to wash the clothes i will give to the salvation army. little by little it gets closer and closer. get the airplane ready.
20 days to go.
crooks and liars-bad mc cain on social security and bad to both of them on fisa
almost hard to believe that senator mc cain doesn't understand how social security actualy works. and shame on both of our presumptive nominees for their vote or non-vote on fisa. i remember when i used to be a democrat. now i am partyless-----lt
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McCain calls the Social Security system a ‘total disgrace’
Posted: 09 Jul 2008 07:10 PM CDT
It’s possible John McCain decided he doesn’t really want to be president after all. It’s a tough, demanding job, and maybe McCain came to the conclusion he’s just not up to the task. It seemed like a good idea to him last year, but maybe he bit off more than he could chew. It’s too late for McCain to bow out, but he can ensure his defeat by saying the most breathtakingly dumb things imaginable.
Take Social Security, for example, one of the most popular and successful government programs in American history. McCain recently said he supports privatizing the system. Then he said, he doesn’t want to privatize the system. Then he said he would privatize the system, he just doesn’t want it to be called privatization.
Listening to him talk, it sounded as if John McCain, after more than a quarter-century in Congress, simply didn’t know how the Social Security system works. And this week, McCain proved that he simply doesn’t know how the Social Security system works.
OK, let’s take a deep breath here. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. Current workers pay into the system to provide benefits for retirees, and when those workers retire, the next generation will pay their benefits. That’s what Social Security is. That’s how it works. That’s how it’s always worked.
If McCain wants to argue that privatization is a good idea, fine. He’s wrong, but we can have the debate (again). But it appears that McCain is desperately in need of some kind of remedial Government 101 education, because he literally described the Social Security system as a “total disgrace.”
At this point, John McCain is starting to make George W. Bush look like a sophisticated policy wonk.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Maybe McCain just slipped up. He was tired and said something he didn’t mean to say. This couldn’t possibly reflect his feelings on the Social Security system. He knows he’d lose Florida if it got out that he considers the system a “total disgrace.”
But it’s true. Here’s how he talked about Social Security on Tuesday morning:
“On the privatization of accounts, which you just mentioned, I would like to respond to that. I want young workers to be able to, if they choose, to take part of their own money which is their taxes and put it in an account which has their name on it. Now, that’s a voluntary thing, it’s for younger people, it would not affect any present-day retirees or the system as necessary. So let’s describe it for what it is. They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That’s why it’s broken, that’s why we can fix it.” [emphasis added]
It’s breathtaking. As Nick Baumann put it, “McCain is saying, again, that the problem with Social Security is that Social Security is Social Security, instead of something else.”
I know many political debates focus on subjective matters of opinion, but let’s make this abundantly clear: what McCain is saying doesn’t make any sense. It’s complete and total nonsense. The poor man is utterly clueless.
As for what happens next, my reaction was the same as publius’:
…I’m hoping that an intrepid member of the press corps will ask John “Details” McCain a simple question: “You said that the way Social Security has been funded for the past 75 years is a ‘total disgrace.’ In your view, how exactly should it be funded?” And if he starts mumbling about private accounts and market returns, the reporter should follow up by asking how he intends to cover the short-term resulting gap.
Quite right. Keep in mind, however, that McCain made his “total disgrace” comment in a town-hall meeting, with a phalanx of reporters in tow, and not one of them reported on his comments in any way. Literally, zero.
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Countdown: Russ Feingold Talks About FISA, A Sad Moment For Our Country
Posted: 09 Jul 2008 09:00 PM CDT
Today’s vote in the Senate approving FISA legislation was a huge blow to our country, our Constitution and our rule of law. Twenty-six Democrats stayed true to democratic principles and voted against the bill, which grants immunity to telecommunication companies who betrayed the American people by illegally spying on our communications without warrants.
Download | Play Download | Play
One of the Democrats who voted correctly today was Senator Russ Feingold, who appeared on Wednesday’s Countdown with Rachel Maddow. Feingold has long been a staunch advocate for following the Constitution, speaking out against President Bush’s illegal wiretapping program and fighting and voting against the anti-American Patriot Act. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the FISA legislation, and while Feingold says there is hope that as president, Obama could change the unconstitutional aspects of the bill, it was still “the wrong vote.”
Maddow: “It is heartening to hear your optimism on the prospect of Obama’s presidency on this issue, but of course, his vote today led a lot of us who see this as a real abrogation of the fourth amendment to be very concerned.”
