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.