Working Out the Kinks

Elly and I are still getting used to the nuances of one of our new routes. By and large, today's a good one, but I have to look at a route differently depending on whether or not Elly is with me. In particular, not only do I need to make sure there is always enough room for the two of us at a safe distance from traffic, but that also means I really have to learn the personality, if you will, of an intersection and those who frequent it.

Suffice it to say, I have a lot to learn about one we encountered today. It's the one where there is no way to see if someone is turning left (coming at us) when someone else is trying to turn left out of it. And, it's the one where even if I look over my left shoulder to make sure no one is turning right before we cross, well, that doesn't help when the person turning right doesn't use the ol' blinker. Oh, and they're coming over a relatively blind hill. And, this intersection is certainly not the one where I want Elly's leash to sneak up under her right leg (which it sometimes does) especially because as soon as the leash is out of place, she stops and lifts that leg so the leash can easily be swung back into place. Smart doggie. Smarter if the stopping place isn't in the middle of that intersection.

Just sayin'.

But, for the foibles of the first half mile, the rest of the run was really good. I'm enjoying the new scenery even though Elly is bugging the heck out of me investigating the new smells. Remember when I said it would be cool to use a resistance chute someday? I think Elly's giving me awesome practice at such an exercise. She likes to use her almost 60-pounds of resistance to keep me in line. Sometimes, I appreciate her setting the pace. Other times, like on our new, smells-excellent-to-Elly route, I'm not so much appreciative as practiced in my sighs and "Oh, Elly!!" grunts.

"Oh, mommy, get over it. I am the puppy pacer after all. Deal."

Here's a little peek at the route from this morning ...

I think there's something wrong with this piece of the sprinkler
system ...

And, then, there's this corner that is going to repeatedly drive. me. crazy. Why? Oh, just look:

Do you see what I see there in the middle? You do?! Actually,
you think you do ...

Nothing like getting faked out by old, sure-to-be-there-for-
many-weeks GUM! Nice ...

By the way, how cute are puppy prints?! SO cute!

Today's run was longer than Monday's, so I found another mile to add. It's so funny how on the computer screen map, the roads look easy enough. Then you get there, and it's not funny at all because you just mapped yourself going up hill to get to your own finish line. Neat! See?

See where the road drops off up there?
That's the hill I just came up. I ran to the
point where I stopped for this pic which
is when I realized, "Hey, that wasn't so
terrible!" That's an excellent realization!

It's always cool to reach the top of a hill. Always. Any hill. It's funny how many times I charge (or trudge!) up a hill and how dead my legs feel only to find myself feel completely alive at the finish.

Totally worth it.

And, while I celebrate my little victory of the day's finish, Elly gets in on the photo action!

She loves getting in the picture when she's earned it! (You'd
never know from looking at her that she fell out of the car when
we got to our starting place, would you? Yup, fell right on outta
there darn-near face first. She was just so excited!
Tool. But, she's our tool. And, we love her.

One last thing for the day. This story should not suprise you. So, later in the morning, I was driving along the very same route we ran earlier. I came upon an intersection that Elly and I avoid because the traffic there makes it stupid for me to bring a dog who isn't looking both ways nor behind herself. I've run it many times on weekends, but having Elly with me is a different story. ANYWAY, there I was turning at the light, and I looked on the road to see if I could spy with my little eye any change. It's a perfect spot to look because of all of the foot traffic that also happens there. And, what do you know, but the sun was shining right on top of a ..........

... QUARTER!

I literally pulled over to the nearest parking lot, got out and got it. Oh, Yes. I. Did. Because doing so was awesome.

So, my weekend long run might have to include this intersection. Or not. We'll see where the road takes me when I get there. Until then, it's another day to run tomorrow, and I'll see you after!