Ugly Toes

This is normally about the time of year I would say "screw running outside - this is why I have a treadmill." But now I've got a puppy that's used to exercising outside. And if I'm going to have to get bundled up to go outside, I'd probably rather go run with her than stand around and play frisbee.

Yesterday wasn't so bad, except that my fingers started going numb after about 8 minutes outside. I thought about sucking it up, but I kind of like having use of my hands so we swung back by the house and I picked up my mittens. Holding the leash was a little more awkward, but not losing feeling in my fingers was worth it. Today was a little more chilly, as evident by the windchill. But once we got going (I started out with my mittens), it wasn't that bad.

The worst thing is the lack of daylight. The sun has been setting around 4:35 lately (which with a sunrise of about 7:22 means we're getting about 9 hours of daylight - and it's only going to get worse!), and it's pretty dark by 5. I've been kind of a slacker about getting out the door, so Molly and I only have light for about half of the time we are outside. It was kind of dangerous yesterday, and I had to change the route, because there were some patches of ice on the bike path that I really only saw when Molly skidded a bit. We're pretty much just staying in the neighborhood now because of the light issue, which is really boring. My other concession was to trade in her nice, fleece-lined handle leash for a not as pretty reflective leash so that we'll be more visible. (I have reflective dots on my tights, my shoes have some reflective areas, one of my jackets has reflective zippers and spots and my other jacket is illumiNITE.