another chance for adventure

up early for whatever reason and decided to go out. not raining yet as predicted. heart rate was 48-still higher than it should be. lots of carbs last night trying to recover. and up the lane i went. so early there are no sounds but the birds chirping.
morning birds are certainly different than evening birds.

a gray morning and the dampness in the air. rain cannot be far away. i move slowly up binsey letting each muscle wake up on its' own timetable and just happy to be out. some ducks land in the little creek near the house. the cows are wandering in the field behind the playground. i keep moving north.

near the village i hear the rooster and i turn towards rainbow bridge. some workers are getting ready to work on the trail as they load their stuff on the little barge to carry downstream. i stay ahead of them and go over the bridge. across port meadow i see the cows meandering looking for grass while the ducks swim in the meadow pond. the horses are further north though i can see them in the gray distance. deciding to what to do i leave it to my instincts and they say to cross the bridge so i do. i run the little trail around fiddler's island having not been here in a few weeks. someone has evidently cleared the trail some more and it is surprisingly runnable. the loop brings me out into the port meadow car park and i head towards the canal.

i turn north on the canal and and the trail is eerily quiet. some ducks in the water and the gardens are all in bloom, but there are no people. where are the dog walkers and the bikes going to work? i run north, moving slowly, but feeling ok and all awake now. a mile or more up i turn into the playground and across the grass back onto the school trail. this brings me to the allotment bridge which carries me uphill back into portmeadow. i come out amidst the horses and turn north towards burgess nature reserve park. off to the left wytham woods are fogged in and clouded over. an interesting gray haze gives them an almost mystic appearance. i see my first dog walker.

into the park and i head up the left outside trail. you could run so many different trails in here and as i head north an ipod listening woman heads south and out of the park, a very early riser. up the side trail i go watching the horses run north also on the other side of the trees. eventually we can not see each other and i continue on what i have come to call two mile trail as that is about how long it is-surprise. the grass is soft and barely wet with morning dew. around the corner i go and here comes a decent size brown lab coming right at me showing no signs that he will slow down and i prepare myself for the inevitable jump up which he does. help him down quickly and he is ok and playful, his owner apologetic telling "midnight" he shouldn't have done that and explaining to me how the dog just loves to jump up on people. not a good habit i think to myself, but invoking the british way, i say nothing and run on after petting the dog. a good dog and a nice, but untrained owner. a smaller person less prepared would have been knocked over. not good for big labs to be jumpers.

but no harm and down the trail i go. the yellow, purple and white flowers are gone now and there is a green and brown look to the trail, but the birds are singing everywhere and i am glad i didn't give in to thinking i was tired. i am not fresh for sure, but i am running. two miles later i am back near the front gate and i do one more loop taking a different trail across the park and doing an isosceles triangle loop. then head out and south back to the bridge bridle-path. the uphill exit gives me a chance to run 4 times up and down to get some small amount of running a hill in. only takes 40 seconds and is just short of 200 yards. finally done and then back on the canal south towards home. the canal is more crowded now.

i say good morning to the usual runners as they go north; out early they nod? bikes go by with no warning of course and people are out mowing their grass. it starts to drizzle lightly. i notice it first on the water and then on me. refreshing at this level and fortunately it never picks up and stays this way all the way back home. across the canal bridge back to the river. i see where they are building the bridge connecting the river path to the train trail. will not be done while i live here, but will be very helpful to the people catching a train or taking their children to "turbo ted's day care". i see john's wife elizabeth walking their dog, a very small and very old some kind of a dog. it has worse hips than i do i can tell. reminds me that i don't feel the hip today, must be going to slow.

down the rest of the river past the swans and onto botley road i pick up the pace towards the community center and then ease off until the grocery store. a little over 8 miles in. wouldn't have missed it, but could have. you never know until you go out what kind of day it will be. sort of like golf. everyday is a new chance to be a hero, to have an adventure or just to enjoy being out.