Feingold:”Well, it was the wrong vote. Any Democrat that voted that way was not voting according to what people in the Democratic Party clearly want, but, you know, we’ll pull together after the election, we’ll lay the case out again.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
McCain calls the Social Security system a ‘total disgrace’
Posted: 09 Jul 2008 07:10 PM CDT
It’s possible John McCain decided he doesn’t really want to be president after all. It’s a tough, demanding job, and maybe McCain came to the conclusion he’s just not up to the task. It seemed like a good idea to him last year, but maybe he bit off more than he could chew. It’s too late for McCain to bow out, but he can ensure his defeat by saying the most breathtakingly dumb things imaginable.
Take Social Security, for example, one of the most popular and successful government programs in American history. McCain recently said he supports privatizing the system. Then he said, he doesn’t want to privatize the system. Then he said he would privatize the system, he just doesn’t want it to be called privatization.
Listening to him talk, it sounded as if John McCain, after more than a quarter-century in Congress, simply didn’t know how the Social Security system works. And this week, McCain proved that he simply doesn’t know how the Social Security system works.
OK, let’s take a deep breath here. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. Current workers pay into the system to provide benefits for retirees, and when those workers retire, the next generation will pay their benefits. That’s what Social Security is. That’s how it works. That’s how it’s always worked.
If McCain wants to argue that privatization is a good idea, fine. He’s wrong, but we can have the debate (again). But it appears that McCain is desperately in need of some kind of remedial Government 101 education, because he literally described the Social Security system as a “total disgrace.”
At this point, John McCain is starting to make George W. Bush look like a sophisticated policy wonk.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Maybe McCain just slipped up. He was tired and said something he didn’t mean to say. This couldn’t possibly reflect his feelings on the Social Security system. He knows he’d lose Florida if it got out that he considers the system a “total disgrace.”
But it’s true. Here’s how he talked about Social Security on Tuesday morning:
“On the privatization of accounts, which you just mentioned, I would like to respond to that. I want young workers to be able to, if they choose, to take part of their own money which is their taxes and put it in an account which has their name on it. Now, that’s a voluntary thing, it’s for younger people, it would not affect any present-day retirees or the system as necessary. So let’s describe it for what it is. They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That’s why it’s broken, that’s why we can fix it.” [emphasis added]
It’s breathtaking. As Nick Baumann put it, “McCain is saying, again, that the problem with Social Security is that Social Security is Social Security, instead of something else.”
I know many political debates focus on subjective matters of opinion, but let’s make this abundantly clear: what McCain is saying doesn’t make any sense. It’s complete and total nonsense. The poor man is utterly clueless.
As for what happens next, my reaction was the same as publius’:
…I’m hoping that an intrepid member of the press corps will ask John “Details” McCain a simple question: “You said that the way Social Security has been funded for the past 75 years is a ‘total disgrace.’ In your view, how exactly should it be funded?” And if he starts mumbling about private accounts and market returns, the reporter should follow up by asking how he intends to cover the short-term resulting gap.
Quite right. Keep in mind, however, that McCain made his “total disgrace” comment in a town-hall meeting, with a phalanx of reporters in tow, and not one of them reported on his comments in any way. Literally, zero.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Countdown: Russ Feingold Talks About FISA, A Sad Moment For Our Country
Posted: 09 Jul 2008 09:00 PM CDT
Today’s vote in the Senate approving FISA legislation was a huge blow to our country, our Constitution and our rule of law. Twenty-six Democrats stayed true to democratic principles and voted against the bill, which grants immunity to telecommunication companies who betrayed the American people by illegally spying on our communications without warrants.
Download | Play Download | Play
One of the Democrats who voted correctly today was Senator Russ Feingold, who appeared on Wednesday’s Countdown with Rachel Maddow. Feingold has long been a staunch advocate for following the Constitution, speaking out against President Bush’s illegal wiretapping program and fighting and voting against the anti-American Patriot Act. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the FISA legislation, and while Feingold says there is hope that as president, Obama could change the unconstitutional aspects of the bill, it was still “the wrong vote.”
Maddow: “It is heartening to hear your optimism on the prospect of Obama’s presidency on this issue, but of course, his vote today led a lot of us who see this as a real abrogation of the fourth amendment to be very concerned.”
