up and at the track while still dark. had a 10:12 tee time and needed to be done the workout as early as possible. mostly just wanted to stretch the legs out a bit and see how i felt. whatever i had seems to have passed or else it is lingering quietly inside and at least not bothering me daily as it did last week.
did a short walk/jog warmup in sort of a surreal setting as there were two pole lamps over by the baseball field on and they cast some light onto a water laden and puddled up track. since i only wanted to run 100's and maybe a test of a couple of 200's this did not cause any problems.
ran sets of 6 like i did in oxford and stretched every 6. the goal was to stretch out the legs and not just beat myself into the ground. basically each 100 for about the first 12 went a little faster as i got looser and more warmed up, a sign that i really need to warm up more-like i used to be capable of doing. this is mental to some degree, but i know i only have so much running in me before the leg starts to tighten up and i hate to waste it warming up- as a coach i know this makes no sense. my runners may remember that i always said i coached myself differently than i coached them- must be like being your own lawyer and having a fool for a client.
through the puddles i ran. at 45 degrees it was nice running- the wind was tough, but so be it. i did each set in a different direction so that i ran with and against the wind for training purposes. the sun came up sort of behind some clouds, but the wind picked up. was not raining yet, but it would be. after 23 x 100 i ran a 200 in 51 and then another in 49. heart rate was 157 for the 49; had been 151 for the 51.
49.3 actually and that is 6:36 pace. i used to run half marathons at a faster pace, but it also shows that not all of my speed is gone. i know i need to take more time off and do other things as well to get faster if i want to do that. i have the head of someone who has run 184 marathons and about 35 ultras. my head is a 50 mile guy, but is my body doomed to be a 5k runner? will need to sort that out instead of fighting it.
with 24 x 100 and 2 x 200 i did a 20 minute cooldown and stretched and headed home. just enough time to shower and eat a healthy breakfast and head off to the golf course. the wind had picked up and it was pretty cold. a drizzle was on and off. at the course i was the first golfer of the day. i knew the staff and they seemed happy to have someone show up. i walked 18 holes alone and only saw two other guys out there behind while i played. did so-so with only two birdies and 11 pars. didn't hit the ball that well, but got around and tried to get used to the new glasses prescription. very strong and the ball seemed weird when looking down on the tee box or putting. need to get used to that.
finished up and stopped by the nursery and picked up the last plant of the season- like to put one final one in before the ground freezes, my own little tradition. picked up a nice abelia with white flowers and also got a very large rock to start a new island around in the spring. and then home.
did some painting and cleaning up and started to put the laundry room back into shape. hit a bucket of pitches and chips in the backyard and then did some laundry and after dinner here i am. another day done-
today is gail's birthday, but she is at school and by now on her way home. back to philadelphia tomorrow. have driven a great deal lately for sure.
one week until the election and will be glad to have it over i hoped!
happy birthday to ron wherever you are- my emails come back to me.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
three days with a world series game thrown in
in a nutshell, it is three days since my last; email has been down sort of as today i found 80+ emails sent directly to my blocked folder- will have to deal with them tomorrow and finish this also-
starting in the middle- last night after running a decent track workout in the morning and driving to phila i went to game 4 of the world series with my brother and his son and bre, david's wife; despite the cold we had a pretty good time and the phils won to go up 3-1; as i type they are in a rain delay tied 2-2;
friday i had an ok though tired run before going to work at the golf course- no workers showed up as they were going to. my morning pulse was 54- that is way off for no apparent reason and i didn't fell sick or tired so i have no idea why- if i die unexpectedly it will have been a sign i suppose- hope not- today's pulse was 47 on almost no sleep and many hours on my feet and or driving and also with not that much food. who knows? i did have a really nice little 7 mile run today and was surprised at that as i was not as hydrated as i should have been and should have been really tired.
so for last week i got 54 miles in to cap a stretch of 58, 55, 59, 52 and 54- and only one day off- just not enough long runs; best was 17 and also a 14 plus 3 twelve's and an 11 and some 10's. oh well--- 2 weeks until harrisburg one way or another.
no golf at all but am supposed to play tomorrow while gail teaches on her birthday- rain may change that-
we did the austin grill thing tonight and it was nice- has been awhile;
more tomorrow---peace
starting in the middle- last night after running a decent track workout in the morning and driving to phila i went to game 4 of the world series with my brother and his son and bre, david's wife; despite the cold we had a pretty good time and the phils won to go up 3-1; as i type they are in a rain delay tied 2-2;
friday i had an ok though tired run before going to work at the golf course- no workers showed up as they were going to. my morning pulse was 54- that is way off for no apparent reason and i didn't fell sick or tired so i have no idea why- if i die unexpectedly it will have been a sign i suppose- hope not- today's pulse was 47 on almost no sleep and many hours on my feet and or driving and also with not that much food. who knows? i did have a really nice little 7 mile run today and was surprised at that as i was not as hydrated as i should have been and should have been really tired.
so for last week i got 54 miles in to cap a stretch of 58, 55, 59, 52 and 54- and only one day off- just not enough long runs; best was 17 and also a 14 plus 3 twelve's and an 11 and some 10's. oh well--- 2 weeks until harrisburg one way or another.
no golf at all but am supposed to play tomorrow while gail teaches on her birthday- rain may change that-
we did the austin grill thing tonight and it was nice- has been awhile;
more tomorrow---peace
Friday, October 24, 2008
an ok day of stuff done and undone
up this morning after 9 hours of sleep, the most i have had in a long time, and found my pulse to be at 54. just cannot remember the last time it was that high-maybe when i had the flu or after one of my surgeries- but it was not a good sign that on a day after i basically took it as easy as i could and slept as much as i did that my weight was down a couple of pounds and my pulse was just horrible.
given that scenario and not quite sure what to do as i didn't feel sick and am hoping there is no deep down hidden health, once you have cancer you think every weird thing happening is the cancer returning-it doesn't help me that my drs have promised me a relapse at some point given the 100% chance i have of a recurrence statistically.
but out the door i went and ran and took some walk breaks to try not to push it too much and did a little over 5 miles. legs started ok and tired after 3 miles. not good. skipped the bike ride and did some yard work and then went to work when the work crew did not show up as planned. did the afternoon shift at the golf course and a little bit of practicing afterwards and came home. feel worse and am mad that i was dumb enough to skip my vitamins this week a couple of times for no real reason other than i just didn't take them. lack of routine ....
email is back up and will catch up tomorrow before i head back out to penna. would be really nice to be back in oxford right now. gail's birthday this week, a world series game to go to and my brother is coming in from oregon. this plus more house stuff should keep the week busy enough, not to mention all of the driving ahead. and here comes the rain, faking oxford perhaps.. kidding--
still trying and failing to catch up but have a new plan i will put into action tomorrow as it is almost tomorrow right now.
given that scenario and not quite sure what to do as i didn't feel sick and am hoping there is no deep down hidden health, once you have cancer you think every weird thing happening is the cancer returning-it doesn't help me that my drs have promised me a relapse at some point given the 100% chance i have of a recurrence statistically.
but out the door i went and ran and took some walk breaks to try not to push it too much and did a little over 5 miles. legs started ok and tired after 3 miles. not good. skipped the bike ride and did some yard work and then went to work when the work crew did not show up as planned. did the afternoon shift at the golf course and a little bit of practicing afterwards and came home. feel worse and am mad that i was dumb enough to skip my vitamins this week a couple of times for no real reason other than i just didn't take them. lack of routine ....
