april 5 part one

up and out early today. the right leg and side are not good, but i convinced myself i could run through it. gail went out today also. cold and sunny, though we face 5 days of rain, hail and snow if the weather forecast is to be believed.

did the usual 5 mile loop up to st margaret's church- new herd of cows and also one of sheep out today. nobody else out yet this early as the sun is barely up. we took a couple of early stretch breaks and headed over port meadow and across rainbow bridge and down the now newly fixed part of the trail. and basically just kept going until we hit botley road where gail and i separated as she headed to the store for croissants and ciabatta while i turned and went back north on the thames and over to the canal.

under the turbo ted day care bridge and ran the loop around rewley abbey and templeton college and then over and north on the oxford canal. really pretty here and the boat people were just waking up and the dog walkers were now out. took the trail up to the bridge for the oxford press building and turned back south towards town. ran all the way back to the hythe street bridge st. and turned north again. was going to run down the street, but decided the trail was much nicer today.

reversed myself basically- back up the canal and over the bridge to the rewley st path past templeton college and the abbey. made a note to find someone who could get me into the abbey gardens as they are private and part of the property of the said business school. was curious to see what they did with their rock garden as my own at home stands waiting for something besides the rocks that are there now.

at seven miles i came past the train station and wanting 8 miles or so, i headed down to st thomas the martyr church-built in 1670- as i like the pretty and old tower there a lot, and figured down and back would add just enough with the half mile from the train station to make 8. just to be sure i did the around the block thing to add 6 more minutes and then headed home. about 8 and a little.

the right leg was not very helpful today though i made an attempt to get it involved for the last mile or so and even added some short 20 second strider pickups to test it. almost worked, but at least it didn't get worse. all in all got 8 miles in on a very pretty day and with snow and rain coming got 24 miles in the last 3 days. funny how short an hour run can seem now. no doubt 8 months of almost 60 miles a week has gotten lots of my endurance back though not much speed and will work on that later. should be able to get 12-16 goo weeks on the track in before i leave here, but need the right to run with me to make it matter. gray now outside as i type this and the cold air i felt coming home bodes well for their forecast. the UV index was 3 today and that will be a factor soon enough. still, if i keep going out this early it should not be that bad.

three loads of laundry done this morning after i got home and the newspaper listed 25good walks to take and now that we can ride for free on the buses as of april 1st we can get around more easily. should be fun. nothing like being a senior huh? though i kid the drivers that they can keep my old person bus pass if they can make me 45 again. stale joke i know. i do notice i have less senior moments here, though names are a challenge anymore. meatloaf and amy mac donald sing in the background. love amy's voice when she sings, but when she talks in her scottish brogue i have a hard time understanding what she is saying. i do remember that it is their language and it is we in the usa who changed it to sound funny- ask them.

back later- will april 22 ever get here?