Up At Four Means Your View Doesn't Change, Dog Walks In An Empty City

I have the city to myself.  That isn't exactly a bad thing.  

There are always lurkers and leftovers hovering in the shadows no matter where you are. When you are out on the dog walk, being on your own means you aren't finding yourself having to be on guard as much.

I got started getting up early years ago.  Mostly due to training.  I'd weight lift or walk before work, then settle in for the rest of the day.  Training happened 12 months of the year and would shift concentrations depending on weather and season.  Hard to inline skate when there is snow on the ground, so I would get into the gym and "Pump Aluminum".

Then Lettie happened and that pushed the wake up time at least another half hour earlier.  She was a joy to have and I would do it all over again.  I would walk around my block at the top of a hill and get her settled before going into my own schedule.

We moved her here to Florida from Philadelphia years back, and I found a different reason to be up.  Heat.  I have always been good with temperature, I have actually made it through years of August while having my training schedule in two sports maintained.  There is a reason why you snowbirds don't come down in August.  

"The air is liquid" is a line I have used to describe it.

Getting started early means some of that heat is left to others to navigate.  Lettie went to her reward, and I was told "Get another dog, now" by others.  Some people just need a dog in their life. 

The answer was Rack.  Rack is now 15 and quite a bit slower.  The zoomies we had in the back yard were fun to watch but that hasn't happened for years.  Dogs may tough it out but you do want to make sure that the heat won't affect them. 

Earlier still.  Not to mention that he's a slow eater.  Painfully slow some days.

We are still out walking around, watching the sunrise to beat the heat on the two early walks.  Having the city to ourselves.  I get to see the place as if everyone has moved out.  We notice when things change, whether intentional or not.  

At the moment, my "support team" is out of town.  My training has drastically shifted.  Before then, "The Afterburners Are On" and I could eat anything I wanted, and did.  It all just burned up.  700 calories plus for a meal, plus dessert for all three meals.  Plus "nibbles" every time I walked through the kitchen.  

Now, with only long walks and no other training, I am limited to a firm ceiling of 600 calories a meal plus desserts.  It will take at least a month to get back to peak condition, but a resting heart rate in the low 50s is fun.

Cardio is a Cheat Code to nutrition.  Hit your macro nutrient requirements for Protein and you can have pretty much whatever you want if you are doing enough Cardio.  I measure workouts on the bike in multiples of marathons.  27 miles is enough, three times a week.

But I have to get there.  Rack helps.  6 miles a day of dog walks is possible, but I limit him because he would walk the pads off his paws if I let him.  So he gets "only" four to five miles, and I go out on my own even if he doesn't like that.

Loyal is a metaphor for Dog.

Dog walks are "Dog Directed" as a result.  Rack knows the city as well as I do, and on a very different level.  I open the door and follow him, follow his lead.  I can easily steer him, he is an agreeable soul, and definitely not an Alpha Dog.   

Depending on my own time constraints, and whether I am up at four like I was today, we can cover a lot of ground.  I limit that ground, frequently, but a long walk makes for a happy dog.  

Just keep it reasonable.  Happy is good, Too Happy is not.

If you see us out there, I'm wandering along, cleaning up after my dog and the leftovers.  My headphones are usually on, BBC/CBC for the news, typically or some Classic Disco keeping the tempo up.

Classic Disco?  Yes, still.  When the mood hits.