Training Buddy

I am a runner. And when I was training for my first half marathon in 2008, I would take my puppy Bailey with me. (And you would be correct in assuming that my puppy was (and still is) a compleate chick magnet) She would run right behind me, staying close in Clifton traffic, and then, without fail, have to poop at 3 miles. How she knew I don't know. Anyway, running was a good way to get some of her energy out, which she has a lot of. More when she was a puppy. But then knee-gate happened, so I lost my 4-legged running buddy.

She hasn't run with me since.

Well, I need to run outside to train for my spring half. I need to walk my dogs (another blog on that battle for another day), and Bailey needs the exercise for every one's sanity. So I decided to try to run with her again. But just like I'm training and can't expect to do, let alone run, 13.1 miles just like that, I have to train my dog's body to run too. We did one of our normal walk paths so I knew she could at least handle the distance. She managed to keep up with me though, like I knew she would, but I wanted to ease her back into the running thing. (I did forget that Bailey runs behind me and needs a few pep talks here and there, otherwise she pulls me back.)

I barely broke a sweat but this run was not about me and my pace work. It was about getting my dog to run again. (and exhausting her in the process, not going to lie). And my Bailey girl worked it! In fact, she worked so hard, that when we got home and she did her post run spaz (I've never figured that out. She'll be exhausted, yet will literally bounce off the furniture and run up a wall if it's in her path the second her leash is off), she lapped up all the water, ran around Jules, and then threw up. Just like a human who's worked too hard throws up. It was only a little bit and most of it wasn't on the carpet so it wasn't as disgusting as it could have been.

She is tired, otherwise she would be at the back window barking her head off at the guys replanting the trees in the backyard area. Instead, she's curled up on the couch whining in their general direction.

So....success?