4 AM Workout

This post is a "two-fer." Or more accurately it is a "one-and-a-half-fer." Part of it will end up on the dog's blog.

Apollo is officially "my" dog now. This is probably not news to anyone considering how much time I spend with him, but the events of early this morning leave no doubt in my mind. 

Four AM and Apollo is up nosing at A since her side of the bed is closest to his bed. I reach over and push him off. A didn't even realize what was happening since she has taken to wearing ear plugs because the dog and I apparently snore too loudly. (She also felt the pea I placed under her side of the mattress.) He wouldn't lay back down and was nosing at the door, which A is now hearing and she rolls over and asks me if he needs to go out. Most nights he will just go back to sleep, but not last night. A asks if I let him out before bed. Now, A stayed up reading a new cookbook until about 11:30 so it would seem that it might be her responsibility to let the dog out before she went to bed, but it is obviously my responsibility, so he is my dog. That, and I walk him, clean up his poop, wrestle with him and he follows me everywhere, so, again, my dog. I also spoil the hell out of him. 

4:15 AM and he's too restless so I take him downstairs to let him out. Not entirely awake I fail to check to see if the gate is closed. (A came in after me and put the car in the garage but didn't shut the gate because it was too rainy.) I went to check the weather, heard a bark, looked out the window and saw no dog. THE GATE! I looked out the door, saw the gate was open, saw the guy delivering the paper driving slowly up the block and saw my dog running along side. 

I ran out onto the driveway in my underpants to call the damn dog home. I quickly learned that I was wearing two different slippers when I almost broke my ankle. I also learned that a cold front had moved in making it about 35 degrees and it was drizzling. 

I saw the dog behind a tree illuminated by a street light and I called his name in that ridiculously ineffective "loud whisper." His head popped around the tree and looked at me. I took one step to go after him, he reared up on his back legs and gave me the "dog finger." That was a lie - he didn't rear up or give me the "dog finger," but he did turn and run in the opposite direction. DAMN IT! What to do? Run after him as is? No. Now I have to get in the car and find this little jerk on our dimly lit street. 

I throw on a pair of pants and what I think was a shirt and some matching shoes, grab the keys and get in the car. Wait. What's missing here? Oh yeah, any comments from or about my wife. Why? Because she had her ear plugs in and was sleeping soundly while I am pounding up and down the stairs to our bedroom and then peeling out of the driveway.

I make one loop of the neighborhood with no luck and then circle back around. Approaching the paper guy, I see the dog. He is accompanying the delivery guy. You fickle jerk! Apollo hears me call and sees the car and is all excited because, hey, car trips are fun. NOT THIS ONE! I hoisted him by the scruff and put him in back and we drove home.

He climbed into his bed and I climbed back into mine. I was too tired to try to make it to swimming anymore. 

7:05 E shows up in our room ready for breakfast. A looks at me, "I thought you went swimming." She was completely clueless about EVERYTHING! MY DOG!

My plan to get a couple of swims in before Spring Break was now totally shot. Fine. I am going to ride that damn bike then. So I did. I rode for an hour. Going for heart rate and grinding the big chain ring the entire time. Ten minutes warm-up then, three minutes hard, seven minutes moderate, three minutes hard, seven moderate, etc. It sure made the hour go by quicker. As the Japanese say in Chinese - "nana korobi ya oki" - Fall down seven times, get up eight. Bike rides - one for one.