Early Finish

For reasons unknown, I got up at 4:30 this morning, and after two cups of coffee, I looked around and wondered what to do for the next three hours.  The answer was obvious.  Walk.  How long has it been since I’ve done five miles that early in the morning, on a weekday?  Weeks and weeks, I think.  I did not bring Banks. I forgot to mention last night that his leash is broken – must have happened during one of Jackson’s walks.  It’s a long, retractable lead that stretches, oh, I don’t know, 12, 15 feet?  The retracting mechanism is broken, so last night I made several big knots, then a loop, at the halfway point, and guided him from there.  He was a handful, so I decided to go alone this morning and pick up a new leash on the way home from work.

When I’m alone I don’t like to venture too far off the beaten path, so I stayed within the St. Ed’s boundaries, and finished up with six or seven loops around the soccer field.  Banks hates doing that, and for some reason I like it, so always take advantage when he’s not around. I took my phone, and played my favorites loud and often. 

There is something empowering about completing five miles while the rest of the town sleeps.  You go to work and you have this little secret.  You got a jump on the day.  You can eat a piece of cake someone brought in for Admin’s Day without worrying too much about it. Some of the annoying little issues that arise during the day seem to evaporate more quickly for you than for others. 

But it’s going to be weird not having most of my evening eaten up by the miles.  Maybe it’ll remind me of what life was like a year ago.