England (Days 6&7 Week 8/24)

No luck on the mini-trains, unfortunately. Caroline, Gigi and I headed out to the place where we'd expected to see them, and found nothing.



So, we continued our drive towards the south-west, crossing the ferry across the mouth of Pool's harbor. Corfe Castle was our next landmark, a really impressive ruin high on a goat-inhabited hill. The area was fenced off to keep tourists out of the area.



Next, we visited the Tynham village, a ghost-town near the coast. The British army needed a place to do live-fire exercises so they evacuated the little farming village and fenced in the area. After the war, they decided to keep the land, but allow visitors into the former-town center. It's amazing how quickly nature seemed to overtake these villages. There wasn't even a trace of thatch on the roofs.

I made sure to snatch a photo of some of the books that were left in the (maintained) single-room school house. I'll see if the university library has any of them in our stacks.



Around lunch time we came by a neat little pub, the New Inn at Church Knowle. This happened to be the first place we came across that seemed likely to serve a Steak and Ale pie. It turned out great. The food was excellent, and the pub has a big reputation. Almost all of the tables were reserved (impressive for a pub that's so far from any major town), and we were lucky to get a seat.

Finally, we went to see Lulworth cove. It seems that the British like to go walking on New Years Day as the area was packed. There's some nice scenery and a wonderful natural harbor.

Saturday morning started with a long run. I made it out along Forest Road and onto the trail in the woods. All in all, I think I did about 40 minutes of actual running. I can feel a definite improvement, and plan on going out tomorrow.

Saturday afternoon was spent having lunch with Gigi's friend Jan. We drove down to the sea and stopped at a nice little restaurant where I got a burger, and Gigi had a Thai-themed pizza.

England (Day 6 Week 8/24)

I left the US on Tuesday and had one of the smoothest trips I've ever taken. Before my flight left, United called me up to the gate sand said that they'd given me an upgrade to business class. On an international flight, business class meant I had a personal TV, a seat that could fully recline and some nice meals. We landed on time (Wed morning) in England and I found my bus with no problems.

Gigi and Lidia were waiting in Ringwood and saw me easily because of my bright yellow hat (though, they expected it to be pink). We drove into Burley and arrived at the gate house to have tea. The main house is coming along nicely and the new floors look great.

Wednesday afternoon we went to the Burly Inn for a late lunch with Lidia and Steve. Gigi had a shrimp cocktail, I had a curry, and we both had 'real ales' made by Ringwood brewery.

That night, we went to bed early as I hadn't gotten much sleep on the plane and was very tired.

On Thursday morning I showed off my culinary skills and made a breakfast of scrambled eggs. Gigi even had Creme Fresh in her refrigerator, exactly what I needed for the Gordon Ramsey scrambled eggs recipe. I love cooking on the Aga.

That afternoon, we called a taxi to take us into Burley to do some shopping. Gigi got a driver who she really likes, but says treats her like she's made of glass. We stocked up on food and then walked around the downtown.

After we got back, I went out for a 30 minute run along Forest Road. So, my half-marathon training is not totally being neglected.

New Years eve dinner was pasta with a meat sauce. I was very happy to see that my homemade spaghetti came out correctly, as did the red sauce. For dessert we had cider and chocolate.

Today, we're planning on going out with Caroline (Gigi's hair dresser) for a drive, and hope to encounter the society of people who make very small steam powered locomotives. Think something very much like a steampunk lawnmower!

Day 2 - Week 8/24

Today's run was another 3.5 miles as I went to River-woods and back. There hasn't been too much new snow, so the streets were a lot clearer.

I also made a trip to IKEA with Mark and Lily. I got a floor lamp, a new cutting board, and a bread knife.

I wanted to get some shelving, but I need to measure out the space in my apartment a little better, to make sure that everything will fit right.

At home, I'm packing for my trip to England, and really looking forward to it. Also, I took this picture. See if you can spot the thing that's out of place.

Day 6 - Week 7/24

I've been really bad about writing lately. Fortunately, I've been less bad about exercising.

Two days ago (thursday) I ran 3.8 miles with my dad. Yesterday, I did 3.5. Today, I woke up to about three inches of snow on the ground, and so did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike.

My cardio fitness seems to be getting better. During these runs, I feel like I'm being held back my my legs, rather than my lungs, which is a nice change.

--- Part 2 ---
My dad convinced me that the weather wasn't that bad. So I ran another 3.5 miles today. I'm still needing to walk a bit during these runs, but it's definitely getting easier.

His advice is to focus on my breathing. He says that it makes the little aches less noticeable.

As far as personal stuff, Christmas went really well. My cats got a great haul, and are more or less making peace with the dogs. Somehow, Tobin's Chihuaha has realized that it can chase the cats around. It's pretty funny watching a toothless 4-pound dog chasing 25 pounds of cat.

Day 3 - Week 6/24

I put in another three miles tonight. My stopwatch somehow turned off about 10 minutes into the run, so I don't have a time.

Adding in a few extra days of running should smooth my transition into the half marathon program.

Day 2 - Week 6/24

I didn't record the two runs from last week. Neither was especially long, partly due to weather, and partly due to finals.

Today's run went significantly better. I'm on week 8 of the couch-to-5k program, which calls for a 28 minute run. I traced out a 3-mile route, and went for 36 minutes, including my warmup.

My heartrate was between 158 and 167 for most of my run, and my pace felt comfortable. I'll see if I can add some extra distance onto the next run.

Running. Day 2 & 5 Week 4/24

I extended monday's run to be 6 minutes, 9 minutes and 6 minutes (with three minutes of cool down between the running). Monday felt pretty good and was comfortable through the first two runs. The third felt a bit slow.

Today was two sets of 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I put the run off a bit too long, and as a result, and the weather had gotten quite cold.

But, the good news is that I've gotten my pace up to 9-minute miles on the first 10 minute run. So, that's some improvement. Also, I'm still on-schedule.