Dogs are awesome

Right now I am sitting on my balcony with one of my two dogs lying next to me, her head on my chest alert and on guard duty. She and my other dog are my Sentries (guards) and they do a pretty damn good job. They will bark at anyone who walks by or towards me. Granted many people hate that about dogs but I actually am glad that they do this. Here is why.

This past monday (the day after Daylight Saving Time (DST) started) I took my dogs out on our morning walk. It was 0630 and dark once again. The week before the sun would be rising at this time but because of DST (I hate DST) I was back in the dark. We just began our walk when I noticed a man walking near my house. Instantly the two dogs saw him and began their chorus of barks, probably waking up all of my neighbors, as this stranger walked in our direction. He immediately stopped and through their loud barking I heard him say, "if you let them off the leash I'm going to poison them. I'm going to kill them. Don't let them off that leash." He wasn't talking loudly at all, more to him self but I could still hear him. I have that ability to pinpoint my hearing that way, mostly because I am so accustomed to the barking. I tried to calm down the dogs but nothing really worked. However, Lily suddenly got really excited, as in happy, to see the man. Based on his height and build I could see why. To her he sort of looked like my dad. Her eyesight not being so great considering it was dark and she is a dog so I understood her confusion. It was then that the man decided to walk towards us saying "maybe if they smell me they will calm down." I tried to stop him but he didn't listen, or couldn't hear me over Benny's continued barking. 

Once the man was within 3 feet of me Lily's attitude had changed. She finally got a whiff of his scent and realized he wasn't who she thought and growled and barked aggressively to let him know he was NOT welcomed. He stopped in his tracks and started to back away. By now both dogs are losing their minds, growling and barking and pulling on their leashes. They wanted to protect me and I don't blame them. Here is this strange man approaching me at 0630 without invitation. I was a bit nervous but tried to stay calm. That was when I told him to stop. I then said, "you stay where you are and we will walk around you then go on our way. Just don't move, they won't hurt you. I won't let them." I then pulled the dogs close to me and forced them around the man and continued on our morning walk. 

The man then walked away and I never saw him again. 

A few things crossed my mind. One being that because of stupid Daylight Saving Time (very outdated and useless) I was now in the dark rather than in sunlight. Had we stayed on Standard time, the sun would have rose and I would have been more inclined to take the other route around the block. However, since it was dark I wanted to begin my route where the street lights were brightest so that I wouldn't be surprised by any strangers. It turns out that this man was also using the street lights in his favor. 

Another thing crossed my mind. Had my dogs been trained to accept everyone and be super friendly then they wouldn't have barked at him. He could have easily approached me and possibly hurt me but because my dogs do not trust everyone they protected me instead. 

I know that many of my friends when first meeting Lily and Benny are annoyed and upset at their barking and growling. I know that they call them crazy and unruly and unacceptable for social occasions. I am perfectly okay with this because they protect me. They know who I trust and they trust those people as well but they also know not to trust just anyone without my approval. I feel safer knowing this about my dogs and that is why I am more of a dog person than ever before. 

My dogs are fucking awesome just the way they are and I hope they continue to be this way. :-)

And running, running,...

I have become a runner. It didn't happen on purpose. I didn't wake up one morning and decided I wanted to start training for half marathons full. It actually happened on a whim.

As a sailor we are required to run twice a year, 1.5 miles each time. Up until my second year in the Navy that was my only goal. I joined the run team on base just to keep me motivated enough to do well for my PRT. No other goals were set. Then one day as I was browsing the inter webs I stumbled upon a Mud Run that was happening nearby in Monterey, Ca. I figured, "why not? seems like it'll be fun." I had no idea how hard or how fun it was going to be. Five miles and several muddy obstacles later I was overjoyed at what I had accomplished. I looked up at the cloudy sky and noticed a rainbow. So perfect of a visual ending to a race that rained off and on. The scenery was gorgeous as anyone who has been in the Big Sur area would know. Lush green grass with blooming trees which was my only sign of Spring in a climate that never changed. After the race and the perfect hot shower, I was done. The end. I did a race.

The following Spring I was no longer living in California but 3,000 miles east in the Master's capital of Georgia. HOT, HUMID, Georgia. My roommate at the time had told me of a local half marathon that was taking place in about a month and that I should sign up. "It's only $55!! Plus, you run a lot! You can totally run 13.1 miles!" In my tipsy on wine state I figured, "Meh why not, I'll give it a try. I've ran 10 miles before...once." So I signed up and then didn't train.

If you ask the amateur runner who has done a half marathon I am sure many of them may tell you "Yea I sign up and didn't train and ran it in like 2 hours. So easy." But if you as the amateur runner who woke up one day and said to themselves "one day I am going to run a half marathon" they will then tell you about their training journey. Those people in the latter group are smart because after that half marathon I was so incredibly sore (and happy that I finished in 2:39) that my friend Z had to carry me to the car. I just couldn't walk without looking like I had been hit by a car. It was horrible. NEVER AGAIN I would say but that was clearly a lie because as of right now I have ran that same Half Marathon three years in a row.

 For me it wasn't the runners high or how I felt after the run that kept me running (obviously because I was in so much pain), it was the medals. I love winning! I didn't technically win the race but I got a medal. I won at finishing! Something only a small percentage of Americans do each year! I wanted to keep winning medals. Cool looking ones too! Like bottle opener 5k medals from Myrtle Beach and Rock N Roll medals and Trifecta Medals (Spartan Race). I wanted to show my accomplishments of something that I could actually do, even if I was slow and steady. I still won my own race against myself. What a great feeling!!

 And so, I just keep running and running and slowly I am getting faster and faster and the medals keep being hung around my neck.