email is back up and will catch up tomorrow before i head back out to penna. would be really nice to be back in oxford right now. gail's birthday this week, a world series game to go to and my brother is coming in from oregon. this plus more house stuff should keep the week busy enough, not to mention all of the driving ahead. and here comes the rain, faking oxford perhaps.. kidding--
still trying and failing to catch up but have a new plan i will put into action tomorrow as it is almost tomorrow right now.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
progress??? run, bike and golf....
two days later now and i am just not keeping up-- like tonight i got home late last night and then have to do so much to get ready for the next day that there is not much time to blog or do much of any of what i once considered real life- knowing that it is all part of real life doesn't help when the time is spent dealing with house construction stuff-
yesterday started with a short run and then house stuff and then just went to play 9 holes of golf. met up with three other guys doing the same as me and we had a nice enough outing together. played ok despite still not striking the ball that great and ended up 3 over par with two birdies. happy enough though given the state of my not practicing like i would like.
then drove to meet gail at the HMO for her tests and that went ok-now wait for the results of course. and then home. hit some chips in the backyard and putted a bit and then spent the night trying to put some order back into the rooms which were worked on. needed to find some winter clothes to run in as the weather is clearly turning towards winter and we may have seen the last of any warm days. then jumped on the indoor bike and rode 25 miles just trying to spin at 90-95 rpm's without really trying to ride hard. that went ok and watched the phils game as i rode. and then went back to work on house stuff knowing the guys were coming at 7am this morning and things had to be moved around.
exercise wise yesterday included 4 miles of running, 3 miles of walking and 25 miles of indoor biking plus some golf practice and 9 holes of golf. today started off differently as i knew i couldn't run and be home by 7am. so i moved the cars out of the way( as i just moved them back) and then did some garden work,some laundry, and started to clean out the shed. by 8:30 nobody had shown up and i put a phone call in to find out they hadn't really planned on coming. some miscommunication there for sure but they decided to come by 1pm.
so off i went to run and did a pretty solid 8 miles on the trail and road trying to just run steady. a very pretty morning and quite chilly, but it was nice to be out there along the river. got home with a little time to spare and rode the bike waiting for them to show up. got 23 miles in and they came as i was stopping. worked out as ok as it could have but i also knew that both doors were not getting put on today ( and as it turns out not tomorrow either).
the crew worked until after 5pm and i did some cleanup work and then went to hit some balls. a long slow ride to the range, but got lucky and had a chance to work a bit with a pro there who showed me why i was hitting the ball thin like i had been. hit 100 balls working on that and then chipped and putted for awhile and then hit some more balls working on the drills he gave me. must say it was a big help and i was making better contact almost right away and hit many really good balls. not all of them of course. need to keep going and work out the rest of it now. showed me the problem with trying to stay behind the ball the way i was doing it and how that kept me from hitting down on the ball like i should be doing, though it did keep me from blocking.
and then home. but first i saw a car accident on the way home where someone just cut out the car two cars in front of me and the guy had to moved and ended up hitting the barrier trying not to get creamed-the bad driver guy didn't stop and the good driver honda guy had a smashed in right front side-a shame the other guy just drove away. he had to know he caused an accident.
9:30 almost as i got home and moved the cars back into the driveway and tomorrow we will have to move them back again i guess. also have to work at the golf course. have a lot to do before i go to philly.
and life goes on- this is all peripheral stuff and as long as we are healthy for now we are ok. the house will get done no matter how slowly and at what cost. need to better about dealing with the ups and downs of the affect it has on my life better mentally and am trying to roll with it , but doing only so-so at that.
the next few weeks will be really busy with lots of driving and some good and bad stuff happening. will hope for the best and try to deal with it all. maybe the couch will even come. maybe the email will work - cox kept me out again today. the new norton stuff has changed something and i will try to work it out very soon. i type so slowly anyway that trying to maintain contract and relationships over email can be trying, though it is very practical with overseas friends.
winter is coming. more soon-
yesterday started with a short run and then house stuff and then just went to play 9 holes of golf. met up with three other guys doing the same as me and we had a nice enough outing together. played ok despite still not striking the ball that great and ended up 3 over par with two birdies. happy enough though given the state of my not practicing like i would like.
then drove to meet gail at the HMO for her tests and that went ok-now wait for the results of course. and then home. hit some chips in the backyard and putted a bit and then spent the night trying to put some order back into the rooms which were worked on. needed to find some winter clothes to run in as the weather is clearly turning towards winter and we may have seen the last of any warm days. then jumped on the indoor bike and rode 25 miles just trying to spin at 90-95 rpm's without really trying to ride hard. that went ok and watched the phils game as i rode. and then went back to work on house stuff knowing the guys were coming at 7am this morning and things had to be moved around.
exercise wise yesterday included 4 miles of running, 3 miles of walking and 25 miles of indoor biking plus some golf practice and 9 holes of golf. today started off differently as i knew i couldn't run and be home by 7am. so i moved the cars out of the way( as i just moved them back) and then did some garden work,some laundry, and started to clean out the shed. by 8:30 nobody had shown up and i put a phone call in to find out they hadn't really planned on coming. some miscommunication there for sure but they decided to come by 1pm.
so off i went to run and did a pretty solid 8 miles on the trail and road trying to just run steady. a very pretty morning and quite chilly, but it was nice to be out there along the river. got home with a little time to spare and rode the bike waiting for them to show up. got 23 miles in and they came as i was stopping. worked out as ok as it could have but i also knew that both doors were not getting put on today ( and as it turns out not tomorrow either).
the crew worked until after 5pm and i did some cleanup work and then went to hit some balls. a long slow ride to the range, but got lucky and had a chance to work a bit with a pro there who showed me why i was hitting the ball thin like i had been. hit 100 balls working on that and then chipped and putted for awhile and then hit some more balls working on the drills he gave me. must say it was a big help and i was making better contact almost right away and hit many really good balls. not all of them of course. need to keep going and work out the rest of it now. showed me the problem with trying to stay behind the ball the way i was doing it and how that kept me from hitting down on the ball like i should be doing, though it did keep me from blocking.
and then home. but first i saw a car accident on the way home where someone just cut out the car two cars in front of me and the guy had to moved and ended up hitting the barrier trying not to get creamed-the bad driver guy didn't stop and the good driver honda guy had a smashed in right front side-a shame the other guy just drove away. he had to know he caused an accident.
9:30 almost as i got home and moved the cars back into the driveway and tomorrow we will have to move them back again i guess. also have to work at the golf course. have a lot to do before i go to philly.
and life goes on- this is all peripheral stuff and as long as we are healthy for now we are ok. the house will get done no matter how slowly and at what cost. need to better about dealing with the ups and downs of the affect it has on my life better mentally and am trying to roll with it , but doing only so-so at that.
the next few weeks will be really busy with lots of driving and some good and bad stuff happening. will hope for the best and try to deal with it all. maybe the couch will even come. maybe the email will work - cox kept me out again today. the new norton stuff has changed something and i will try to work it out very soon. i type so slowly anyway that trying to maintain contract and relationships over email can be trying, though it is very practical with overseas friends.
winter is coming. more soon-
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
4 days worth/computer back up for now at least
no telling at what point my norton protection will crash again but for now i am working online.. was afraid to do too much in case i could mess someone else up- am so far behind now on emails, but the house is moving along- in a nut shell as i had 4hours of sleep last night trying to get the computer to work correctly--
ran 9, 9, 6 and 8 respectively in the last four days plus did 2 indoor twenty mile rides on the bike. had a really good run sunday and today, despite this morning's heart rate of 52--- hasn't been that high in a very long time and usually indicates that i am sick as it is even too high to show that i am just tired. last 4 weeks running mileage was 58, 55, 59 and 52. getting it back up though not doing anything long enough to train for this marathon and am now in taper time mode; counting on the old 3 hour runs getting me through. biggest problem i have is the legs just getting tight. at night they have been cramping way too often despite all of my usual time tested methods of not letting that happen.
