Bring It On, Winter

Whew! That was a cold one!

It's been pretty cold around here lately. It's snowed a little, not accumulating much, but enough that the sidewalks were not going to be safe to run on. We had to pass on our Monday run. Today it warmed up to the mid thirties so I was pretty confident that we could avoid any icy mishaps.

Despite the cold air and few ice hazards, we made pretty good time. Each week we are getting a little faster and running a little farther. It was hard to breath at times, with the cold wind taking my breathe away. My fingers were a little numb at one point, but the blood must not have been circulating yet because they warmed up and didn't bother me again. All in all, it felt like a good run. 

I have a lot of people asking me what Henri and I do when it gets cold. Is Henri sad that it's cold now? Does he miss the dog park? Are you seriously going on a run in this? What do you do when it gets cold? The runs and the dog park do not stop just because it's cold. Does Henri stop needing exercise now that it's cold outside? Does the change in temperature suddenly change the requirements of his care? Nope, thus he is super excited. He still gets to go out and play at the dog park and go for runs and he doesn't get hot. He can play and play and play and he feels great!

We were at the dog park for 45 minutes yesterday and he wanted to play Fetch over and over with me. He wanted to wrestle and run and chase with every dog in the park, even with multiple dogs at the same time. Then he wanted to play Fetch some more. Throw in some Keep Away and it was the best day every! How can I deny him that because I'm cold?

Unless it just isn't safe for us to be outside in the chill, we will be out there, I, with my 7 layers of clothing and Henri, naked, because he really doesn't need anything. Don't worry though, he's got a coat for when he does. Bring it on, Winter. Bring it on.

(Henri, yesterday, after 45 minutes of play and still wanting to play with a dog all the way across the park, thinking this stick would entice the dog to come to him. The dog couldn't even see him, but he was bouncing around with a stick in his mouth, taunting the other dog. I had to lighten the picture since it was almost dark by this point, so pardon the graininess.)