Early Mornings in Early June

Saturday's run

On Saturday, I got up early and ran early. I've been waking up pretty early since daylight savings started. In Bucharest, there is about an additional 1:15 hrs of daylight when compared to Greenville. The early morning in Parcul Titan is very peaceful for running for the most part. There are very few people and very few dogs. The only exception is this:

I think people take their unfriendly doggies out this early due to the fact that there are less people around (and no children at all) for them to try to eat. On Saturday, I passed a HUGE doberman who made an aggressive growl and scared me half-to-death. The owner lady quickly grabbed his collar before her "puppy dog" added a little Fillet-O-Steve to his Saturday morning breakfast menu.

Today's Run (Tuesday 6/6)

The jury is still out on my plan to run in the mornings. I had to come to a dead stop today after 3 dogs came after me as I passed the restaurant, Casa Rustica. Every restaurant and farmers market here seems to have their own stray dogs. The reason is simple. They feed them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (even Steve J) to figure out that the dogs are going to stay where the food is. They also become quite territorial about their home, especially at night. I've had very few problems during the day, as most of the dogs are sleeping. I guess I'll see if I can find a different route to the park in the morning that is doggie-free.

Steve's new running style

No, this doesn't mean I'm going to start wearing hot pink shoes and spandex shorts (to the disappointment of Romanians everywhere). After consulting with Coach Nathan on my running form, he suggested fixing my stride before really getting into the half-marathon training. Basically, due to my big 'ole feet (thanks ma!) and other factors, I'm hitting very hard on my heel when I run. This, according to Coach Nathan is putting undue stress on my knees and slowing me down (like I'd notice). So, in the spirit of running geekness, I took his suggestion and started working on my form this week.

For those non-running geeks in my audience, this basically means I am now twice as sore as normal, since I am using my massive leg muscles differently than I usually do. I figure in about a month I will either have a better stride or I will have injured myself trying - I'll let you all know either way.