2397 miles done

had fully planned to take the day off and rest some very tired legs and probably should have anyway, but...travelling days this week will force at least one day off if not two, so i went out with gail to run. we were out very early and it was pretty nice and not yet hot. did the usual loop up binsey past the driving range and then over and down the river, running past cows and oxford crew teams practicing.

gail has been trying to get past this bad heel problem, but it just doesn't seem to want to stay better and i doubt it will heel without some more permanent type of orthotics for support to hold the fascia in place and not let it stretch as much. the soft kind she is using may be ok when she is heeled, but is not helping her heel and rest doesn't seem to help all that much. usual symptom is pain in the morning and then while running it loosens up and doesn't hurt for 55 minutes or so. the latest plan is to do more stretching and run 45 minutes max, with two days off each week and then see the dr when we get home and probably order orthotics.

but it was nice being outside. i ran the loop with her and then when she headed home i ran over to the king edward's park and did the loop around the park and then down to north hinksey and back. came back through the back trails as it is prettier and softer also. the horses were out grazing and i saw nobody else out. about this point i just wanted to be done and was glad to get back to botley road.

looked back at my log last night to see that i have missed only 12 days of running since we arrived here; some of those were in northern ireland and most of the others were during travel to or from the states. on several days i ran twice though i don't usually blog the second run as it would always be the same- an easy loop around and up and down the river. sometimes i just like to cool down with that little 4 mile run and just go at whatever pace i can get around it regardless of how slow i am going.

to date i have covered 2397 miles with 79 days to go and lots of travel ahead. would be nice to get 3000 miles for the year that means averaging 7.7 miles a day with no days off, but the real plan is to take more time off and focus on speed work. will live with 2800 or whatever it ends up. would not like many more runs like today and the plan is to run sprints in the morning. then off to cambridge and when we get back to move to the real-roger bannister- track. it always seems so big when i am there. another chance to learn to love that third lap.

after the run we were back really early and gail headed up to school and i went up to the track so we could both get done early and meet in town. got to the range just as dr. john..... showed up and we hit balls next to one another for awhile. i was trying to show him how to get loaded up on his right side(like i know- actually one of the frustrating things is knowing more than i can actually do).

but he didn't have that problem and he almost instantly added 15 yards, no kidding. he was amazed and i just enjoyed his enjoyment of it. then we hit pitch shots to the 40 yards flag and he finished up and left. i stayed for another two buckets mixed in with three different chip shots and some practice with the shot i love that js taught us before we went to scotland two years ago. i can do it pretty well now with my 6 and 3 iron hybrids and it will be very useful in any kind of wind. a neat way of hitting 115 yard chip shot.

i hit pretty well today and some of the work is paying off. worked down to the three iron today. the 3,5 and 6 were not all good of course, but the good ones were really nice and i can see the potential. it takes a lot longer to hit balls really working them one at a time and concentrating more and more on the set-up and alignment. hope to keep building on it and even getting to hit some woods soon. as a side note i had a hole in one on the range today. only in practice huh? but i had witnesses who enjoyed it while we were playing closest to the pin for a diet coke. somehow i ended up buying the sodas. funny note-was interested to hear people complain about how hot it was today at the range- about 74 degrees. kidding me right?

eventually i headed up town to meet gail, pay some bills at the bank, and go grocery shopping for dinner- best dinner we had yet since we have been here. and we did a little shopping and even took the bus home, a treat. toyed with the idea of going back to the range and hitting some balls, but knew i had to wrap up give away books for tomorrow night's book club meeting. we have thirty people coming and the book swap was my idea so i need to show up ready. will be curious to see how it comes off. some things are just so american and this pollyanna type thing is one of them i guess. like screens in the windows or ceiling fans or tin foil or thick crust pizza or telling people your name or saying good morning or giving warning on a bike passing-- i could go on, but won't... mostly it is good.

enough for now- the days keep rolling by....