Levy Trail Loop

 I walked the Levy Trail Loop this morning in 35:39. I started at about 6 a.m. and was uncomfortably cool for the first five minutes or so.

Burns Park Championship Course

 As part of my outrageous attempt to no longer be whinier than two motherfuckers every single time I don't like something, I have decided to no longer keep anyone's golf score, including my own. That does not include at least an effort to record mine once I get home. Ed Pennington, John Czarnecki, and I played the back nine of the Burns Park Championship Course from the pink tees this morning. I scored 44, with 3 pars, 4 bogies, and 2 doubles. I used 11 putts, which will go in the books as my lifetime's fewest for nine holes. Please understand this total included seven one-putts, all of which followed easy chips and putts from the fringe. ...Ed and John continued forward with a plan to play 18 holes. I was delighted by my play and unfatigued, but for my first attempt at golf in 11 weeks and 4 days, I thought it best to see how nine holes affected me before I played more.*

*by the way, I am proud to report I played nine holes today w/out a complaint leveled against anything or anyone. Also, I did not mention my dislike for costume-wearing at last Saturday's race. When called out, I explained my parents were so poor they could not afford book covers for the Zane Gray novels they bought me as a child. Consequently, the lime green short pants, white golf shirt, dark green cap, and running shoes I wore were exactly how I had always imagined cowboys dressed. Several women—no kidding—shit their cowgirl skirts**

**again, by the way, I silently thought of and rehearsed that line at least a dozen times after I was asked to present the awards

Willow Street Loop

 This Willow Street Loop prays on my laziness, the same sort that has made it impossible for me to continue on a Hash that goes right past the start-finish halfway through. I walked one lap this morning in 18:07.

Great Cross Country Race

I walked the Great Cross Country Race through Boyle Park yesterday for about half an hour. 

Levy Trail South

 My right hip felt fine for about fifteen minutes as I attempted to walk  Levy Trail South this morning. A moment after I passed the Levy Church of God in Christ, I felt a twinge of discomfort and turned back home. That mere hint of pain never increased. I was out for 32:38. ...By the way, my hat is off to NBC News. It had a nearly perfectly balanced cast of people who offered opinions on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this morning?

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY  Is my pro-abortion stance as self-centered as I made it sound to one of my readers early this afternoon? You know, probably not. I am also pro-women's rights, and I know it is certainly unfair that women and other Democrats will have to figure a way to overcome hurdles put in place to limit representative government so as to have justices eager to at least consider reversing today's ruling.

Nevertheless, everyone can see the deck and count the cards and should recognize the difficult task ahead, but they would have to be lazier than two motherfuckers to consider those obstacles insurmountable. Adjust or hush, i.e. show up. It will be expensive and hard as heck. Anyone who believes the matter is more complex than that is full of shit.

Simple affairs are the hardest to change.

Should I work to overcome my unwillingness to wear costumes to events other than Halloween parties? No. That is the perfect equivalent of asking me to work toward at least occasionally breaking sixty at Augusta National or making Albert Einstein a laughingstock among past and present university physicists ("The Theory of Relativity? What was Al thinking? Shit, look here. Rockamundo has these crackheads from Levy making day trips to the fucking Crab Nebula.").

Willow Street Loop

 I walked the Willow Street Loop this morning in 17:33.

Willow Street Loop

 I walked two laps of the one-mile Willow Street Loop this morning in 34:39. My right hip/groin area was relatively pain-free. I have chosen to at least briefly limit my aerobic exercise to this loop since it keeps me no more than a half-mile from my house, on the chance the excruciating pain I experienced a couple of Saturdays ago returns. That was close to the most pain I have felt, and I was a mile away from home. Had it not subsided so quickly once I sat on my new recliner, I would have driven directly to an emergency room.

Willow Street Loop

I walked the one-mile Willow Street Loop late this afternoon in a very easy 18:46. I used the Willow Street Loop to add a mile to some of my routes when I still ran. However, the loop was called something else back then. I can't find its original name. ...I put as much relative effort into my lunchtime mass email as I do for the stories I write for the paper. It was much shorter, of course, so it didn't take me more than fifteen minutes. I was pleased Tom commented on it. ...I talked to a neighbor who lives near the top of Orange Steet Hill while on my walk. He was using a battery-powered lawnmower, and I stopped to ask him about it. Jerry Tucker seemed like a gem of a fellow.

Levy Trail Loop

 I walked a short version of the Levy Trail Loop this morning and was out for 28:40.

Levy

 I walked 1K (0.62 miles) this morning in 11:31.8. This was the route I have used at least a couple of times for the Jesus Christ Memorial 1K Race to Hell and Back.

Levy/Hash

  At about 12:30 p.m., it is 93°F in Levy with a heat index of 108. The television weathermen say it's gonna get worse through at least next weekend. The guy on Channel 4 said last night it will be as hot as it ever got last summer. The point is, I walked a bit around Levy at lunchtime today, deferring to yesterday's groin pain (which I now theorize was hip pain). It felt fine, but I then deferred to the heat and quit after 16:38. ...I was out with the Little Rock Hash Harriers this afternoon for a little over forty-six minutes. We ran from a North Little Rock neighborhood unfamiliar to me. It was over by Crystal Hill Road, not far from the intersection of I-40 and 1-430.

Levy Trail Loop

 I had not experienced pain in my right groin since last Sunday, but it was borderline crippling today. To finish the last half-mile or so, I had to slow way, way down. Nevertheless, I walked the Levy Trail Loop this morning in 34:28. This was identical to the pain from six days ago, except it was much more severe. An hour later, it is completely gone and obviously a bit baffling.

