how long can you tread water?

anyone reading this old enough to remember bill cosby when he was a young comedian might remember his comedy routine on noah and the arc. when noah asked god if he had looked down into the hull of the ship and that he, noah, wasn't going to clean up that mess, god simply replied with his question. Noah, how long can you tread water and then in the background you heard thunder and rain.

almost four miles into today's run i was wondering how long i could stay out and just persevere. clearly the legs weren't all recovered yet, but i had it in my mind to do at least ten miles and so up the thames i kept going thinking i could always walk home.

(leonard cohen is singing "the partisan" in my background. he doesn't have the best voice but he is one creative writer and his songs are so penetrating, though he may not be the best one to listen to if you are the least bit depressed he will feed that depression)

just past the tree cemetery i saw cows wandering in the river and one lost big black and white running around looking for the others so i gave him a little push in the right direction and he wandered down towards the water also. first time i ever pushed a cow. and i kept going up the thames and past the nunnery. i kidding asked the guy working the godstow lock if he knew how far woodstock was and he said he didn't know where woodstock was. another 7 miles or 8 i am guessing. wasn't going that far today.

but did head over to wolvercote and stopped for some water at the post office. decided to do some loops around the village and check out streets i had not been on before. saw some interesting mixes of new and old houses and some nice gardens. always looking for ideas. some very pretty euphorbias and spireas.

then headed over to the canal and headed north into a old wind. temps were just about 40 now, but felt colder despite the sun because of the wind. the canal is just gorgeous today and i am far enough north of the city that i am alone with the ducks and geese and the sky and water. went past a sign welcoming people to Oxford and a little farther up i passed the sign telling me woodstock was still five miles to go.

turned on my lap timer and kept going-figured i would go up 2 miles and then turn around. and that's what i did. when i got back to the junction of the canal and the thames i ran towards the thames but the trail really narrowed down and was like running through weeds rather than a trail at this point so i turned around and went back and down the canal.

and about two miles down i ran into a woman on her way to town and we went down the canal path together and she told me of some nice places to visit while we were in the UK. and at the oxford press bridge she turned off and i went on back into town now and bikes and dog walkers were out and an occasional runner going by the other way. i ran all the way into town to hythe bridge road and turned back north. the longer i could stay away from heading home the better chance i had of getting miles in.

went over the train bridge and back to the thames river trail. nice break here as the oxford crew team was out training and going u and down the river. the coach recognized me and we each waved. i headed north on the river. about 11+ miles in now and i decided to push the pace up the trail and jog back down and do that three times. and so i did.

the crew was doling the same thing in the water, which by the way was the color of a united parcel brown truck today. weird. three times up and down and then did a quick stretch and some knee bends and headed home. still a mile away and that would be a little over 14 and enough. 10 miles of persevering and through some cold winds and that was a good mental exercise.

the sun is out now shining away and it is probably a little warmer and when the clothes are done in the washing machine i will head up to the driving range.

life is good and 105 days to go. made plans to go watch the ladies english open on july 4th. guess they don't celebrate independence day here like we do. life is good and only 105 days to go.