ON THE RUN!

Rupert and I went on our first run today. It was in the 70s, and there was a tiny window when it wasn't raining, so we ventured out. It took some mental coaxing; I was tired and listless, the day was gray and damp. It was a time for tea and books, not stretching and sweating. But then I realized there wasn't going to be a "perfect day" to start. Ever. It's always going to be too wet, too hot, too cold, too windy, too boring, and I'm always going to be too tired, too keyed up, too distracted, too busy, too something. There are no perfect days; there's just today.

So today is the day I started.

And today was pretty good. I'm going to have to shave Rupert, though, because even in this weather on a very short run he got pretty hot.

He seemed very happy, nonetheless. He never tried to stop running. In fact, he took the lead and kept me at a good pace. If I keep taking him, I'll have to use the longer leash because the short one distorted my running posture; it would work well if he ran right beside me, but that's probably a little too much to expect. He was good about not crossing in front of me unexpectedly, which was a relief. AEL had just told me a story of near catastrophe about her dog doing that, so I was on guard. (Rupert did have to make an emergency bathroom stop, but I just ran in place next to him while he looked at me funny and did his business.)

Our first challenge, of course, was sneaking out of the house without Mabel throwing a hissy fit. We were fairly successful at that today — largely through milk-bone trickery — but I anticipate problems in the future. Mabel's no dummy.

We took it slow the first day, alternating running and walking, on AEL's excellent advice. I am wickedly out of shape, but I was able to run farther than I expected without needing to stop. I should be able to progress to greater and greater distances.

We had one little scare, and it's a good thing we weren't closer to the guy, or there might have been a little bloodshed. Rupert and I were walking, out of breath, around the baseball stadium by my house. It was very quiet. No traffic. No one around. And then out of the blue, some guy menacingly said, "Hey baby," and I nearly jumped three feet into the air. It sounded like he was right behind me, but when I whipped around to look, no one was there. Rupert, however, had spotted him and was straining in his direction, which was toward the back of the stadium, where sat a half-dressed, half-reclining bum toasting me with a liquor bottle. If we had been about 15 feet closer, he'd be a dog-bit bum, because Rupert doesn't take kindly to ungentlemanly behavior. The lesson from this: Make wide turns around little nooks that might attract derelicts.

Six hours after our little jaunt, my legs still feel like noodles, and there's a slight burn when I leave my desk to walk to the printer. It feels great! As it turns out, today was the perfect day to start.

(By the way, check out AEL's fun blog about training for a 109-mile bicycle ride. I find it a real inspiration to get off my ass and get a goal.)