fever gone? who knows? ran anyway-

woke up with slight headache and heart rate of 47 so i decided i was feeling good enough to get out of bed and run. so off i went at not quite 7am heading up binsey lane on a really pretty morning with temps at about 61 degrees and sun in the sky and some wind blowing about. then over to the thames and south on the trail. the green of lorraine's boat didn't look as harsh in today's light. not a person around yet as i headed down the river, a really dark green color and pretty high along the newly formed banks thanks to the construction which raised them up to stop flooding.

went down past the rainbow bridge and through the detour and watched the swans watching me. geese were coming in for a landing and some ducks sat on the banks watching them also. funny. was running ok actually. the legs were not all dead as i missed yesterday and the head was hanging in. not moving that fast, but running none the less and not in bed asleep and sick.

i ran down to swan bridge and did a u-turn and came back up to the detour sign just to add a mile or more in the shade on soft ground and then turned south again and headed over to osney road and then down to king edward park. gail was going to come out and meet me here, but i must have been early. a little more than 5 miles in so far and i ran a short loop around the park just to past the two creeks which are always pretty and the horses were out grazing along the southern creek field. some bike riders seemed annoyed that i was on "their" trail, as i was running against traffic and that meant to them that i was on the wrong side of the path. this is not the mt vernon path with a line down the middle and i absolutely refuse to run along the other side and have bikes pass me on the right side while they talk into their cell phones and generally don't pay attention. on i went and they passed closely but they went by. only once did i have to remind one to wake up as he headed right towards me and showed no signs of moving over. they never warn you here that they are passing or at least hardly ever so be careful when running in england. last time i counted i was warned two times of 37 riders.

did the loop actually still ok and not annoyed and went over to the made up track cut in the grassy field and started to do some 100 yard sprints, very carefully and worked my way down to a quicker pace, using as little effort as possible. had about 15 done when gail came along and i ran 8 more with her. the slightly slower pace took some of the pressure off of the tight muscles in my legs. still, i was using my right leg and though i could now feel the pf muscle, the right leg was trying to help and didn't hurt. i was still bothered that i cannot cross my right leg over my knee and will work on that.

the run done we headed back home, stopping at the store for some breakfast and a newspaper. after the usual morning stuff i headed up to the city center and ran my many errands, post office, bank, pharmacy, bank, and open market. all done including the 2 mile walk in under 90 minutes. sometimes things can get done quickly here. was raining off and on now, but not too badly so i decided to walk home. always easier to walk home as it is a pain to have to walk so far to get the bus anyway once in city center. another two miles and i was certainly getting my exercise, but i had some really nice things to show for it and the bills were all paid for another month.

had a very light lunch at home and then headed off to the driving range where i just stunk the joint up. tried hard enough and did the drills, but not much worked today. i just suck somedays and that is life. i did pitch so-so ok and chipped well at least. tried another bucket of balls after that and it was no better. oh well! i could stop playing golf and never miss it, though what i mean is i could stop going to the range and never miss it. even a bad day on the actual course can still sometimes be fun. this is not golf i tell myself and it will be better tomorrow, but i know better. i have spent this year forgetting how to swing a golf club and though i have moments when i am better i still mostly stink. but like most i still think i can get it back and just don't have the courage to stop. shame on me.

then home and read some and worked out a bit of a calendar for the next 5 weeks. 35 days to go and time to start thinking of what to do with stuff that we are not going to take home. should have a yard sale but we won't. dinner bell rings- another day almost done.

btw- i finished the bookclub book for this month- "the book of illusions" by paul auster. was wondering if anyone reading this had read it yet? or had read anything else by this author?