we also attended an history dinner on saturday and caught some of the texas win over missouri and the saturday night live show with sarah palin- won't get into what i thought of that; then sunday we went to our friends don and judy and met roy and barbara and had a pizza party while we watched their presentation of the past summer's normany trip that they and gail went on together. a good time.
monday and tuesday i fit my stuff in and around the guys working on the house and dealing with yet a new bathroom leak in our third bathroom. what a house!
and this weekend i have the world series game i hope as we have tickets. will need to figure out how to get them to everyone so that we can all get in. will call-----
a little golf practice, but no playing other than 9 holes at hilltop one evening after the workers left. will decide what to do about golf really soon.
and now to put the house back together and get the rest of the shopping we need to do done and replace the furniture and stuff we threw away due to the flooded conditions.
more to say but it will have to wait. 79,707 is where i stand at the moment. less than 300 to go to hit 80k. big deal it is not i know, but another round number milestone. needing 293 miles, but also needing to taper for the race in penna. and with so much travel coming up- at least several driving trips- will be lucky to run some days. normally that would be less than 6 weeks, but would hope to hit it in about 7 weeks, putting it right around pearl harbor day, ironically i suppose.
will do some emails tomorrow if the pc is still working. the electric is back on as is the water. 2 doors and some painting to go -
the election is almost here and gone and the fate of the world awaits it. they really need another solution to the electoral college. but i digress. peace people. make sure you all vote- the vote and the boycott are two of our only tools.
ran 9, 9, 6 and 8 respectively in the last four days plus did 2 indoor twenty mile rides on the bike. had a really good run sunday and today, despite this morning's heart rate of 52--- hasn't been that high in a very long time and usually indicates that i am sick as it is even too high to show that i am just tired. last 4 weeks running mileage was 58, 55, 59 and 52. getting it back up though not doing anything long enough to train for this marathon and am now in taper time mode; counting on the old 3 hour runs getting me through. biggest problem i have is the legs just getting tight. at night they have been cramping way too often despite all of my usual time tested methods of not letting that happen.
we also attended an history dinner on saturday and caught some of the texas win over missouri and the saturday night live show with sarah palin- won't get into what i thought of that; then sunday we went to our friends don and judy and met roy and barbara and had a pizza party while we watched their presentation of the past summer's normany trip that they and gail went on together. a good time.
monday and tuesday i fit my stuff in and around the guys working on the house and dealing with yet a new bathroom leak in our third bathroom. what a house!
and this weekend i have the world series game i hope as we have tickets. will need to figure out how to get them to everyone so that we can all get in. will call-----
a little golf practice, but no playing other than 9 holes at hilltop one evening after the workers left. will decide what to do about golf really soon.
and now to put the house back together and get the rest of the shopping we need to do done and replace the furniture and stuff we threw away due to the flooded conditions.
more to say but it will have to wait. 79,707 is where i stand at the moment. less than 300 to go to hit 80k. big deal it is not i know, but another round number milestone. needing 293 miles, but also needing to taper for the race in penna. and with so much travel coming up- at least several driving trips- will be lucky to run some days. normally that would be less than 6 weeks, but would hope to hit it in about 7 weeks, putting it right around pearl harbor day, ironically i suppose.
will do some emails tomorrow if the pc is still working. the electric is back on as is the water. 2 doors and some painting to go -
the election is almost here and gone and the fate of the world awaits it. they really need another solution to the electoral college. but i digress. peace people. make sure you all vote- the vote and the boycott are two of our only tools.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
12 miles and no dust plus golf
not even sure what i wrote about yesterday as i was not in a very good mood and so today with nobody able to come work on any part of the house i got up early and went out to run with gail. we ran north on the tail and did the east blvd loop in both directions rather than stay on the trail and came back through the neighborhood rather than get back on the trail. we even added the pretty loop around the horticulture center taking in their version of the secret garden we came to really like at Blenheim palace in woodstock, uk.
i ran gail back to the house and went back out for some more running. was disappointed that my were so tight, but they loosened up some along the way and the second half of the run was better than the first half as is my usual custom. and also as usual it ended with a thud as suddenly my legs say it is time to stop now. the bike riding is so much fun for me but despite every attempt to ride in different levels and rpm's i cannot keep it from tightening up the quads, even with extra stretching. but still, a very pretty day and i stayed out long enough to get 12 miles in. just cannot make myself stay out loner right now and i will pay for that later.
this was to be the erie 12 hour run weekend, but the car being towed thursday night put a damper on any long distance travel as well as the house work getting in the way and the need to go to the store tomorrow to get the parts so that the broken shower can get fixed- as much as i like our new indoor fountain water noise-.
met some of my new and old neighbors after the run and ralph and i went back to my house and i dug up a 3-4 foot holly tree for his wife to plant next to their others and finish the row. will do better in their garden as it could not get enough sun in ours. and now i have a spot for another mahonia i hope.
then took a tour of stefanie nick's kitchen to see where their walls were knocked down as i want to do something similar with our walls to open up the space. they have the cutest little daughter, ella. an actual enjoyable morning....
then home to do a little yard work and laundry and then off to the driving range and played 9 holes of golf. did some short game practice and hit a badly hit bucket of balls. i have no idea it seems when it comes to my golf swing anymore since we went to england and my handicap has doubled. need to get some help, bu schedule wise it has to wait until after the major house stuff is behind us. all in all i played better than i practiced which is nice, but almost funny.
even had two birdies, but no confidence on the course unless i was chipping. and even though i putted ok, it has been many months now since i have been comfortable with my grip which just feels all wrong. still, made an 8 and 9 foot putt for the two birdies. shot 36- 5 over par-had one double when i came out of a bunker long and had to pitch back. was in 4 bunkers today-not at all the usual.
but after when i tried to hit a little bucket of balls hitting only my 56 degree wedge and my 5 iron, i was putrid. i will not play golf this way for the rest of my life and will find a way to fix it or stop. would rather just garden.
quiet enough restful evening. tried to do some emails but they had all been removed from my inbox and transferred to my other account- will have to get this straightened out this week as well as hook up the new printer.
and life goes on. all good-even the bad stuff- not cancer and nobody is shooting at me and i am not living in a tent trying to dodge rats and insects and waiting for mortars. not living in my car either though that experience taught me several things at the time. how dumb can a smart person be at any one time.... all in one's perspective- but time to add some value and balance. soon i hope. the dancing bear is restless.
have world series tickets for one game and that should be fun despite the driving involved and the cost.
playing a mix of yanni, mana and reo in the background.
fun weekend ahead- back later.
i ran gail back to the house and went back out for some more running. was disappointed that my were so tight, but they loosened up some along the way and the second half of the run was better than the first half as is my usual custom. and also as usual it ended with a thud as suddenly my legs say it is time to stop now. the bike riding is so much fun for me but despite every attempt to ride in different levels and rpm's i cannot keep it from tightening up the quads, even with extra stretching. but still, a very pretty day and i stayed out long enough to get 12 miles in. just cannot make myself stay out loner right now and i will pay for that later.
this was to be the erie 12 hour run weekend, but the car being towed thursday night put a damper on any long distance travel as well as the house work getting in the way and the need to go to the store tomorrow to get the parts so that the broken shower can get fixed- as much as i like our new indoor fountain water noise-.
met some of my new and old neighbors after the run and ralph and i went back to my house and i dug up a 3-4 foot holly tree for his wife to plant next to their others and finish the row. will do better in their garden as it could not get enough sun in ours. and now i have a spot for another mahonia i hope.