Feingold:”Well, it was the wrong vote. Any Democrat that voted that way was not voting according to what people in the Democratic Party clearly want, but, you know, we’ll pull together after the election, we’ll lay the case out again.”
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
hard rain fell today
tough, busy and somewhat useless day as the rain killed lots of plans but the day included 5 slow miles in the storm and a trip to the market, before a quick short wedges only trip to the driving range. plus the on and off again workings of my computer though it seems to be working right now.
can you hear suzy boggess singing in the background? what would i do without you tube? but i need to get going as it is another 5am day tomorrow as gail needs to go back to london again.
three weeks from today and there seems to be so much to do before we go plus the travel coming up- how do you tear a house apart in three weeks? will see-- giving away most stuff and throwing away a lot too. salvation army is coming to get the extra clothes and i will re-sell the bikes. have targets for most of the rest of the stuff and we'll see how it all goes. one way or another i am getting on that plane.
can you hear suzy boggess singing in the background? what would i do without you tube? but i need to get going as it is another 5am day tomorrow as gail needs to go back to london again.
three weeks from today and there seems to be so much to do before we go plus the travel coming up- how do you tear a house apart in three weeks? will see-- giving away most stuff and throwing away a lot too. salvation army is coming to get the extra clothes and i will re-sell the bikes. have targets for most of the rest of the stuff and we'll see how it all goes. one way or another i am getting on that plane.
crook and liars -DHS considering shock bracelets for all airline passengers instead of boarding passes. would you ever fly again?
DHS Considering Shock Bracelets For All Airline Passengers
Posted: 08 Jul 2008 05:45 PM CDT
It seems as though the only people left in the Bush administration are certifiable lunatics and knuckle draggers. The unthinkable is always possible with these people, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that they would sink to using such barbaric tactics to keep the public in line.
This clip, which is not directly linked to this story, is safe for work, although you might find yourself yelling at your monitor while watching it. (the related content starts at around 3:00 in) The video, made by an electronic ID bracelet manufacturer, shows how they will work to effectively disable the dirty, scary brown people in mid-air without compromising the structural integrity of the plane or harming innocent bystanders — and I’m sure they’re just as effective on anti-American liberals and dirty f*$king hippies as well. Would you allow yourself or your family to be fitted with one of these devices when you fly? Me either. More from Daily Kos:
Every feel like livestock when you fly? DHS is exploring a new technology (warning, Moonie Times link) which, if it makes to airlines, will guarantee I will never fly again:
A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.
This bracelet would:
• take the place of an airline boarding pass
• contain personal information about the traveler
• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes
Posted: 08 Jul 2008 05:45 PM CDT
It seems as though the only people left in the Bush administration are certifiable lunatics and knuckle draggers. The unthinkable is always possible with these people, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that they would sink to using such barbaric tactics to keep the public in line.
This clip, which is not directly linked to this story, is safe for work, although you might find yourself yelling at your monitor while watching it. (the related content starts at around 3:00 in) The video, made by an electronic ID bracelet manufacturer, shows how they will work to effectively disable the dirty, scary brown people in mid-air without compromising the structural integrity of the plane or harming innocent bystanders — and I’m sure they’re just as effective on anti-American liberals and dirty f*$king hippies as well. Would you allow yourself or your family to be fitted with one of these devices when you fly? Me either. More from Daily Kos:
Every feel like livestock when you fly? DHS is exploring a new technology (warning, Moonie Times link) which, if it makes to airlines, will guarantee I will never fly again:
A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.
This bracelet would:
• take the place of an airline boarding pass
• contain personal information about the traveler
• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Lightning Strike Kills Recent College Graduate - News Story - WRC | Washington
what a truly sad story --- note the part also about carrying no ID- be careful out there people and get a shoe or wrist ID to carry. even here in england i carry one. note also that the article says she was jogging during a lull in the storm. the time i was hit by lightening it was more a mist than rain. what a shame - condolences to the family.
