8 miles in snowy oxford

hard to believe the weather people had it mostly right and we woke up to about 3 inches of snow on the ground. also very cold!

but i headed up binsey lane through the slushing snow and towards the river. several people were already out with their cameras as snow here is rare and even rarer in april- supposed to be spring time.

legs were dead as i was afraid they would be. with 12 miles on friday and 8 yesterday today would have been a good day to stay in, but the snow got me out to see what oxford looked like covered. just stayed slow and steady and made sure the stride was ok so i would not hurt anything not already hurt. the right side was not loving me today and the piriformis muscle was just plain bad. a smarter man may have just gone home, but i am not that man.

over to the river and ran into a guy from france and we did a few miles together. talking about each of our president's made the time go by as we headed down the thames and a snowy trail. the geese and ducks were pretty and we saw a heron halfway to botley road. when he headed towards botley i headed over to the canal and did the loop around templeton college and rewley abbey again and headed north on the canal.

budding flower beds covered by snow- strange. up the canal to the oxford press bridge and then back down south and back towards the river. a couple of short loops around the train trail and then headed home. stopped to get the sunday paper and had my 8 miles in. stretched a bunch after trying to help, but will have to keep an eye on it and plan accordingly. 4 more days of rain and sleet and hail coming so i may have some help.

after a very light breakfast i headed up to the range- one guy leaving left me all alone. very cold actually and my normal spot was under snow i was stuck under the roof and in the shade. kept to my more deliberate practice pattern. just starting to see some light again and have an idea of what i am trying for. was nice to be able to fire through the ball and whack away again and still have some balance. still believe the set up and posture in now key. it gives me room and more freedom to turn. i don't think about the length of the swing except a few shots at trying to get a bit longer. i have noticed that i hit the ball more off of the heel trying for a longer back swing; when i catch it clean i gain about 10-12 yards, but not consistent enough yet. with my right shoulder in a better place i am hitting it high again.

practiced up to the 6 iron today. still work to do as somewhere during practice i do lose it a bit but i can usually figure out why and going back to basics really helps. at the end i hit 4 fairway woods- 2 very good and 2 not. the good ones were better than usual so i came away with the hope of that potential rather than focusing on the 2 bad ones. mr. positive huh?

back home and gail and i went out and did a 4 mile walk around the west side of town and the canal. very pretty and not as cold as earlier. even got some ice cream on the way home. supposed to be spring i say again.

and now off to my book club book- "old comfort cellar".
one less day to go. still owe a few days blogging and will catch up i hope.