SPRING FORWARD

My dog, Bailey, just had her annual exam on Friday. As usual, she’s a little overweight. She gets “walked” twice a day. A walk can be anything from 2 houses down and back or up to 30 minutes. Plus, I probably run with her 4-5 times per week for about 10 minutes each. I used to run anywhere from 20-30 minutes with her on the weekends. However, the last time I did that she ended up at the vet’s. She was acting like she had a stroke – couldn’t walk with the right half of her body. The vet said a piece of cartilage probably broke off and was causing the problems. So now we keep the running to a very easy 10-15 minutes.

Since I had an easy 8-10 mile run planned for today I decided to start out with Bailey for the first mile or so. Then I dropped her off and picked up Kinsey – my 4 year old. I decided to push her along one of my 8 mile loops. Within 10-15 minutes she was asleep. It was a terrific spring day at least 60 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze. Right around the 7 mile mark of this loop, there’s a park that we drive to every now and then so the kids can play. I figured we’d stop by and play for a half hour before running the last mile home. About a half mile before we got there, Kinsey woke up and I told her I had a surprise for her. She’s too smart for her own good because she knew right where we were going.

I know some people “freak out” about stopping during their runs and stuff, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. Even during the weekdays, Bailey and I will run for a mile, then I’ll drive 30 minutes to work before finishing my run. I don’t think it’s going to make or break my race results.