Lightning Strike Kills Recent College Graduate - News Story - WRC | Washington
Lightning Strike Kills Recent College Graduate - News Story - WRC | Washington
run out the anger -took 12 miles
who knows why but i spent the better part of the morning mad at the world, probably mostly because my computer wouldn't work and i was short on time. at any rate just about 6am i went with gail to the london bus stop so she could go do some research in the big city and i left her there and went on to run through the town center and up to university parks, which i found out wasn't open and there were no signs saying when it would be open. so up towards summertown i went and ran through very quiet streets as it was still pretty early. did a big loop up and back figuring they would open the park at 7am as they like to do things here on the hour. and sure enough the gates were still locked, but i met two american women at the front gate who are here studying for their phd and they said the back gate would be open most likely and they were right. go figure. we stayed together for a bit and the gate they wanted to go through was closed so they turned back, but i stayed in the park. this is a very, very nice park with nice soft and wide trails to run on through the beautiful gardens.
needed the men's room at that point, but discovered that too was locked. found a maintenance person who told me security would open it at 8m. duh? but i know they have some reason based on fear of something. but still needing a men's room i left the park and ran south towards town and to the public bathrooms. guess what? also locked. so i turned west and headed back towards the railroad station since i knew that was open and that worked ok. and by now i had over 7 miles done and it was still really early so i headed over to king gorge's park and ran 20 x 100 with a hundred recovery jog. that went pretty well actually. i stretched after each ten and then ran a loop around the park and bike path down to north hinksey village and back as a cooldown of sorts. wasn't raining anymore and it was about 55 degrees with some wind from the north.
stopped at the grocery store for breakfast and headed home with about 12 miles done. today's run was less painful than yesterday's for sure though the right leg was just reallllly tight. was up to me to decide how much of that i could handle and i just kept going. i will rest it later. am pretty sure now it is just a muscle strain- think tyson gay homosexual - joke- and he has the good sense to do active rest for to weeks and maybe if i were home and could ride my bike i would, but i am here in the land of i don't have all my toys and tools so i will keep running.
big breakfast at home and two loads of laundry later and after reading two newspapers i went up to hit some balls in the drizzle and wind and that went so-so. could tell the legs needed some rest though they didn't hurt much at all. just seemed a little tight. i did 125 balls worth of drills and chipped for 30 minutes and went home.
at home i went on the pc which was working again- mostly as it does disconnect sometimes and i lose stuff, so i work in small increments. fun. i signed up for a walking group, a book club, a poker club and a hiking group back in alexandria. will see how all of that works out when i get back.
as for here i have my last book club group meeting tonight so i need to get going. all in all not a bad day. glad i didn't get to blog this morning as i am in a better mood now. i am not the "me" that came here a year ago and i am not sure if that is good or bad yet and i am also not sure if i like that "me" either. will see.
as an aside the other thing i did today was take myself out of the democratic party. not hard to do where i live. i am now unaffiliated. who wants to be an independent if they would take joe lieberman? i cannot even type what i think of him. and since i seem to be on the wrong side of every issue i will be glad to stand alone and vote my conscience. social security was just the last straw of a zillion straws.
took off my golf clothes and threw them away. must be getting to be a shortimer.
needed the men's room at that point, but discovered that too was locked. found a maintenance person who told me security would open it at 8m. duh? but i know they have some reason based on fear of something. but still needing a men's room i left the park and ran south towards town and to the public bathrooms. guess what? also locked. so i turned west and headed back towards the railroad station since i knew that was open and that worked ok. and by now i had over 7 miles done and it was still really early so i headed over to king gorge's park and ran 20 x 100 with a hundred recovery jog. that went pretty well actually. i stretched after each ten and then ran a loop around the park and bike path down to north hinksey village and back as a cooldown of sorts. wasn't raining anymore and it was about 55 degrees with some wind from the north.
stopped at the grocery store for breakfast and headed home with about 12 miles done. today's run was less painful than yesterday's for sure though the right leg was just reallllly tight. was up to me to decide how much of that i could handle and i just kept going. i will rest it later. am pretty sure now it is just a muscle strain- think tyson gay homosexual - joke- and he has the good sense to do active rest for to weeks and maybe if i were home and could ride my bike i would, but i am here in the land of i don't have all my toys and tools so i will keep running.
big breakfast at home and two loads of laundry later and after reading two newspapers i went up to hit some balls in the drizzle and wind and that went so-so. could tell the legs needed some rest though they didn't hurt much at all. just seemed a little tight. i did 125 balls worth of drills and chipped for 30 minutes and went home.
at home i went on the pc which was working again- mostly as it does disconnect sometimes and i lose stuff, so i work in small increments. fun. i signed up for a walking group, a book club, a poker club and a hiking group back in alexandria. will see how all of that works out when i get back.
as for here i have my last book club group meeting tonight so i need to get going. all in all not a bad day. glad i didn't get to blog this morning as i am in a better mood now. i am not the "me" that came here a year ago and i am not sure if that is good or bad yet and i am also not sure if i like that "me" either. will see.
as an aside the other thing i did today was take myself out of the democratic party. not hard to do where i live. i am now unaffiliated. who wants to be an independent if they would take joe lieberman? i cannot even type what i think of him. and since i seem to be on the wrong side of every issue i will be glad to stand alone and vote my conscience. social security was just the last straw of a zillion straws.
took off my golf clothes and threw them away. must be getting to be a shortimer.
