Ninja Runner

Furry Husband and I go on walks most mornings... it's such a nice way to begin the day, we get our thoughts in order, the dogs love it and we all spend some quality time together.

I wear a reflective vest thingy and we both have headlamps for visibility with cars because no one is awake on a dark, dirt, road at 5am or expects to come across people walking dogs at such a funny hour and we don't want to get smooshed by anyone half-alseep.

We generally take up the whole road with 4 dogs on 26' flexi-leashes and 2 hoomans trailing behind.  If a car comes - we easily hear it in the silence of the morning and at this time of year, headlights are seen long before the car is near.  We call the dogs, they come running, and we all walk on the shoulder with dogs near us and flexi leashes locked with a short feed.  In summer, when it's light in the mornings, we see other people walking dogs or jogging and we'll do the same thing. 

No big deal.

The other morning we were heading down the road when all of a sudden there was a jogger... RIGHT THERE.   No warning, no shout out that he was coming or he was there.  He was so quiet none of the dogs alerted us until the poor guy was on top of us... he was all in black, no reflective gear or headlamp and it was a starry, moonless morning where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.  You might say, darker than the inside of a black cow, sort of dark.

Keenan began going ape shit because at the very least it surprised and startled US, and with her issues... well, it put her on high alert and "I will friggin KILL you, you mutha *%#(@$", mode.  I'm just glad Furry Husband didn't let her go and she was close to him when she went ballistic.

Sammy, another one of our dogs, was down in the ditch on the side of the road sniffing some interesting smells and I'm sure the Nina Runner didn't see him, cuz he's black, and it was so dark out. 

I'm sure he had no idea there was a flexi line cutting across the road.

He tripped on the flexi and landed in the ditch.... got up and just kept jogging away.   I think I shouted after him pathetically, "We didn't know you were there!  We didn't see you!" or something to that effect .... not that any self-respecting Ninja would reply back as they disappeared into the deep night.   grin.

If we knew he was there, we would have corralled the dogs up, pulled off to the side of the road and let him pass.   Next time I hope he gives a shout out...  ya know, if we haven't ruined his New Years Resolution momentum already.

Running into a pack o' dogs, one that wanted to take your head off and being clotheslined at the shin to fall into a ditch in the dark and cold at 5am would curtail just about any one's momentum for a nice run before work in the wee hours of the morning!

Poor Ninja Runner!