Levy Loop

If I had looked at my watch, I might have picked up the pace late, at least by a butt hair. I walked the now old-school Levy Loop this morning in 33:00 (32:59.96). This was by far the most effortless of my recent relatively-fast two-mile walks. Nearly eight hours of truly uninterrupted sleep last night might've helped.

Levy Trail Loop

 I walked the Levy Trail Loop this overcast thunderstorms-on-the-way morning in 33:30.

Levy Trail North

 I walked Levy Trail North this morning in 31:54, which is clearly my best effort performance since the second week of May. It was a with a bit of effort. I took my pulse at about 1.5 miles, and it was at 128 (+/- bpm). That would be a typical easy-jog rate from a few years ago, back when easy jogs were still possible. ...I feel as if I should no longer worry about the potential groin cancer I mentioned Sunday morning.

Levy Trail Loop

 I walked the Levy Trail Loop at lunchtime today in 36:12. ...Minjee Lee won the U.S. Women's Open. Ingrid Lindblad finished 12th, something like 13 strokes back. Had she scored a shot better, she would have qualified for the next season's Open. She was the amateur medalist, received an enthusiastic hurrah, and seemed delighted. Her post-tournament interview went well. Sung Hyun Park, aka Na Yeon Choi, Jr., finished tied for 28th, I think. She won somewhere around $16,000.

Levy Trail South

 I walked Levy Trail South this morning in 38:30. There is a bit of pain in the vicinity of my right groin. I hope it's not groin cancer. You know, the deadliest of all cancers. It is likely not, I believe. ...Beginning at about 9 p.m., Pam's Boy readers in Czechoslovakia might have a chance to watch the U.S. Women's Open at usga.com. Regrettably, the Pam's Boy jinx applied yesterday to Sweden's Ingrid Lindblad and South Korea's Sung Hyun Park. The latter, Miss 2022 U.S. Women's Open, shot 6-over Saturday. However, she is 3-under today at a bit past lunchtime and currently tied for 19th, 12 strokes back with eight holes to play. The former shot even-par yesterday to drop into a six-way tie for fourth, seven strokes behind the leader Minjee Lee of Australia. American Mina Harigae, who seems impossible to dislike, is in second, three strokes behind. Waiting to watch that final group is hard.

Mina Harigae (who smiles a bit like Erin Vratil, it seems to me)

Minjee Lee

Ingrid Lindblad at Stephens Cup in Roland, Arkansas (twenty-minute drive from Levy)

OVERHEARD  "You can't learn all the shots on the range. Sometimes you have to go out and play."—Lead Peacock Network announcer for the Sunday and final-round group of American's Yealimi Noh and Jennifer Kupcho (both of whom are madder than two motherfuckers at 10-over and 6-over-par, respectively)

Levy Trail South

 I walked Levy Trail South this warm morning in 36:02. ...Mammal Game participation was limited to two species. Dogs defeated squirrels, 5-2. ...The amateur Ingrid Lindblad finished Round 2 of the U.S. Women's Open at six-under-par 136. She is tied for fifth, three strokes behind the leader, an American named Mina Harigae. Top petepretty contender is Sung Hyun Park, who is tied for ninth at four-under. Park won this event in 2017 when she was ranked No. 1. She returned to No. 1 in 2019 but has since dropped to 300+. My household is delighted to see her back in contention, which any of my readers will understand with a glance.

Levy Trail

I walked with the Geezers on the Levy Trail this morning for 40:52. ...A player from Louisiana State and Sweden named Ingrid Lindblad led the first round of the U.S. Women's Open most of the day today as I watched on a streaming service called Peacock. I wrote a long note about her and her team when they played in the Stephens Cup at the Alotian Club last fall. Lindblad, by the way, is currently alone in second, one stroke back. Her score of six-under-par was the lowest ever by an amateur in the Women's Open. Obviously, I hope she wins. Here's that note:

JACKSON T. STEPHENS CUP report by Pete Perkins

The LSU Tigers women’s golf team might have worked itself into a position for early favoritism for next spring’s SEC and NCAA Championships.

They won stroke- and match-play championships in the first Jackson T. Stephens Cup at the Alotian Club in Roland on Monday through Wednesday.

“I can finally breathe after getting off those greens,” LSU Coach Garrett Runion said. “Those are the fastest greens I have ever seen in college golf, but they are so good. You can make putts, so it was a real treat to be out here. Thankfully, [our team] handled it very well.”

LSU won the match-play final 4-1-0 over South Carolina on Wednesday, led by a 3&1 win by Elso Svensson over Justine Fournand and a 3&2 win by Corlo Tejedo over Tai Audit.

LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad was 1-up over South Carolina’s Hannah Darling through 16 holes. After Darling drove 270 yards on the 488-yard par-5 17th, she and Lindblad were told the team competition was decided in LSU’s favor. Common to match-play team events, Lindblad and Darling left their match where it stood.

Lindblad drove her cart to the 18th green where she immediately hugged her champion teammates.

“I teed up my ball, and someone said, ‘We’re done,’ ” Lindblad said. “That can happen sometimes.”

Lindblad said she had an up-and-down week, highlighted by her Stephens Cup stroke-play medalist title on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, I started birdie-double, so I wasn’t really sure how it was going to turn out after that, but I played really good after that,” she said.

Runion said he was impressed throughout by Lindblad’s play.

“She played absolutely great,” he said. “The way she was down a couple shots on the second day [of stroke play] and came back to win, she’s just a competitor. She’s tough to beat.”

Lindblad led Darling 3-up through 11 holes, but Darling advanced to 1-down on the following two holes. They then played even until the championship was declared.

Runion said the Stephens Cup should assist his team in its 2022 championship pursuits. 

“This was a great experience,” Runion said.

Levy Trail

 I walked out and back from my house to 47th Street via Orange and 44th Streets, or about two-thirds to three-quarters of a mile, in 14:04.