Monday, July 07, 2008
into the dark and rainy morning i did go-bad leg and all
well, the plan was to test out the leg a bit and see how it felt. went out in what i can only call the pouring rain. gail refrained from joining me. clearly not a day for everyone, but i never minded running in the rain and frankly i never cared how wet i got. what i hate running in is wind!
but i wanted to see how the right leg was doing and i started up binsey lane gingerly towards st. margaret's church. i saw nobody. the leg felt tight but so far no real pain. i went about a mile and a half and stopped for a quick stretch though stretched slowly enough to be careful. the right quad was very tight and i still think i strained it doing 100's last week. the pf muscle didn't feel that bad and even the part of the right quad that usually hurts wasn't too bad so far.
to the church and back down the lane and then over the rainbow bridge and towards port meadow. decided to head over to the burgess nature park which i just love running in. through the puddles i went. there is no way to avoid them as the field and paths are mostly under some level of water. three woman walking their dogs in their welly boots head the other way splashing along and almost yelling at each other so they can hear themselves talk in the rain.
at the gate for the park i stop and stretch again. not as tight but not good. the right quad clearly does not want to be running. into the park i take it anyway and head up the west trail past colorful forsythias and trumpet vines. about a mile up i run into a deer who stops and looks at me to see what i am and then a decent size rabbit scares him off. funny scene. i go on. the views to the west are incredible as the storm rises over the woods on the hills. i hear the gate close and i know i am not alone anymore. was surprised to hear it so clearly as i was at least a mile away from it now. around the bend i ran and stopped yet again to stretch. i am trying to keep it loose but it is fighting me. picture a clock and i am running from 6 around past 9 and am now about 1. down the trail i head and decide to enter a side trail and run on the inner grass trails. how much wetter can i get anyway and it is very pretty in here with the flowers and trees.
and then i am back at the gate and headed out. decide to turn and run over the bridge towards the oxford canal. why not? the sun is almost peeking through and the rain is letting up. if went straight home i would have about 9 miles. the leg will just tag along today and i will decide what to do later. clearly for it to get better it will need weeks and not a couple of days. so down the canal i go. the rain stops and suddenly it feels warm.
but the canal is lovely today and the water is high and very dark. people's gardens along the water are in full bloom. i like the way they use their pots to add color and height. i store ideas for my garden at home. have spent a good part of today's run thinking of how to move stuff around in the garden and what needs to be done once i see what is still alive. i remind myself that the gas can is empty and that the lawn will need cutting for sure. i vow to get rid of even more grass this year.
down the canal i go staying out of the way of the people on bikes headed to work. no warnings of course as i am still in england. sometimes i move when i hear them and sometimes i stay put and see if they will say something, but they don't and eventually i move over. for bikes coming the other way i always get out of the way to make it easy for them and they always say thank you. i just love this culture. americans tell me we are laid back and the english tell me that we are so aggressive. can they both be right? i have met so many really, really nice people here but so many are so private and look at any good morning as an invasion of their own personal space. just funny to me, but as i have said before it is hard enough being an ENFP in the usa let alone in the land of ISTJ's. look up myers briggs for that.
at the bottom of the canal i turn over the bridge and head towards the train station and then over the bridge and across botley road. down the ramp and head towards the grocery store for fruit and yogurt and a paper. 9 miles done. the leg was not good. it needs rest, but it will wait. i can give it three days when we go to wales and ten days in ireland. if it is no better then i will take two weeks off. i do want to run the two marathons i have in mind and i have the distance work almost in. several days in london coming up and on the day when gail is there and i am not i had planned to run 4 hours. will see.
the rest of the day went ok given the heavy rain that fell off and on and i even heard thunder today. did some laundry and then hit some balls and chipped some. helped the pro for a bit and then came home. gail and i had dinner and went for a walk while the rain had mostly stopped. always good to be out of this house. we went up to the train station but found no info on the trip to wales and will go back during the day. we need a train through Birmingham is all we know for now. would like to stop and see builth, wales if possible but will be hard.
and here i am typing. need to be up at 5am for the bus to london so need to get going. another day almost down. bookclub tomorrow night. all good. down the homestretch we come. which big brown will we be?
