Finally!

I am very pleased with myself this morning. I finally did it - got up early, with a little extra help from Gata who decided that 3:30 was a good time to get up, and took each dog for a spin with the bike! I don't know why Gata decides to do this stuff. But between her peskiness and the alarm at 4:30 there was really no chance of going back to sleep. So at 4:30 I got up, put the dogs out, took my asthma and allergy meds, got geared up and took the dogs for a run beside the bike.

I should inject here that my favorite route is not as long as I thought, but that doesn't really matter much. I'm not necessarily going for a specific goal in terms of mileage, just a fitness goal. Took Gata first. She did about 1.2 miles - first half at a run, second half trotting. I'm happy for the trotting. I think it is better all the way around. I just have to keep an eye on her to make sure that back leg isn't cramping up. I think it probably helps that when starts trotting I supply the power to the bike.

Tor last - about 1.5 miles. I guess I pedaled a little on the last little incline about a 1/4 mile from home. The rest is mostly about me supplying the brakes. The boy is learning to love to run almost as much as Gata does :-)  Silly boy - he almost learned to poop on the run today, too. Apparently, something that sled dogs do routinely ;-)  He was happy that there was a jogger crossing the street at our last major intersection - we paused just long enough for him :-)

Weather conditions - ~45F and higher than normal humidity

Thankfully, the traffic was minimal. There are a lot of Montgomery County Police Officers that live in the neighborhood. Several of them were leaving for work while we were out. But I have done everything I can to make us visible.

• Bike has a battery operated headlamp
• I have:
• Battery operated, flashing red lamp on the back of my helmet
• Neon yellow biking windbreaker
• Reflective safety vest
• Battery operated red LED light hanging off the front of the vest
• The dogs have:
• Reflective safety vest
• Battery operated red LED light hanging off their collars

I guess the extra bit of nervousness that I experience biking in the dark is mostly a good thing - it makes me more vigilant. I make sure that we are all as easy to see as possible and keep my eyes peeled. I have to say though, that jogger this morning, could use some reflective gear :-)