saturday -upcoming crew races, etc

gail and i will get to watch some crew races here in oxford on the river down by christ church. should be fun. this is a four day event and i know i am looking forward to it. have been following some of the happenings on the oxford crew team web-site.------------------

Wednesday 21 - Saturday 24 May: Eights Week
The races take place over four raucous days on the Isis (as the River Thames is known locally), when rowers' friends, parents and tutors head down to the river to cheer on their team. The stretch of riverside south of Christ Church Meadows is lined with the rowing houses of the colleges, where boats are stored before and after races. Each rowing house has a platform above the river where students, tutors and parents watch the races and sip endless glasses of Pimms. Oxford University Rowing Clubs
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as for today - i was up and out to run trying to beat the forecasted rain storms predicted for all day starting at 7am. was somewhat dark and cool as i headed north up to st margaret's church, passing a new herd of cows and also one of sheep. decided today might be a good day to stay somewhat close to "home" and after st margaret's i headed back over to the river and went north. many crews were already out practicing for the races this coming week.

ran up to godstow nunnery and at the street turned back south. the river was high from all of the rain and a pretty dark green shade. crews were all over the water. captains were barking out orders and the geese and ducks were scattering. i kept running, doing three minute pickups and three minute recoveries.

at rainbow bridge i crossed over and went south rather than across the meadow. the skies were really dark now. i wanted to see how much work had been done on the trail while we had been in cambridge and they had done a lot, clearing more brush and cutting down some trees and widening the path. also they had a load of sod and stones waiting to go somewhere. a makeshift trail of woodchips had been made wider also. these guys had done a good job on the south trail and i anticipated the same here. was just hoping they would leave some of the wild forest sense to the trail.

just after the port meadow bridge i picked up three visitors from capetown and we chatted about politics and whether the usa was ready for a black president. polite enough conversation and eventually i left them as i went under the bridge and over to the canal for a short two mile part of the run and then back the 2 miles and over to king edward park. ran several 100 yard striders here to loosen up the legs and then ran a loop around he park and headed to the grocery store for some food stuffs and newspaper. almost twelve miles in and enough for today. the dark skies were still just that, though it was colder. it was on the walk back from the grocery store that the rain began an on again off again day of storms and drizzle.

after breakfast and listening to some of the news from yesterday's news shows back home, i headed off to the driving range while gail worked on her book. the range was pretty empty as it was still drizzling, but it stopped for awhile and i went out to hit rather than hit under the closed confines under the covered roof. just started out doing drills and trying to work on the usual things and get some tempo and rhythm going. drills went ok and i still think i can get a better swing than i used to have and with less manipulation once i get the takeaway mastered which i clearly don't have yet. have been hitting much higher lately though and i like that.

was still outside hitting despite some soft drizzle starting up and alex and josh showed up to hit along with alex's girlfriend. was interesting to see youth at play. they also ask for some help and i give them the free advice of an ex-11 handicap. but it helped josh for sure as he straightened out his drives and the good ones were 280+ and dead straight. must be nice. he has some idea how to swing, but not that much, but what he does has is young, strong power. he hit my driver a few times also and it was interesting to see my driver do things i had never done with it.

even the girlfriend who looked more like a fashion model from stockholm-her home town- than a student at oxford, could hit the ball straight when she hit it. she was game but like all new golfers, somewhat frustrated. was just fun to watch the interaction between them as they bounced back and forth between somewhat serious attempts at practicing and being very young.

but they left when the rain came down harder and i finished my 2nd bucket and did pitches and chips with my lob wedge and 8iron. was raining too hard for much more and i left and went home. by the time i got home the rain had lessened and gail and i took a walk down to the commonwealth war graves cemetery, which we always find interesting. the botley cemetery uses a large part of its grounds for the war cemetery and they keep it in excellent condition and it serves as a true memorial sight for those from both world wars and from many countries, including germany. only one woman buried there, mabel murray, a 35 year old nurse who had died of influenza on november 2nd, 1918. we signed the guest book this time on what was one of our several visits. the cemetery was unusually quiet on a saturday given the rain.

and then home to wrap up another day doing the usual stuff at home. the rain has stopped now. we watched a history show on bbc and did some paperwork. tomorrow we will start over again. no rain predicted for the next several days. hope for what should be a good week.

74 days left now.