23 days to go-
but i wanted to see how the right leg was doing and i started up binsey lane gingerly towards st. margaret's church. i saw nobody. the leg felt tight but so far no real pain. i went about a mile and a half and stopped for a quick stretch though stretched slowly enough to be careful. the right quad was very tight and i still think i strained it doing 100's last week. the pf muscle didn't feel that bad and even the part of the right quad that usually hurts wasn't too bad so far.
to the church and back down the lane and then over the rainbow bridge and towards port meadow. decided to head over to the burgess nature park which i just love running in. through the puddles i went. there is no way to avoid them as the field and paths are mostly under some level of water. three woman walking their dogs in their welly boots head the other way splashing along and almost yelling at each other so they can hear themselves talk in the rain.
at the gate for the park i stop and stretch again. not as tight but not good. the right quad clearly does not want to be running. into the park i take it anyway and head up the west trail past colorful forsythias and trumpet vines. about a mile up i run into a deer who stops and looks at me to see what i am and then a decent size rabbit scares him off. funny scene. i go on. the views to the west are incredible as the storm rises over the woods on the hills. i hear the gate close and i know i am not alone anymore. was surprised to hear it so clearly as i was at least a mile away from it now. around the bend i ran and stopped yet again to stretch. i am trying to keep it loose but it is fighting me. picture a clock and i am running from 6 around past 9 and am now about 1. down the trail i head and decide to enter a side trail and run on the inner grass trails. how much wetter can i get anyway and it is very pretty in here with the flowers and trees.
and then i am back at the gate and headed out. decide to turn and run over the bridge towards the oxford canal. why not? the sun is almost peeking through and the rain is letting up. if went straight home i would have about 9 miles. the leg will just tag along today and i will decide what to do later. clearly for it to get better it will need weeks and not a couple of days. so down the canal i go. the rain stops and suddenly it feels warm.
but the canal is lovely today and the water is high and very dark. people's gardens along the water are in full bloom. i like the way they use their pots to add color and height. i store ideas for my garden at home. have spent a good part of today's run thinking of how to move stuff around in the garden and what needs to be done once i see what is still alive. i remind myself that the gas can is empty and that the lawn will need cutting for sure. i vow to get rid of even more grass this year.
down the canal i go staying out of the way of the people on bikes headed to work. no warnings of course as i am still in england. sometimes i move when i hear them and sometimes i stay put and see if they will say something, but they don't and eventually i move over. for bikes coming the other way i always get out of the way to make it easy for them and they always say thank you. i just love this culture. americans tell me we are laid back and the english tell me that we are so aggressive. can they both be right? i have met so many really, really nice people here but so many are so private and look at any good morning as an invasion of their own personal space. just funny to me, but as i have said before it is hard enough being an ENFP in the usa let alone in the land of ISTJ's. look up myers briggs for that.
at the bottom of the canal i turn over the bridge and head towards the train station and then over the bridge and across botley road. down the ramp and head towards the grocery store for fruit and yogurt and a paper. 9 miles done. the leg was not good. it needs rest, but it will wait. i can give it three days when we go to wales and ten days in ireland. if it is no better then i will take two weeks off. i do want to run the two marathons i have in mind and i have the distance work almost in. several days in london coming up and on the day when gail is there and i am not i had planned to run 4 hours. will see.
the rest of the day went ok given the heavy rain that fell off and on and i even heard thunder today. did some laundry and then hit some balls and chipped some. helped the pro for a bit and then came home. gail and i had dinner and went for a walk while the rain had mostly stopped. always good to be out of this house. we went up to the train station but found no info on the trip to wales and will go back during the day. we need a train through Birmingham is all we know for now. would like to stop and see builth, wales if possible but will be hard.
and here i am typing. need to be up at 5am for the bus to london so need to get going. another day almost down. bookclub tomorrow night. all good. down the homestretch we come. which big brown will we be?
23 days to go-
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