then took a tour of stefanie nick's kitchen to see where their walls were knocked down as i want to do something similar with our walls to open up the space. they have the cutest little daughter, ella. an actual enjoyable morning....
then home to do a little yard work and laundry and then off to the driving range and played 9 holes of golf. did some short game practice and hit a badly hit bucket of balls. i have no idea it seems when it comes to my golf swing anymore since we went to england and my handicap has doubled. need to get some help, bu schedule wise it has to wait until after the major house stuff is behind us. all in all i played better than i practiced which is nice, but almost funny.
even had two birdies, but no confidence on the course unless i was chipping. and even though i putted ok, it has been many months now since i have been comfortable with my grip which just feels all wrong. still, made an 8 and 9 foot putt for the two birdies. shot 36- 5 over par-had one double when i came out of a bunker long and had to pitch back. was in 4 bunkers today-not at all the usual.
but after when i tried to hit a little bucket of balls hitting only my 56 degree wedge and my 5 iron, i was putrid. i will not play golf this way for the rest of my life and will find a way to fix it or stop. would rather just garden.
quiet enough restful evening. tried to do some emails but they had all been removed from my inbox and transferred to my other account- will have to get this straightened out this week as well as hook up the new printer.
and life goes on. all good-even the bad stuff- not cancer and nobody is shooting at me and i am not living in a tent trying to dodge rats and insects and waiting for mortars. not living in my car either though that experience taught me several things at the time. how dumb can a smart person be at any one time.... all in one's perspective- but time to add some value and balance. soon i hope. the dancing bear is restless.
have world series tickets for one game and that should be fun despite the driving involved and the cost.
playing a mix of yanni, mana and reo in the background.
fun weekend ahead- back later.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
back from philly in time to whine
seems like the days are still spent dealing with the house and contractors, but we did take a break and go to philly for my mom's birthday and had a very nice visit with too much food and not enough exercise, but a nice trip, including a stop at the nike outlet store. fortunately the ride up and back went much better than usual and we didn't sit in construction for hours. even gas was cheaper there.
and back home to the continued mess which we call our house. can you hear the plumber and the carpenters in the background, while others just paint quietly. a shower leak, two broken toilets and new doors are being dealt with as i type. next week we are back to tile and painting. with some luck most of everything will be done but the storm doors- one was ordered ad one mistakenly not -- more mistakes there i won't get into.
run and golf wise not much has happened. squeezed in what little i can by going out in the dark, but today they were here at 7am and rode the bike indoors instead. may even go run tonight if people are out of here early enough. am many weeks behind on the marathon training and will hope that all of the 3 hour runs in england will carry over some. did do 12 twice and one 15 here but not enough and not enough longer runs either. can 184 marathons of experience help- the mind maybe, but not he legs.
also my golf handicap has doubled since we left for england. squeezing in a little practice, but nowhere near enough and not playing hardl at all-as my friends are at penderbrook playing today and i am here cleaning tile.
what i have become is a good indoor bike rider-ha on that huh? rode 27 good miles while watching our future president -who???- one of them anyway- during the debate last night and another 26 this morning. morning heart rate is stuck on 48, much too high. do notice that the legs can ride easier than run as the tight quads and hip flexors and the torn abductor muscle don't seem to affect the bike spinning like they do the run striding. am hoping it helps a little bit- heart rate wise i can get it up into the 75% range if i ride real hard. mostly the rate is more like a very slow jog or a fast walk.
didn't help gaining a bunch of weight at my mom's, but it did prove to me what i have really know for some time-i have no metabolism. any eating at all of more than my most recent senior type diet causes weight gain- 4-6 pounds goes right on and takes forever to come back off. back to fruit and veggies.
all for now. with no power as they turn it on and off i have lost several emails and just stopped trying. with no computer at my mom.s either i am just way behind. fighting an urge to just do nothing sometimes i need to somehow keep myself motivated and sometimes i do and sometimes i cannot. the goals are getting squashed and so the really good stuff is hard to keep doing, though i try and i do some little stay in touch stuff. not enough and i am not winning the fight the way i used to win it. to play lousy golf and run so poorly it takes more motivation than i have sometimes, so i wear myself out gardening, while they work on the house and i perfect my little chip shots in the back yard- a week now since i hit a wood and days since i putted. will change that i hope.
whining a little i know. tired of lousy work done on bad schedules for lots of money. it is like eating out in oxford-so-so food for lots of money and slow,bad, unfriendly service. everyone seems to expect you to just live with what they offer as they know you can't do better.
time to talk with the plumber, who seems like a good guy. the whining stops for a little bit.
and back home to the continued mess which we call our house. can you hear the plumber and the carpenters in the background, while others just paint quietly. a shower leak, two broken toilets and new doors are being dealt with as i type. next week we are back to tile and painting. with some luck most of everything will be done but the storm doors- one was ordered ad one mistakenly not -- more mistakes there i won't get into.
run and golf wise not much has happened. squeezed in what little i can by going out in the dark, but today they were here at 7am and rode the bike indoors instead. may even go run tonight if people are out of here early enough. am many weeks behind on the marathon training and will hope that all of the 3 hour runs in england will carry over some. did do 12 twice and one 15 here but not enough and not enough longer runs either. can 184 marathons of experience help- the mind maybe, but not he legs.
also my golf handicap has doubled since we left for england. squeezing in a little practice, but nowhere near enough and not playing hardl at all-as my friends are at penderbrook playing today and i am here cleaning tile.
what i have become is a good indoor bike rider-ha on that huh? rode 27 good miles while watching our future president -who???- one of them anyway- during the debate last night and another 26 this morning. morning heart rate is stuck on 48, much too high. do notice that the legs can ride easier than run as the tight quads and hip flexors and the torn abductor muscle don't seem to affect the bike spinning like they do the run striding. am hoping it helps a little bit- heart rate wise i can get it up into the 75% range if i ride real hard. mostly the rate is more like a very slow jog or a fast walk.
didn't help gaining a bunch of weight at my mom's, but it did prove to me what i have really know for some time-i have no metabolism. any eating at all of more than my most recent senior type diet causes weight gain- 4-6 pounds goes right on and takes forever to come back off. back to fruit and veggies.
all for now. with no power as they turn it on and off i have lost several emails and just stopped trying. with no computer at my mom.s either i am just way behind. fighting an urge to just do nothing sometimes i need to somehow keep myself motivated and sometimes i do and sometimes i cannot. the goals are getting squashed and so the really good stuff is hard to keep doing, though i try and i do some little stay in touch stuff. not enough and i am not winning the fight the way i used to win it. to play lousy golf and run so poorly it takes more motivation than i have sometimes, so i wear myself out gardening, while they work on the house and i perfect my little chip shots in the back yard- a week now since i hit a wood and days since i putted. will change that i hope.
whining a little i know. tired of lousy work done on bad schedules for lots of money. it is like eating out in oxford-so-so food for lots of money and slow,bad, unfriendly service. everyone seems to expect you to just live with what they offer as they know you can't do better.
time to talk with the plumber, who seems like a good guy. the whining stops for a little bit.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
two more days gone by
what can i say? i just cannot seem to find time to do everything i want to and my emails and blog entries have suffered for sure, and will continue to for some short time period into the future as i don't always have access to my computer/electric power.
but the last two days flew by quickly and i have to be up in a few hours to drive to penna. so in another little nutshell- ran 7 miles yesterday and was pretty tired, but added 21 miles on the indoor bike and then spent the days running errands and working on house stuff, before leaving for the usa-cuba soccer game and meeting gail's faculty friends for dinner beforehand. all went well enough and the usa
won 5-1 before 20,000+ people at rfk stadium.
