Keeping Track of It All

With so many goals and activities between the three of us, I found myself the last couple of months a little unfocused and feeling like I was missing the target with one or more important training points.  I needed a way to keep all of us and the varied training needs in order and headed toward the desired results.  I messed around with a spreadsheet a long time ago, but honestly, I'm in spreadsheets all day Monday through Friday and it just wasn't motivating to sit down and key things out.  I had some printed logs that can be kept for racing and such, but those didn't fit for agility and obedience.  What to do?

Edge getting some experience shopping at Lowe's

I am a big user of journals for lots of things and now I'm using a journal to track all of us and all our performance training.  Each day I note the activities separately for myself, Stetson and Edge for both morning and evening exercises.  It has made it easier to track progress and set goals.  On Sunday evening I go over the week and put down the goals for the upcoming week.  It's always easier to stay on target with the bigger picture long term goals this way.

Each daily entry looks something like this:

9/21
AM (indoors)
Me: swim 30 minutes - felt great, went farther than last time out

Edge: brickwork - have got to up my criteria so he keeps moving
sit stay - need to start using collar and leash
body targeting - AMAZING, he loves it

Stetson: recall
around finishes - sharp but slow to sit

PM (outside)
Me: hill repeats - humid and in the sun
Edge: chute
ladder - ready for bars on the ground
weaves - no go, find a new method

Stetson: go outs - quicker sit, stopped rewarding anything slow
figure eights - very sharp and all attention
retrieve on the flat - good quick returns, not sitting crooked anymore and leaning over

It's so easy to go back over and review the previous six days on Sunday and line up targets each week.  My intention is to set an endurance, strength and two skill goals for each dog weekly.  I have weekly strength and endurance goals that will hopefully lead a healthy and strong me to the finish line in March. Of course things still get muddled sometimes and you have to reset or back up, but I don't seem to be getting blindsided by huge training problems right now.  Hopefully this will keep me headed the right way!

Stetson practicing sits and downs at a local ball field

The dogs are progressing nicely with their respective sports and I feel my strength is gaining.

Patiently waiting for me 

Ready to go!

The last two weeks have been loaded with great opportunities to play with the boys and get some super training in for myself too.  The journal is a wonderful tool to assess progress and be able to note opportunities for improvement.  

It's Not About the Score

Stetson will have his debut in the Novice obedience ring in just a few short weeks and we've been working on fine tuning what he does nicely, primarily heeling and sits/downs, and what seems to be hit or miss, recalls and finishes.

He finished the Beginner Novice (BN) title with 593 points out of a possible 600 (200 possible points per leg, three legs required to title).  I was very proud of the scores for each leg and really excited about the placements earned (1st, 2nd and another 1st for the title).  But the drive behind me reaching those types of scores is because when performance in this sport is truly on, you feel completely connected with your dog.  You flow in and out of directional changes and exercises in step with each other, completely communicating with the movement of your body and the energy going down the leash from handler's hand to dog's neck.  THAT is what motivates me in the sport, it is a beautiful dance that reflects the bond between us.

An example of the connectedness that inspires me

When the connection is lost, an entirely different picture appears...

Same day, same exercise, completely disconnected moment

And so we continue to work together in new and different environments and on various pieces of the equation until the next competition in October.  To improve and dance in better rhythm than the last dance.  That is the goal and what drives me to excel and reach for as many of those 200 points as is available to us.

3 minute down at ball fields

So handsome

1 minute sit following down exercise

It's all about the dance.

Hidden Excuses

I've played off excuse after excuse over the past nine months to keep me off the road and trail consistently.  I can play "hurt" for either Stetson or myself, and I've found many other excuses along the way that fit nicely into whatever mood I'm in.  Regardless of what I've told myself and professed to others, I have hidden behind excuses to keep me from doing that which is never easy and rarely understood by those who aren't road runners or triathletes - push your physical limits to see where you can go, what you can finish and how much have you improved over your last performance/race.

Saturday at the river I had a moment when my husband was trotting off ahead of me with my dog and neither was checking back in with me.  Not a fun moment.  To make matters worse, when I went to call out to Dave to wait up, I put my hands on my sides and what I felt was proof that the workout clothes I'd tossed aside earlier that morning weren't lying, I was in fact out of condition, soft and, well let's just say rolling along.

You change your attitude and direction in moments of extreme realization.  There was one of those moments.   I witnessed my previous months of hanging out in the recliner, having too much comfort food and another drink I didn't need scanning before me.  Not the "flash" you get when immediate danger is upon you, but this was a drawn out, slow motion culmination of one excuse leading to another, to another, to yet another to the point nobody who looked closely at me would recognize me as the athlete I was a year ago.

Enough! done! I am not watching that movie anymore.  We are back on the road and back in sync, building up one workout and run at a time.  I've focused the past three days on why I run, bike and swim.  I do it for me and to stop for any reason other than me would not be fair to myself.

I turned Sunday into my official commitment day and decided to honor a goal of finishing my first marathon in good time and good health.  My entry is made and I didn't bother to sign up for "insurance" in the event I needed to cancel for health or family matters; it is done, non-refundable.  March 22, 2015 I will stand in the starting coral in Atlanta waiting for the gun to start the event.  And when we reach the split for the 13.1 half marathon, I will stay right.  I will be on the path to the finish of the 26.2 mile full marathon through the hills, humidity and pollen of this city in spring.  Six months of training to recapture my spirit.

I cannot wait to take Stetson to his best condition ever during this time of training.  And I'm looking forward to breaking Edge into this lifestyle too.

To run, to reflect, to dream, to be connected with soul, dog and universe.

Edge Arrives

Over the 4th of July, we spent a couple of days in St. Louis with some of our best friends.  They are agility and dog sport people.  We were interacting with folks who share my love of dog sports and sharing memories and hearing stories for two days, including an evening cook out with about 15 other dog sport enthusiasts (obedience and agility both).  And it struck, agility fever that is.

Not long after we came back home, I discovered through a close mutual friend, that Amy Burnett of Coolmoor Australian Shepherds had a really nice working puppy returned to her that was from a litter I'd been exposed to and I knew I liked.  Somehow, I knew I had to have him before I ever laid eyes on him.  I made arrangements to meet "Edge" pretty quickly after and it didn't take him but a minute to decide that I was the bees knees.  The mutual bond was immediate.

Immediate Love

God love a good dog person, Amy wasn't intending to sell Edge, but she decided we could make something work out and a week later he came home to live with us.  I am in heaven.

He's been here for about 5 weeks now and his little personality is pure joy.  He only knows happy and draws you into his energy instantly when you make eye contact with him.

He has already taken an overnight trip in the RV, begun strength training on the peanut and other exercises, rear end awareness work, carries the dumbbell around, has begun to bring toys back to me to interact with him and much, much more.  I love the way his brain works.  His enthusiasm is endless.

Dave has taken to him more quickly than any other dog and I'm really grateful for that.  His heart has been so wrapped around Madison for all these years, I wasn't entirely sure if we maybe weren't making our hearts and home open to another too soon.

Stetson enjoys having the companionship, although he is not always thrilled with the puppy obnoxiousness.  They are becoming good buds.