Furry Alarm Clock

How is it that my dog always knows what time I get up?

Not only does she know when I get up - she can count back 15 minutes from that time. Precisely 15 minutes before my alarm clock goes off my dog does the following:

• Begins to snore loudly (after sleeping soundly through the night)


• Tramples across my body from the foot of the bed to the pillows


• Wimpers so that she can go under the covers


• Eventually jumps down and paces the floor


• Finally while running around on the floor she constantly begs for me to pull her up in bed. As soon as I do this - she runs away like she doesn't want me to touch her - that's a pug for you!

I guess this is a good thing. Unlike apfan I am an early-riser. My gym actually doesn't open up as early as I would like. I am usually the first one through the doors at 5:30am everyday.

Yesterday was the first day of training for the half marathon. This is a pretty ambitous goal. Perhaps I should mention - I am probably the most out of shape of anyone contributing to this blog. So running for 30 minutes on the treadmill was not the easiest thing in the world. I made it to 30 minutes but there was some walking in there.

I think it will get easier when it doesn't feel like Alaska outside. I love to run outside. There is nothing better than running outside in the darkness of morning before most people are awake. Possibly the biggest plus for running outside is that once you run away from your house - you have to run back home - that's built in motivation for you!