Rainy days

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day.  It started out a bit chilly, but warmed up nicely.  Today is a cold, clammy, windy, rainy day.

Rainy days are hard for Marley.  He can't smell the ground, so he doesn't know where to do his business.  When it rains really hard, we can't go outside at all.  He has all this energy and no outlet for it.  He winds up sleeping more on rainy days than on other days.  Later in the day, we'll play ball in the hall.  If Percy is around, they'll probably wrestle with each other.

This morning, we would have gone to Central Park, but I saw the weather when I woke up and lay in bed another half-hour.  Marley came over to my side of the bed and I leaned down to stroke him.  He knew just how to lay so that I could reach all of him without either one of us having to move.

If the sun comes out late this afternoon, we'll get to the dog run.  It doesn't seem like that will happen today.  Maybe I'll take a nap soon.

Running with the big dog

Marley and I got up about 6:45 on Saturday and got ourselves up to Central Park by 7:15 or so, entering at 6th Avenue.  It was a cold & foggy morning.  I could have used some gloves.  Marley and I walked & ran all over the park, but we had to leave by about 8:30 because I was too cold.  Marley had a great time off-leash in the park.  I couldn't even count the number of other dogs he played with.  We stopped at the benches near the statue of two bears so that I could give Marley water and hook up his leash again.  When we got home, his good friend Percy was also coming back from the park, so they played for a few minutes.  Then he drank a lot of water and had a good nap.

Sunday was a little warmer, but we started out a little later and arrived at Central Park about 7:45.  This time we entered near 5th Ave and 59th Street.  There were bicycle races and foot races in the park all morning, so we had to be careful to avoid that traffic.  Marley and I made it over to the west side of the park in the 60s, when Melissa and Percy came running up to us.  Marley couldn't have been happier.  We ran with them through the park and all the way home.  Percy and Marley played in the hallway on our floor for about 10 minutes, and then they went home to rest.  We all got a good workout.

This week, I've been out of town.  But I've been getting up early each morning to do a workout.  I ran 5 miles each day, each day a little faster.  Prior to today, I hadn't run 5 miles since 1982.  This morning, I ran 5 miles in 41:52.  I don't have much more quickness left, right now.  In part, I'm training to stay with Marley.  He has inspired me to get into shape, and I'll be running with him for the foreseeable future.  But I also want to see where it can go.  Tomorrow, I'm going to crank the treadmill to 7.2 and see how far I can go.  I'm also planning to run in a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving.

Wearing Out the Dog

Our neighbor Melissa has told me about taking her dog Percy up to Central Park in the morning.  Dogs are allowed off-leash until 9 a.m.  It's a ways to the park from Tudor City, so by the time they get back, Percy has had a 7-mile workout.  And it knocks him out for most of the day.

This Saturday, Marley and I got up early (for a Saturday) and were out of the apartment by 7:05.  We half ran and half fast-walked up to Central Park.  We stopped a few times so that Marley could take care of business and take water.  We were in the park before 7:30.

We entered Central Park at 59th Street and 6th Avenue.  After we got about 100 yards into the park, I let Marley off-leash.  He was a bit tentative at first, but then started running on the grass and up onto some boulders.  He sat on a boulder and took in his surroundings and must have realized that he would be free to roam.  His face was the picture of happiness.

I walked through the park, mainly going northward, with some east-west meandering.  Marley ran ahead and back, meeting & playing with other dogs.  Marley was good, never getting more than 75 yards away from me, and always within my sight.  There were bicycle races going on, so I had to keep Marley away from the road.  Only once did Marley cross the road ahead of me, but there was no traffic at that time.

When it was time to leave, it took a few minutes to get Marley to take the leash.  I lured him by offering water in an area with benches near a large statue.  On the way home, Marley met a couple of dogs he liked and they played.  By the time we got home, I had walked & run over 6 miles.  For Marley, it was probably close to an 8 mile workout.

I took Marley out again about 1 pm.  Incredibly, he wanted to go to the dog run.  We went, but his energy level wasn't what it usually is.  Marley went to sleep early on Saturday, and he was still a bit wiped out on Sunday.  I was still sore on Sunday.

We'll be going back to Central Park on a regular basis.