home late and skipped blogging- then up early and ran 6 miles and rode another 20 and did errands and house stuff again before going to the range and getting in a very short practice session. short game went ok, hitting 65 balls went less well. always feel rushed these days there as i do most everywhere right now.
legs are dead and will take some time off. need to make a fast decision about the next few weeks schedule. will try to resolve some stuff at my mom's.
and off i go- skins lost, cowboys lost also- not sure of the eagles and the phillies are playing now.
i will get caught up eventually. no work crews this week for the main stuff, but the new doors will be here and done later this week i am told. meanwhile another plumbing problem has begun upstairs and will just have to wait until we are back and we can hope for the best until then.
chicago marathon was today also but i have no idea what happened. must be better than last year i do hope.
but the last two days flew by quickly and i have to be up in a few hours to drive to penna. so in another little nutshell- ran 7 miles yesterday and was pretty tired, but added 21 miles on the indoor bike and then spent the days running errands and working on house stuff, before leaving for the usa-cuba soccer game and meeting gail's faculty friends for dinner beforehand. all went well enough and the usa
won 5-1 before 20,000+ people at rfk stadium.
home late and skipped blogging- then up early and ran 6 miles and rode another 20 and did errands and house stuff again before going to the range and getting in a very short practice session. short game went ok, hitting 65 balls went less well. always feel rushed these days there as i do most everywhere right now.
legs are dead and will take some time off. need to make a fast decision about the next few weeks schedule. will try to resolve some stuff at my mom's.
and off i go- skins lost, cowboys lost also- not sure of the eagles and the phillies are playing now.
i will get caught up eventually. no work crews this week for the main stuff, but the new doors will be here and done later this week i am told. meanwhile another plumbing problem has begun upstairs and will just have to wait until we are back and we can hope for the best until then.
chicago marathon was today also but i have no idea what happened. must be better than last year i do hope.
Friday, October 10, 2008
two days of stuff-golf,run, phils and house
title starts the tale. up yesterday early enough to go play golf. told the work crew not to come so i could join the duffers group at bristow manor. plowed through the traffice and had a decent time and it didn't rain as predicted. played with ralph, jack and roger. jack won the money on the front nine and i won on the back so we kept the money in our carts, so to speak, which is always nice. had two birdies and 6 pars and an assortment of others, but overall not too bad as i try to recapture the game i left behind while we were in england. fast bumpy greens didn't help. hit a slightly choked down 4iron draw onto the green from 170 to get the back nine money; a shame david c wasn't there to yell "good shot". hope he is feeling ok.
anyway- after i stopped at several stores on the way home and then at the range to
chip and putt for a bit and then home to get some work done. a decent enough day.
and friday went out early and stayed out long enough to get 11 miles in and then spend some time with some friends/neighbors getting caught up. the crew didn't come on time so i worked around the house and did lots of gardening trying to get a year's worth done before winter. finally they came and worked for a few hours and headed out. they get the chance to fix up some of what they did when they come back, but at least we are moving in the right direction, as i continue to frustrate my boss by not being able to work. i have offered to quit or be fired so they could replace me, but not yet they say. won't help that next week i am gone and won't be able to work. the crew won't work either. a different crew will get some time instead and i get to go to penna. for a few days for my mom's birthday.
the 11 miles went ok today after a very slow start but once the legs were stretched out a bit the rest went ok and at least 7-8 of it was decent enough. the trail along the river was pretty and it was not really warm that early.
did get to the range tonight to chip and putt a bit and hot a fast large bucket of balls to work on tempo and drills. coming along as i continue to learn stuff and work on drills i got from mark and a few leftover from rick. still have hopes to get a little better. short game is coming around and i have some shots i didn't have last year. hit several good pitches and chips yesterday to reap some reward from all of the practice.
and that about wraps up most of it. usual other stuff in the daily chores and bills and house junk. soccer game tomorrow and golf on sunday. philly on monday, etc.
phils won today to take game two over the dodgers. phils-rays series would be a tv problem i am sure and the baseball gods must be praying for the red sox to win.
enough. have to meet gail in two minutes. will get more in on sunday as we will be back really late tomorrow night.
PS- our phones are down and the repairs are set for tomorrow in case anyone tried to call. will get to the emails then also as they all just came in from the last few days. seems the neighborhood lost phone service yesterday and not everybody got it back. what next?
anyway- after i stopped at several stores on the way home and then at the range to
chip and putt for a bit and then home to get some work done. a decent enough day.
and friday went out early and stayed out long enough to get 11 miles in and then spend some time with some friends/neighbors getting caught up. the crew didn't come on time so i worked around the house and did lots of gardening trying to get a year's worth done before winter. finally they came and worked for a few hours and headed out. they get the chance to fix up some of what they did when they come back, but at least we are moving in the right direction, as i continue to frustrate my boss by not being able to work. i have offered to quit or be fired so they could replace me, but not yet they say. won't help that next week i am gone and won't be able to work. the crew won't work either. a different crew will get some time instead and i get to go to penna. for a few days for my mom's birthday.
the 11 miles went ok today after a very slow start but once the legs were stretched out a bit the rest went ok and at least 7-8 of it was decent enough. the trail along the river was pretty and it was not really warm that early.
did get to the range tonight to chip and putt a bit and hot a fast large bucket of balls to work on tempo and drills. coming along as i continue to learn stuff and work on drills i got from mark and a few leftover from rick. still have hopes to get a little better. short game is coming around and i have some shots i didn't have last year. hit several good pitches and chips yesterday to reap some reward from all of the practice.
and that about wraps up most of it. usual other stuff in the daily chores and bills and house junk. soccer game tomorrow and golf on sunday. philly on monday, etc.
phils won today to take game two over the dodgers. phils-rays series would be a tv problem i am sure and the baseball gods must be praying for the red sox to win.
enough. have to meet gail in two minutes. will get more in on sunday as we will be back really late tomorrow night.
PS- our phones are down and the repairs are set for tomorrow in case anyone tried to call. will get to the emails then also as they all just came in from the last few days. seems the neighborhood lost phone service yesterday and not everybody got it back. what next?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
quick note/track workout, etc
no time at all practically to do this but wanted to start it at least- keep losing emails i try to send when cox logs me out for security reasons. am supposed to have autosave but have no idea what happens to them and am tired of it and also of sending short emails so as not to lose them- bahhhh
ran track this morning and did and easy 100 and 200 workout as i have done a lot in the past few days. the crew didn't show up today but the door guy did and that is set. he seems much more reliable. why can't people call when they cannot come?
nobody is coming tomorrow as i am taking the day off and going to play golf. have played 18 holes once since i am home and it will be nice to play again regardless of how i play.
very busy schedule for the next 4 weeks and will do what i can to keep this up. will be away a lot of the time and will see what happens.
and off i go- will have some time tomorrow evening i think-
almost time to start training for the upcoming marathon- will have to rely on the long runs i did in the UK. one 15 at home and several 12's will not cut it. have plans for two long ones still and hope that will do it. 184 done but never with fewer long runs. will see how the UK training carries over. had many 3 hour runs there.
peace
ran track this morning and did and easy 100 and 200 workout as i have done a lot in the past few days. the crew didn't show up today but the door guy did and that is set. he seems much more reliable. why can't people call when they cannot come?
nobody is coming tomorrow as i am taking the day off and going to play golf. have played 18 holes once since i am home and it will be nice to play again regardless of how i play.
very busy schedule for the next 4 weeks and will do what i can to keep this up. will be away a lot of the time and will see what happens.
and off i go- will have some time tomorrow evening i think-
almost time to start training for the upcoming marathon- will have to rely on the long runs i did in the UK. one 15 at home and several 12's will not cut it. have plans for two long ones still and hope that will do it. 184 done but never with fewer long runs. will see how the UK training carries over. had many 3 hour runs there.
