2251 miles in 39 weeks

2251 in 39 weeks shows what can be done when you have a lot of time on your hands or feet- a little over 57 a week, though the last two weeks have been slightly less with more emphasis on faster running. fifty miles a week would give me 3000 for the year here. has been many years since that many miles were run in a year by me. back then i was faster and it took less time. hope the old body can hang on.

went out today trying to beat the rain as it was already overdue. warm though and somewhat a mixture of sun and clouds. went south and weaved around the trails which ran along the various creek beds, before picking up the back trail towards north hinksey village and came out behind the fishes restaurant. early enough so that on a sunday morning the little village was quiet and there was no traffic. went down to the rugby stadium and turned back. idea was to not stay out that long and i wanted to go check out the 100 yard track stretch that had been cut into the west side of king edward park.

back up and across the bike trail where a few dog walkers were now out and about. went all the way to osney mead road and then over to where they had cut and lime marked about 8 lanes-didn't count them- and marked them off in ten yard increments. a nice place to do striders on a marked grass field.

ran 15 x 100 yard striders and 10 by 50 leg turnovers. legs felt looser than they had in awhile. funny that they were pretty tired going down to the village but now had some spring in them. more importantly they still felt good afterwards. not the right piriformis of course, but the right quad was not bad and i was hoping that all of the stretching and using it more and more was starting to pay off. i used to be able to run 100's at 4 minute pace, but not anymore. started at 8 minutes and worked my way down to under six minute mile pace and that was fine. ran some at a steady pace, some with the second half faster and some with a pickup every ten yards. a good stretch when i was done and a couple of miles warm down. made a nice easy morning and still no rain.

stopped at the grocery store to get what turned out to be black forest rye bread- a really heavy bread, but that was all that was left already that early. no yogurt as they had fridge problems last night. after the usual morning stuff, went up to the range to hit some balls and try to steal some more grass time for chipping.

still no rain. had a decent practice, but was a little up and down. still focusing on my drills and almost recent past lessons. am striking the ball better though some still leak right and every so often i get into a hit it thin streak. i asked the nice pro if he could take a quick look at my swing and he did. told me i was cupping my left hand at address sometimes, not every time and that was leaving my clubface open at the top and also making it harder to get on plane, and to swing through and release the club. worked on that for 50 balls and clearly it helped when i did it correctly. he had also showed me how to maintain the right hand angle at impact of the right wrist cock for extra power. not as easy to do but i will keep at it. it can be so much fun and also the height of frustration. will be better when i get to play more.

did get to chip for a bit- about eighty 8 irons and 60 lob wedges. that went pretty well. then hit the rest of the balls and practiced chipping from heavy rough with my hybrid. i had always put that off back home as there was just so little time, but here i don't have that problem and i was surprised to see just how easily i could get the ball out of heavy rough with my hybrid. will stay with that practice as it adds another shot to the arsenal so to speak, and could take away having to hit that shot with a 56 or 60 degree wedge. pops up, out and then just rolls. of course i am not hitting them onto a green just yet, but will get there. had thought about heading back to the 9 hole course, but with heavy rain called for it didn't make sense at the time. now of course, with just a few drops it was too late. a few pitch shots later i was headed home. will see what the rest of the day brings.

watched george step... and meet the press on the computer and then read the sunday paper while sort of watching a movie about jane austen, an icon here for sure. a so-so movie based on her own letters about some of her life and how she ended up not marrying. i was more interested in the way they depicted england at that time in history.

and now here i am before i start my on-line banking. another day done-pleasant enough. the house still stands and the cat still cries. the end of april approaches. spring feels like it is here as the temps in the morning are warmer and there is even a bit less rain. still called for but happens less often. given how dark the skies were this evening it is hard to believe we didn't have a huge storm.

btw- i posted some stats about the states because i got interested in puerto rico and statehood. they have 4 million plus people and sixty something delegates, but no vote in congress. many complicated issues over their statehood possibilities and i read several articles about it this morning, but not sure who is right yet. an email i sent to someone who would know came back undeliverable and i will send it to their congressional office this week.

sixty + million people here in the UK in space smaller than oregon if i remember correctly. Oxford is either the second or third most expensive place in the country to live in or visit depending on which study you believe. London and Bath are the other two.