Today’s workout: 4.97 miles, 11:30/mile
Weather: Clear and warm, 60° F
Hey there internet friends. Yes, I know I’ve been absent for some time now but life has been in the way. You know marriage, kids, and the dreaded W word (work). Things have been less than positive of late and I just haven’t been able to sit down and write. I have been running though and had a successful race last Saturday (recap to come in the next few days).
This week I was asked to come into work an hour and a half earlier than usual and stay an hour later in the afternoon because we are short a body in the office. This adds up to nearly a full work day when I am used to only a half work day. It has thrown my schedule into a bit of tizzy and I’m trying to adapt. I keep telling myself it’s only for a couple of weeks but I’m having a hard time with the new morning routine. In order to get my run in and a shower before Hubs and kids I need to be out the door by 4:30 AM. This is unfathomably early to be outside alone in the dark especially since I am the fraidy cat extraordinaire.
Today I am all sorts of proud of myself. When the alarm went off at 4:15 I really wanted to turn it off and snuggle back into the blankets but I didn’t. I got up and got dressed in the dark and headed out the door. Okay, I did pace around a little trying to screw up the courage because it’s been years since I’ve run alone in the wee hours of the morning. After a minute or two I decided I would take my 5-year-old lab mix, Jack, with me. There’s safety in numbers right?? Plus check out this face, what’s not to love?
Well, Jack and I have a bit of negative run history and that has made me not love to run with him. We have tried in the past and it always ended up with him choking on his collar, me angry and eventually his feet tangled in mine with both of us hitting the pavement. The last such adventure was the Wednesday before a Sunday 1/2 marathon. I took the brunt of the fall and ended up with skinned hands and knees. That was the last straw for me. But about a year ago a woman told me about this crazy little contraption called a Gentle Leader. I was skeptical but decided to give it a try. You see at 85 pounds of muscle this dog had been dragging my old butt around whenever we tried to walk or run. This thing is amazing! It fits over his nose and he no longer tugs or chokes. Oh how I wish I had one of these when he was a puppy!
Anyway, we headed out and we had a few little disagreements about who was in charge of pace and where we were going for the first half mile but then a little miracle happened. Jack fell into my pace right alongside of me. No more tug of war, no more hopping around with impatience, just a nice 11 minute pace. I didn’t have a route in mind when we left so I decided we should take our Sunday morning walk route minus the scary dark creek. Jack was happy with this, he knew the route and we went along like this is a normal everyday kind of thing.
The best thing about running before the world wakes? No cars to contend with and fresh clean air. No waiting at traffic lights and no pedestrian traffic (aka sweet old ladies with little yappy dogs) just wide open streets.
The only downside is one of us will have to learn to ignore the suburban wildlife (squirrels, ducks, geese, skunks and kitty cats). But you can only ask so much of a dog who was born to be a hunter. While he has never hurt any of the wildlife we have come across he does love a good chase! His favorites are to swim after the ducks in the creek and play follow the leader with egrets in the marshy fields. Those graceful white birds hover above him just out of reach in a mocking sort of fashion. Luckily he loses interest quickly and is right back at my side!
I feel like I have obtained some sort of new freedom. I can have my cake and eat it too if you will. No longer do I have to fear the starry pre-dawn sky. I can lace up and head out the door with this new run buddy.
Ah bliss!
