day 44

I was going to try a short recovery jog yesterday, but we walked for an hour instead.
Today we walked with my husband for about 20 min, then ran for 24 and then ran 2 miles tempo*, then a short cool down jog bringing the total run time to almost 50 minutes, and then we did 4 hill sprints**, and then I did resistance exercises.

*the pace was slower than last week: 8:15/mile. It was a surprisingly enjoyable run, possibly because it maybe wasn't quite tempo pace. How do I put this without sounding like a jerk?: my dog was lagging. of course, when we were running towards a dog that was happily cavorting at the end of its flexi-leash, my dog magically found a reserve of energy. anyway, we're both getting used to moving faster, so it's all good.

Speaking of flexi-leashes, yet another moron using one gave a dog too much rein shortly after. It's a 'recreational path', not a dog park! I had to speak (politely and cheerfully, of course) to a lady last week who was this close to letting her dog trip me, I should have spoken to this guy too but I was near the end of my run and didn't want to stop or explain. He let his dog, who of course was on the side next to me, get within inches of me. Not bad, except that this was well in front of him and there is a little matter of geometry that seems to be escaping these folks. If the oncoming dog draws a lot of leash out forward to meet me, as I get closer, it can, and usually does, use the slack to get directly in front of me and, if all goes well, to the far side of me to meet my dog, thereby stretching this sometimes-hard-to-see cable in front of me. Picture an arc, a compass--if a dog is eight feet to the front, it can swing to eight feet to the side, and the path's not that wide. Oh, my God, do they not see it? Yes, those leashes are supposed to retract, but most owners don't react in time.

So I picked up the pace and veered and blocked a bit with my leg closest to the dog, and we had enough room to get by before it got in front of us. Meanwhile, the owner made no effort to haul it in.

I think these people actually think that it's a good thing that their dog stops us to socialize. I am all for socialization, but IT CANNOT REPLACE ADEQUATE EXERCISE, either mental or physical. Sorry for the caps, I wish I had the chance to see how much these people actually take these dogs out, and to tell them how much more they need to. People get these medium and large dogs and think that if they let them pull and wander all over the place, that'll make up for walking only a few miles a week. People don't realize how much most dogs will trot. I've seen little lap dogs running alongside joggers quite effectively. I've seen my own dog tear around a beach for at least two hours and a half without stopping--we were jogging, and he was off leash and sprinting back and forth. It was February on a boat-only accessible island on the Outer Banks (North Carolina)--there was nobody there. It was an incredible opportunity. He covered perhaps thrice the distance we did. It makes someone who thinks sufficient exercise is letting their dog pull them around for twenty minutes seem quite pathetic. And here's the other thing--dogs need a mental challenge too. They want to get what they want like us all, but they like 'working', they like learning and knowing exactly what they have to do and that they're doing it well. My dog loves to chase things and smell things just as much as any other dog, but when I ask him to, he stays by my side and becomes very focused on the run.

Ah, I just have to get used to calling out more--"Hey, please keep your dog closer, thanks!" And keep the anger level down low. LOL The not-so-surprising thing about these people letting their dogs all over the path is that I don't see the same ones again. I can think of only one exception, actually: a golden retriever that was on the wrong side of the path and it started to bound towards us but I told it no and it stopped. It was fine. The owner complained but I told her that I've had dogs jump on me and mine before. Usually it's harmless, but we've experienced the exception, but not badly, thank goodness. Fortunately, this lady seems to take her dog out often, on the proper side of the path since, and it's getting better. It's not mere coincidence: I see more repeatedly those dogs who run and heel properly. We passed a few of those today, including a couple of shepherd-type mutts that I've seen before.

The other thing is, spring is in the air. It could still snow, but it's been mild and sunny for the last week, birds are singing, the snow has melted off the sidewalks, etc. This is when ignorance comes out of hibernation. This is when all those dogs who are usually cooped up come out, sometimes accompanied, sometimes not, by people who comment that my dog is scary and glare at us and so forth. We experienced this last spring and the spring before. The weather turned nice and all these people and dogs emerged and got into our biz and it got kind of annoying. But after a few weeks, things quieted down. I'm not making this up. The novelty wore off, and/or people got tired of exercising, or they settled into some other rhythm, I suppose. I guess it'll be the same this year because it's starting up again.

**sprints--were supposed to be three, but my dog is still getting used to them and kind of bungled one. He's doing better than he was--at first, he would get terribly excited and dance around in front of me, but he's gauging my pace better and staying by my side. Mostly. He doesn't have a lot of time to figure things out, I'm going for only 8-10 seconds. anyway, on the third and supposed-to-be last sprint, he veered to the side and that slowed things down, so I did a fourth. It helps that I've found a good place to do them, the same place, from a certain railing to a certain garbage can. He's getting used to the drill. He seems to enjoy it.