Soap Box

Woke up at work this morning to the best weather we've seen in a long time. As soon as I got home I changed into my running attire, loaded Lulu in the truck, and took off for East End Park. Schedule called for 2.5 miles at 12:15 pace. Perfect run with the exception of one issue that is progressively getting worse...

Damn irresponsible dog owners!!!!

East End Park is probably one of the most beautiful parks I have ever had the pleasure of running. It consist of several wooded miles of well maintained crushed granite trails and long wood bridges that weave in and out of the rivers bank. Lot's of people like to take their dogs to the park. Kingwood is in the City of Houston, which has leash laws. Kingwood has gone as far was opening a Dog-park off Northpark, but East End Park is NOT considered a dog park. People assume since they're in the woods, they don't have to put their dogs on a leash. Today I ran with lulu, who was on a leash. We passed no less than seven other people with their dogs and only 2 of them were on a leash. Now here's my complaint.... three of the dogs charged us, growled, and ran Lulu and I off the trail. This pisses me off. I'm abiding by the law and I'm scared to use our own trails. People think they have a right to break the law because, "My dog doesn't bite". This is bullshit!

I like dogs as much as the next person, but c'mon. I had to kick one dog in the head because he was nipping at lulu, which in return was pulling my arm out my socket via the leash. HPD doesn't seem to care. A couple months ago, I spoke to a bike patrol officer and he said for ME to remind them there are leash laws in the city limits. What the fuck are we paying cops for anyway? There is more to law enforcement than drugs, assaults, and theft. Do you're job you donut eating bastards.

Maybe I'll buy some pepper spray. Although, that brings me to another dilema... I'm not sure if I should spray the dog or the stupid-ass dog owners. You're right, maybe I'll spray both!

Okay, I'm done.

The run was great. A couple new trails have been cut and it would appear it has shortened my mileage when I run the outside perimeter. Usually it's 2.9 miles. Today my watch read 2.40 miles for the outside loop. I ran a little past my car to get the needed 2.5 miles. I think it's worth re-measuring with my bike. Something tells me my garmin wasn't 100% accurate in the trails. If indeed it is correct, I ran 30-seconds slower than scheduled. It felt like I was moving faster than my 12:15 pace.

Run: 2.71 miles, 31:52, (11:46)

Finished the morning with a mid-body workout. My chest is sore from yesterday's push-ups, otherwise the workout went good.

UPDATE:
I couldn't resist, I HAD to take my bike and measure the trail. The loop is 2.66 miles. I made changes to my run time above.

Bike: 2.74 miles, 15:56, (10.24mph)