peace
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
9 mile run and some golf, etc
have a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow, but wanted to capture the day - was up pretty early and out the door and ran a really decent 9 miles keeping up a better than normal pace and getting in a bunch of hills, both up and down. was nice and cool and a really pretty morning.
the crew went elsewhere today so i had time to get some stuff in like cutting the grass, doing laundry, making some calls and then slipping out to play 9 holes of golf at jefferson. had a treat and played with the woman's club champion and her friend and we all played pretty well, though none of us putted particularly well as the greens were both slow and fast and the flags were in some strange places. i was 3 over par for the 9 holes with eight fours and a bogie six. also had 18 putts which is very unusual for me though i hit a few more greens than usual. did hit some very nice shots and maybe i am starting to recapture some of my old swing. will see.
ran many errands on the way home which didn't actually amount to accomplishing much. can be really frustrating trying to shop and i will leave it at that. and got home too late to go to the range so i hit about 90 pitch shots and chips in the back yard and gave up when it got dark. then headed over to safeway and picked up some things for the next few days.
am scheduled to play at bristow on thursday. the crew will most likely be here wed and Friday, though who knows -nobody is telling me for sure.
the debate is on and i have the tv on without the sound. i did listen to 20 seconds of it while mc cain was talking and rather than get sick i shut off the sound. i know who i am voting for and will skip the utter stupidity and attack vulgarity of mc cain and the witch. see i can do it too.
and now to pay some bills and maybe answer a few emails, though i would rather wait for tomorrow when i am stuck here anyway. the dow crashed again today. it seems to me if they are going to have a global economy then they need to work together to have some global standards. do you think europe realized they were buying bad loans and that we gave away money to anyone regardless of whether they were qualified, in the little bundles they bought. so now everyone is afraid to loan money and nobody can buy anything and the world's economy is in the tank-- who else went to a spa besides the AIG people i wonder. i know i had to pass on things at the store when i thought they were just too expensive. and while i did fill my gas tank tonight for only $56+ dollars i was amused to see the prices varying from $3.39 at a texaco to $3.79 most everywhere else. they cannot even figure out how much to overcharge us on any rational basis as gas is dropping lower and lower by the barrel. what a joke- maybe we need to regulate the gas business - who runs the worse business- the airlines, phone companies, car sales or gas companies? and today i heard calls for a nationalization of businesses like the swiss model. trillions of dollars lost in the past weeks. at this rate the boomers will all be looking for jobs again.
it is all so sad and the people actually asked for this when they put "W" in for 8 years. i think maybe they should send stimulus checks to dems and independents and the RNC can save the rest of everyone---- or we can all join in and try to make this a better place for everyone and not worry about what church they go to or whether they are for or against roe vs wade. 4 weeks from ow we will have the beginning of an answer. fingers crossed everyone- whoever wins starts out way in the hole for sure and good luck to them. and us and me for they will be my president too whether i voted for them or not and i need them to do a good job. let's hope.
on that note i am off. this is a great country. it can be a world leader and not be hated, but it has to think of itself as a big partner with global responsibilities and not the 800 pound thing pushing people all over the globe around.
meanwhile i worry about what color to paint the bathroom and what kind of doors to hang. all so important??? necessary at least.
the crew went elsewhere today so i had time to get some stuff in like cutting the grass, doing laundry, making some calls and then slipping out to play 9 holes of golf at jefferson. had a treat and played with the woman's club champion and her friend and we all played pretty well, though none of us putted particularly well as the greens were both slow and fast and the flags were in some strange places. i was 3 over par for the 9 holes with eight fours and a bogie six. also had 18 putts which is very unusual for me though i hit a few more greens than usual. did hit some very nice shots and maybe i am starting to recapture some of my old swing. will see.
ran many errands on the way home which didn't actually amount to accomplishing much. can be really frustrating trying to shop and i will leave it at that. and got home too late to go to the range so i hit about 90 pitch shots and chips in the back yard and gave up when it got dark. then headed over to safeway and picked up some things for the next few days.
am scheduled to play at bristow on thursday. the crew will most likely be here wed and Friday, though who knows -nobody is telling me for sure.
the debate is on and i have the tv on without the sound. i did listen to 20 seconds of it while mc cain was talking and rather than get sick i shut off the sound. i know who i am voting for and will skip the utter stupidity and attack vulgarity of mc cain and the witch. see i can do it too.
and now to pay some bills and maybe answer a few emails, though i would rather wait for tomorrow when i am stuck here anyway. the dow crashed again today. it seems to me if they are going to have a global economy then they need to work together to have some global standards. do you think europe realized they were buying bad loans and that we gave away money to anyone regardless of whether they were qualified, in the little bundles they bought. so now everyone is afraid to loan money and nobody can buy anything and the world's economy is in the tank-- who else went to a spa besides the AIG people i wonder. i know i had to pass on things at the store when i thought they were just too expensive. and while i did fill my gas tank tonight for only $56+ dollars i was amused to see the prices varying from $3.39 at a texaco to $3.79 most everywhere else. they cannot even figure out how much to overcharge us on any rational basis as gas is dropping lower and lower by the barrel. what a joke- maybe we need to regulate the gas business - who runs the worse business- the airlines, phone companies, car sales or gas companies? and today i heard calls for a nationalization of businesses like the swiss model. trillions of dollars lost in the past weeks. at this rate the boomers will all be looking for jobs again.
it is all so sad and the people actually asked for this when they put "W" in for 8 years. i think maybe they should send stimulus checks to dems and independents and the RNC can save the rest of everyone---- or we can all join in and try to make this a better place for everyone and not worry about what church they go to or whether they are for or against roe vs wade. 4 weeks from ow we will have the beginning of an answer. fingers crossed everyone- whoever wins starts out way in the hole for sure and good luck to them. and us and me for they will be my president too whether i voted for them or not and i need them to do a good job. let's hope.
on that note i am off. this is a great country. it can be a world leader and not be hated, but it has to think of itself as a big partner with global responsibilities and not the 800 pound thing pushing people all over the globe around.
meanwhile i worry about what color to paint the bathroom and what kind of doors to hang. all so important??? necessary at least.
Monday, October 06, 2008
12 miles and no cloud of dust
walked about 12 miles today with a little jogging thrown in to let the legs recover from yesterday; pretty and cool out and the river was nice; then back home and do some work in the garden while waiting for the crew to come. they showed up and had to cut off power and water so i stayed outside and worked for about 5 hours and also hit some pitches and chips- about 250 actually. watered the new plants and called it a day almost, as the door guy came and we talked about installing the 3 doors and shutters, etc and that led to driving around to see door paint jobs-
10:25 almost now and the day is ending- need some sleep as i must be getting old and having trouble sleeping. tv was fixed today also and email came back up and i got to see my new 83 emails- will answer some of them tomorrow- hate owing answers but have no choice right now. finally got our account with cox straightened out and hopefully the tv and email will work now. still lots to do and it will get done.
lots of travel coming up too - want this election over already -- just so hard to believe how they run for office-- character? integrity ? ha-- the dow took another dive today-- houses in our neighborhood are down now about $100k, some a little more-that's not a big deal to everyone, but people who moved in for three years under a military tour won't be happy when they have to sell.........solid ground, right!
