6:06am we head out the door. There is a cool breeze blowing and the streets are free of people. Shadow starts to pull. I can just picture what we look like. A 45 pound dog dragging a 340 pound woman down the street. LOL. We kept up a fairly good pace. Not a pace that is going to kill me, but definitely not a pace that I would have done at the gym. In fact, other than walking up to the Chinese restaurant the other day, this is the only other time that I have done some real exercise. I have my pedometer on my hip, and down the sidewalk we go. Shadow sniffing, tinkling the whole way.
There are not a whole lot of places that I can really take Shadow for walks. Since she is not really socialized, I have to be careful around people and other animals. So this morning I thought about the new bike trail that was put in last summer. I have been meaning to ride my bike on it, but sadly never have. I figured that at 6am in the morning, I wouldn't have to worry about too many people out on the trail, especially on a Sunday.
Finally we reach the bike trail. I had to take a photo to show Jim just how far we actually walked. I wasn't out of breath, and sweating like crazy which is a good sign. It's about a quarter mile to the trail. I let Shadow have the full 25 feet of leash while I walked. When she stopped to sniff or piddle, I kept walking. Sometimes I had to walk back to her, but I kept moving. There were benches along the way, but I didn't want to stop while I had momentum.
There was not a whole lot to look at while walking. This is what the trail looked like most of the way. Shadow was having the time of her life. We normally just walk up and down the street close to home. Today, she could fill her nose with smells all around.
We kept walking and walking and walking. My hips were starting hurt and my dogs (feet) were starting to bark. We continued on. I couldn't stop Shadow now, she was having too much fun, and I was still feeling okay. I kept thinking where am I going to find a good turn around spot. We came to a nice little green grass area, and I thought about turning around there. Then I saw a little path off to the side that led to a gravel path. Huh, that looks different we'll walk a little while here and see what we find. Well we found another park like area. This trail let to streets beside a school. Since I couldn't see what school it was, I decided that this was going to be our turn around point.
We sat down on a bench for a little while to give my back and feet a little breather. I tried to take a photo of Shadow and how happy she looked, but she was too interested to see what was all around her. So this is the best photo I could get. LOL. You notice I had to hold her collar just to get this photo.
After about 5 minutes, we started off again. I was really getting tired by this time. Not exhaustion tired, but knew that I did something, tired. My ankles were starting to ache a little bit and my back was getting tired of Shadow dragging me along. Thankfully, Shadow was getting tired too. We come to a bench, and I have to sit down just for a little bit. Not more than maybe 3 minutes or so, and we're off again. I couldn't believe how long it felt to get to where we were and how fast it felt coming back the other way. Before I knew it, we were back at the sign to the bike trail.
A little further, we were home. Shadow was really ready to be home. She waited patiently at the door while I took the leash off. Once inside, the feeling of it's over came welling over me. I was glad I did the walk but I was ready to be home. I instantly kicked off my shoes, changed out of my sweaty clothes and was off to prepare breakfast.
Breakfast for Jim was bacon, country potatoes with onions, and two eggs. I actually ate one slice of bacon, not quite quarter of a cup of potatoes, and 2 ounces of leftover steak. That's it. Everything went down fine, and nothing got stuck. I can't say that I was full, but I wasn't going to eat any more either. Now that I sit here typing, my head is thinking about what else I can eat. So I guess it's time for some more water and another activity. Maybe if I think about cleaning house, it will subside my urge to eat. LOL.
Anyway that was the start to my day. I can't wait to see what the rest of the day has in store for me.
