The duo becomes a trio again

Today Miss Dog and I were honored with the presence of our Gentleman Friend (aka my darling husband). His calf had been bothering him recently, but he's been diligently stretching it -- and that apparently paid off because he was able to run our entire route. Hooray! It was great to have him along for the extra company and because he's great at helping fend off mean dogs and carrying the poop bag.

The route we picked out happens to be one of our few options without a massive hill somewhere along the way. In fact, it seemed like this particular route was more downhill than uphill. (OK, I know that's not possible!) So it may become my favorite route. But it involves running along Marrett Road where they're currently doing sidewalk construction, so we'll probably wait a few days and hope they'll finish that up soon.

T-Diggy and I also ran on Monday and put in a lackluster performance. My fault -- I was coming down with something and actually had to take half a sick day later in order to take a nap. When I am feeling draggy, I try not to let that stop me from exercising because sometimes that draggy feeling goes away during the workout. But that was not the case on Monday, alas. But by Tuesday all was fine. Phew!

There and back again

I hadn't realized it has been more than 3 weeks since my last post. The first week I had a business trip to Dusseldorf, the second week I had a lot of catching up to do after being away from home, and third week I was just lazy, I guess! But I have been running all this time and so has my dog (except for the Dusseldorf week of course).

One of the advantages of being a runner is that you can exercise almost anywhere you travel, no special equipment or facilities needed. And I find that running is a nice way of exploring and getting to know a new place. My hotel in Dusseldorf was just a few blocks away from the Rhine which has a great foot path running along it. So on a couple of the mornings I was there, I took advantage of the mild weather and saw a few miles worth of the city.


Here are some pictures I took while out jogging -- one is of the Rhine Tower (768 feet tall), and the other is of some Frank Gehry buildings with their curvy slanty walls.

There are plenty of barges on the Rhine, one of which I picked out to race. I won! It must not have been in much of a hurry. :-)

T-Dog was happy to see me when I got back, and we've resumed our regular journeys about town. Fall is a beautiful time to be a runner, and I look forward to describing our outings over the next few weeks.

Back to school and the weather's cool

Big day today -- it's the first day of school for Lexington. Well, for kids returning to the same school anyway. Those beginning a new school got to go a day early to get used to the place before the marauding hordes arrived. But today was the first day back for most kids. Tasha and I both like and dislike running on school mornings. On the plus side, there is a very nice crossing guard on Mass Ave. near Route 128 that stops the cars for us even when there aren't any kids in the vicinity. On the minus side, there is more traffic on the sidewalks including occasional squadrons of kids, parents, and dogs. Once last year a dog got so excited about seeing and sniffing Tasha that it jumped and knocked down a little boy who started crying. We weren't responsible but I still felt bad.

To reduce the possibility of chaos, T-Dog and I tend to avoid running directly by the elementary schools around opening time. Running by the high school is OK though -- there are no parents with dogs accompanying easily-tipped children, only sleepy teenagers wearing headphones and carrying coffee cups.

Today we ran into Minuteman National Park and around the visitor center. It was delightfully cool, right below 60 in the shade. We were able to run up the back side of the big hill without stopping once, although my heart nearly pounded itself out of my chest when we reached the top. The other good thing about today's run was that something in the woods or meadows was giving off this really wonderful aroma. I can't describe it other than it was kind of sweet and definitely botanical. Since I'm cooped up in an office all day, I particularly appreciate the chance to breathe some authentic fresh air. I hope the kids appreciated their fresh air too when they were let out for recess today!