10:25 almost now and the day is ending- need some sleep as i must be getting old and having trouble sleeping. tv was fixed today also and email came back up and i got to see my new 83 emails- will answer some of them tomorrow- hate owing answers but have no choice right now. finally got our account with cox straightened out and hopefully the tv and email will work now. still lots to do and it will get done.
lots of travel coming up too - want this election over already -- just so hard to believe how they run for office-- character? integrity ? ha-- the dow took another dive today-- houses in our neighborhood are down now about $100k, some a little more-that's not a big deal to everyone, but people who moved in for three years under a military tour won't be happy when they have to sell.........solid ground, right!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
three straight nights of almost no sleep and a 14 mile run
was up and out of the house at 6:20am today to try and do a little longer run and see what effect the day of rest yesterday might have, while at the same time checking to see if the very little bit of dinner i had would have any impact.
as it was still plenty dark i stayed on the streets for the first 56 minutes and then went onto the trail heading north carrying my own water so i could skip the fountains. actually ran ok and though it wasn't anywhere near fast as i held back a little to keep the heart rate down, i moved steadily north on the trail and went all the way up to belle haven near the 8 mile marker, and then turned back south to take the east blvd loop home. ran into some people i knew there out with their dogs so i turned back north and ran home with them and then headed back south myself.
went up the big hill pretty easily and that was a good sign. also threw in some 20-40yard pickups just to stretch the legs a bit and not for any real speedwork. cut back over the parkway at collingwood and again stayed off of the trail and did the loop around waynewood and collingwood. then added just a bit og going south on the trail and finally headed home. about 14 miles and that was decent. walked a cool down walk for 15 minutes and stretched. could have stayed out longer but was happy to finish while nothing unusual hurt, though i was a little disappointed that the right quad seemed to be tightening up a tad.( 13 hours later as i write this and it was pretty good all day today). so the rest helped and the lack of carb loading had no effect that i could tell. drank way more than usual all day to see if can stop the nasty leg cramps in the quads. will see....
a quick look at the papers and 3 hours of work in the garden moving step stones and pavers was interesting and not too tiring and then headed off to the golf range to hit some balls and do some short game. two hours on the green with my usual 4 clubs and then a large bucket of balls and off to the airport to get gail. made it there 15 minutes ahead of time and then back home for dinner and the usual sunday night chores.
and here i am -- busy week ahead and will have the work crew here for four days so i will catch up on my emails starting monday. the email system came back up late last night and now the tv's are not working, but i think they got screwed up when we lost power on friday. still, we are making progress. lots of travel coming up soon so the work schedule is about to get screwed up. no word yet from the door and shutter people. what can i say?
eagles gave one away today, but washington is a nicer place to live when the football team wins. hockey season started and that will be good. one month to the elections and sarah can go back to her hockey also- this election will show just how smart or dumb this country can be or is. or how racist. what are we ready for is the question i want answered. time will tell.
79,582 miles since i started counting. 161 over the last three weeks. figure 9-10 weeks to hit 80k since i have so much travel coming up i will miss some days. have also been doing about 65 miles a week on the bike to stretch and get used to 90rpm's.
home nine weeks now. some good and some bad. miss england in many ways. the two mplaces together make one great place.
big way to go to the phillies.
as it was still plenty dark i stayed on the streets for the first 56 minutes and then went onto the trail heading north carrying my own water so i could skip the fountains. actually ran ok and though it wasn't anywhere near fast as i held back a little to keep the heart rate down, i moved steadily north on the trail and went all the way up to belle haven near the 8 mile marker, and then turned back south to take the east blvd loop home. ran into some people i knew there out with their dogs so i turned back north and ran home with them and then headed back south myself.
went up the big hill pretty easily and that was a good sign. also threw in some 20-40yard pickups just to stretch the legs a bit and not for any real speedwork. cut back over the parkway at collingwood and again stayed off of the trail and did the loop around waynewood and collingwood. then added just a bit og going south on the trail and finally headed home. about 14 miles and that was decent. walked a cool down walk for 15 minutes and stretched. could have stayed out longer but was happy to finish while nothing unusual hurt, though i was a little disappointed that the right quad seemed to be tightening up a tad.( 13 hours later as i write this and it was pretty good all day today). so the rest helped and the lack of carb loading had no effect that i could tell. drank way more than usual all day to see if can stop the nasty leg cramps in the quads. will see....
a quick look at the papers and 3 hours of work in the garden moving step stones and pavers was interesting and not too tiring and then headed off to the golf range to hit some balls and do some short game. two hours on the green with my usual 4 clubs and then a large bucket of balls and off to the airport to get gail. made it there 15 minutes ahead of time and then back home for dinner and the usual sunday night chores.
and here i am -- busy week ahead and will have the work crew here for four days so i will catch up on my emails starting monday. the email system came back up late last night and now the tv's are not working, but i think they got screwed up when we lost power on friday. still, we are making progress. lots of travel coming up soon so the work schedule is about to get screwed up. no word yet from the door and shutter people. what can i say?
eagles gave one away today, but washington is a nicer place to live when the football team wins. hockey season started and that will be good. one month to the elections and sarah can go back to her hockey also- this election will show just how smart or dumb this country can be or is. or how racist. what are we ready for is the question i want answered. time will tell.
79,582 miles since i started counting. 161 over the last three weeks. figure 9-10 weeks to hit 80k since i have so much travel coming up i will miss some days. have also been doing about 65 miles a week on the bike to stretch and get used to 90rpm's.
home nine weeks now. some good and some bad. miss england in many ways. the two mplaces together make one great place.
big way to go to the phillies.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
no cox and no email/rest day+rip ripulski
quick post in case anyone still reads this. my cox has been down all day. it tells me i have 83 new emails, but if i go to see them it won't let me and logs me out. cox says they are aware of a problem and are working on it.
meanwhile i decided to take a day of rest and recovery as i just could not get to sleep last night an d finally about 1:30 must have dozed off until about 6:30 when gail called. after that i just went out and sat in the garden and read and then hit some chips and pitches. then painted some flower pots and now here i am trying and failing to read my emails.
and finally, today would have been rip ripulski's 80th birthday. 10/4/28. rip was an outfielder for the phillies back around 1957 or 1958 and a little before as i recall. he also gave my dad one of his many phillies frustrations when he hit a grand slam against the braves after we left the game just a little early to beat the traffic as the phils were really way behind. they still lost but scored a lot more runs and we heard it on the radio rather than being back in our seats. may both of them be playing baseball somewhere up there wherever up there is at.
anyway- will be back later. errands to run.
meanwhile i decided to take a day of rest and recovery as i just could not get to sleep last night an d finally about 1:30 must have dozed off until about 6:30 when gail called. after that i just went out and sat in the garden and read and then hit some chips and pitches. then painted some flower pots and now here i am trying and failing to read my emails.
and finally, today would have been rip ripulski's 80th birthday. 10/4/28. rip was an outfielder for the phillies back around 1957 or 1958 and a little before as i recall. he also gave my dad one of his many phillies frustrations when he hit a grand slam against the braves after we left the game just a little early to beat the traffic as the phils were really way behind. they still lost but scored a lot more runs and we heard it on the radio rather than being back in our seats. may both of them be playing baseball somewhere up there wherever up there is at.
anyway- will be back later. errands to run.
Friday, October 03, 2008
another day of working on the house, 9 mile run, 24 mile ride, some pitch and chip and a bucket of balls
up at 4am this morning to take gail to the airport and now, almost 19 hours later after a very long and busy day it is time to rest up a bit.
got home and went out and ran 9 miles which actually went ok for the most part. was almost chilly and the sun coming up over the river was pretty enough. not many people out before 6am but it was nice to run and be home so early and at least some of it was after sunrise.
once home i did my little stretch the legs routine on the bike and spun 90 rpm's at a decent but not high level for 24 miles. then stretched some more and had breakfast. about 10:30am the work crew showed up and started right in working. they think they are getting close to being done and they did work on the downstairs stuff that had to be redone. but without the rest of the tile and oops, someone forgot to bring or is it buy, a toilet, "close" may be a relative term. in reality if that stuff had been here the tile would all be done and the toilet would have gone in while the water was shut off in the house. without any more of this talk, it will get done.
i spent the time while they were here working in the attic and outside in the garden and washing laundry. then paid some bills and hit some chips in the backyard. all of this on less than 4 hours sleep. then tonight i went to the driving range and did an hour of short game and hit a large bucket of balls. went ok to so-so, but i kept doing the drills and i can see some progress.
lots to do this weekend and was going to race but will skip it instead for a trip to lowe's and home depot and maybe the nursery. off for a quick look at the paper.
and on a disappointing note, like 57% of the country i too did not want the bailout bill to pass, but the cowardly congress passed it so they would not be seen as doing nothing, even if what they did was ill thought out. surprised they didn't add the bridge to nowhere into the bill-kidding of course. i am not a maverick i guess. i can see maryland from my house so that must make me a crab.
even i could not believe how against this bill i was and am and have toned down my earlier in the day anger. still time for some sleep before getting up to run. peace....
got home and went out and ran 9 miles which actually went ok for the most part. was almost chilly and the sun coming up over the river was pretty enough. not many people out before 6am but it was nice to run and be home so early and at least some of it was after sunrise.
once home i did my little stretch the legs routine on the bike and spun 90 rpm's at a decent but not high level for 24 miles. then stretched some more and had breakfast. about 10:30am the work crew showed up and started right in working. they think they are getting close to being done and they did work on the downstairs stuff that had to be redone. but without the rest of the tile and oops, someone forgot to bring or is it buy, a toilet, "close" may be a relative term. in reality if that stuff had been here the tile would all be done and the toilet would have gone in while the water was shut off in the house. without any more of this talk, it will get done.
i spent the time while they were here working in the attic and outside in the garden and washing laundry. then paid some bills and hit some chips in the backyard. all of this on less than 4 hours sleep. then tonight i went to the driving range and did an hour of short game and hit a large bucket of balls. went ok to so-so, but i kept doing the drills and i can see some progress.
lots to do this weekend and was going to race but will skip it instead for a trip to lowe's and home depot and maybe the nursery. off for a quick look at the paper.
and on a disappointing note, like 57% of the country i too did not want the bailout bill to pass, but the cowardly congress passed it so they would not be seen as doing nothing, even if what they did was ill thought out. surprised they didn't add the bridge to nowhere into the bill-kidding of course. i am not a maverick i guess. i can see maryland from my house so that must make me a crab.
even i could not believe how against this bill i was and am and have toned down my earlier in the day anger. still time for some sleep before getting up to run. peace....
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
nelly furtado, etc
what is it about her voice i like? does a decent slow version cover of "crazy" that is sweet. still like gnarls's version too.his song i guess. can you hear it?
anyway, well he sings i will type. a decent enough day i suppose. up and out early enough and decided to run 100's today after yesterday's 17 mile run. took it easy and just wanted to air out the quads a bit. did 4 sets of 5 and stretched after each set. alternated the sets up and downhill. never pushed the pace but stayed about 8 minute pace or a little faster. went ok and nothing out of the ordinary hurt. decided to skip the post run ride and did some work in the garden instead, though not much as it was still pretty wet. lots of weeding and planning.
the guys showed up (carla bruni singing now" to finish the tile work and it went well enough until they ran out of tile. funny ha-ha almost. will see how the ordering of more tile slows everything down...and i hope nobody comes tomorrow.usually on wed. i remind them i am not home on thursdays but the guys here today were not regulars and i didn't speak enough spanish to make it clear and they just wanted to go and not try to figure out what i was saying anyway.
so they left and i took the opportunity to go get some decent practice in as i wanted to try the newly cut down putter. did get in some decent practice despite the rain. mostly short game today and lots of putting. then hit a bucket of balls and went home. just trying to stay in touch with the game until i can practice enough to see if i can get a swing going again.
then picked up dinner at the deli and headed home. spent the night as usual lately. england certainly got me away from tv as i can watch some news, sports and a movie maybe, but no tv shows really. but not reading like i did there when i read 3 books a week and here i get in one or two a month for the bookclubs.
still drifting around without the focus i need and thought i would come home with, but am forcing myself to hang in there as best i can. it is clearly not enough though and will see if i can find some motivation somewhere. am way behind on the marathon training and will try to get in two more decent runs and just go do it i suppose. will hope all of the long runs and lots of mileage in the UK will get me by. not looking for a specific time anyway and if i am not injured. i.e., the right leg holds up, i will just keep going forward until it is over.
then i need to decide what i will do next. stuck between the golf and running worlds and neither is going really well right now. weight is still down enough- 3 pounds more than when i graduated high school. dr sheehan always said to weigh what you weighed when you graduated high school. funny to see that sarah palin said he was an inspiration for her as well as so many others and i am glad that i got to know and run and correspond with him. and i will always be thankful that he could diagnose a problem from 200 miles away that my drs could not figure out.
and so life goes on and the big thing now i guess is the vice president debate tomorrow. the anticipation of what will happen will finally stop and they will just do it. and the senate voted yes tonight on the so called bailout bill. how do we carry on? how did we get here is the bigger question? would like to be back in the UK and see if the world is laughing at us.
anyway, well he sings i will type. a decent enough day i suppose. up and out early enough and decided to run 100's today after yesterday's 17 mile run. took it easy and just wanted to air out the quads a bit. did 4 sets of 5 and stretched after each set. alternated the sets up and downhill. never pushed the pace but stayed about 8 minute pace or a little faster. went ok and nothing out of the ordinary hurt. decided to skip the post run ride and did some work in the garden instead, though not much as it was still pretty wet. lots of weeding and planning.
the guys showed up (carla bruni singing now" to finish the tile work and it went well enough until they ran out of tile. funny ha-ha almost. will see how the ordering of more tile slows everything down...and i hope nobody comes tomorrow.usually on wed. i remind them i am not home on thursdays but the guys here today were not regulars and i didn't speak enough spanish to make it clear and they just wanted to go and not try to figure out what i was saying anyway.
so they left and i took the opportunity to go get some decent practice in as i wanted to try the newly cut down putter. did get in some decent practice despite the rain. mostly short game today and lots of putting. then hit a bucket of balls and went home. just trying to stay in touch with the game until i can practice enough to see if i can get a swing going again.
then picked up dinner at the deli and headed home. spent the night as usual lately. england certainly got me away from tv as i can watch some news, sports and a movie maybe, but no tv shows really. but not reading like i did there when i read 3 books a week and here i get in one or two a month for the bookclubs.
still drifting around without the focus i need and thought i would come home with, but am forcing myself to hang in there as best i can. it is clearly not enough though and will see if i can find some motivation somewhere. am way behind on the marathon training and will try to get in two more decent runs and just go do it i suppose. will hope all of the long runs and lots of mileage in the UK will get me by. not looking for a specific time anyway and if i am not injured. i.e., the right leg holds up, i will just keep going forward until it is over.
then i need to decide what i will do next. stuck between the golf and running worlds and neither is going really well right now. weight is still down enough- 3 pounds more than when i graduated high school. dr sheehan always said to weigh what you weighed when you graduated high school. funny to see that sarah palin said he was an inspiration for her as well as so many others and i am glad that i got to know and run and correspond with him. and i will always be thankful that he could diagnose a problem from 200 miles away that my drs could not figure out.
and so life goes on and the big thing now i guess is the vice president debate tomorrow. the anticipation of what will happen will finally stop and they will just do it. and the senate voted yes tonight on the so called bailout bill. how do we carry on? how did we get here is the bigger question? would like to be back in the UK and see if the world is laughing at us.
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