Weed Wackers That Go Bang In the Night

Mira was on this evening. It was warm and we jogged under cloud cover and elevated humidity compared to the previous run this week, but she was ready to go and kept the lead tight.  I was impressed with her.

After we finished the run, I grabbed a random newspaper that had been tossed into our grass on the way down the driveway.   My truck is parked on the right side of the garage and it's pretty large.  There's a small path between it and Dave's car on the right.  We keep the recycling bin on the passenger rear side of my truck and I rarely leave much clearance between the two.  There's also a small area between the bin and the door that "houses" the various yard tools that we don't have hanging; including the oversisized, "industrial" weed wacker.

Mira rarely waits for the door to go up before pulling to get into the garage, there are cookies and a good massage waiting for her on the other side of the door after all!  Tonight was no exception and as I dodged right to toss the paper, she charged forward between the car and truck.  I missed the bin, the paper bounced between the tools and eventually the weed wacker lost it's fight to remain upright and slid down the wall dragging two shovels with it under the truck.

I'm 5 feet 2 inches tall - the truck is approximately 79 inches wide.  Somehow, some way I managed to wrap myself around the back side of that truck with one arm flailing to try and save the weed wacker and the other arm (with the help of a 6 foot leash) trying to keep Mira from charging ahead fully spooked.

Yikes!  I never did like yard work...



 

The Start of A New Season

We had cool weather this morning!  It is amazing how 55 degrees in October feels fresh and crisp, compared to 55 degrees in April that feels dingy and humid.  But it's October and I am happy with mornings in the 50's!

We did an out and back on Kennesaw Mountain this morning.  Starting at Burnt Hickory Road to the Illinois Monument and back, all in all just over 5 miles.  I've been working on obedience with Mira with the intention showing in AKC obedience and earning a BN title.  I had proof today that the effort and focus on "stay" was paying off.  The picture below was taken during our rest at the top of the run.  I dropped the lead and stepped away from her while I poured some water and took her picture (I acknowledge my timing is off since I caught her blinking).  There were a pair of Golden's just above us who were having a jolly good time with their owner, and she didn't once bother to get nosey about it.  Huge strides for us :)  Consistency is paying off!

 

 

She took a minute to pose for me at the monument before we started back down the trail...

 

 

I also made some progress in the "confidence department" this morning running downhill on the trail.  I have far more confidence and trust in Mira as a running partner than I would be able to place in any of my other dogs, even my nearly 13 year old Maddie.  Mira is calm, she's not so full of prey drive that every squirrel looks like the perfect chase, and most of all she seems to care that I'm on the other end of the leash.  There was only one part of the trail today that I didn't trust myself enough to keep up a jog with her.  Near the bottom, there is a serpentine that is pretty narrow.  There's lots of loose rock/gravel and ruts from rain washout.  I just can't bring myself to jog that small stretch with a dog on lead yet.  Someday, Mira, someday we'll get to chase the trail all the way to the bottom, I promise.

 



 

Brick with Mira

Our intention was to head out to the Silver Comet today and take a long training ride early.  We'd be home by 9ish and ready to wash the RV and take care of the other household maintenance that needed to be wrapped up for the weekend.

At 4 am, I woke to horrible pain in my neck.  I've been nursing a sore and mis-aligned neck for several days, often unable to turn my head without moving my entire upper body.  I was up and loaded with Ibuprofen but not really able to move my head much.  Seeing the darkness descend on the end of my tunnel, I woke Dave and told him I'd turned my 5:30 am alarm off - we'd have to ride another day.

Around 7:50 I woke to the clanging of dog bowls in the kitchen.  Dave was preparing breakfast for the girls and I could hear the dancing of 8 feet across the hardwoods in anticipation of their morning fruit, veggies and cereal.  I drug myself out of bed and sat with the dogs while they ate.  Dave and I chatted while I put on a pot of decaf.  I began to stretch myself a little while working around in the kitchen and began to get really frustrated because I didn't really feel very bad now, certainly it was nothing like I had faced at 4 am.  After some discussion, I decided I'd rather get a little accomplished today instead of nothing toward training, so we agreed to ride close to home for a short time and then I'd come back, pick up the dogs and run with them.  At least I'd get a short bike/run brick in and the dogs would get their exercise too.

It worked out great! I knew I'd be over an hour since the dogs ate before I was ready to run and if I took it easy (which I was pretty much forced to do physically), it wouldn't tax them into a potentially harmful stress situation and create a fear of bloating.  So off Dave and I went on the bikes.

The ride was good.  Relatively uneventful in comparison to having had the dog attack problem earlier in the week.  It was chilly, only 59 degrees, when we started and I had on a summer cycle top.  But it didn't take too long to warm up and forget my arms were exposed.  I was feeling good about the decision to make some lemonade from my lemons.  Once we dismounted and put the bikes back in their racks, I grabbed harnesses and leads and we were out the door within a relatively short time for an abbreviated run.

I got a couple of miles in with Mira on the run portion of the brick.  I'm afraid I'm spoiled now, running with a dog is far more enjoyable than running alone!


Glad to have been able to turn this adversity into a good opportunity today!



Fed, exercised and hoping we'll leave soon so they can sleep!

Elevation Changes

Atlanta is known in the running community for it's "heat, hills & humidity".  Over the past 9 days we have traveled from Atlanta to Independence, Missouri, to Lone Tree, Colorado.  While in Independence and Lone Tree, we embraced the opportunity to get outdoors and experience running/walking in those areas.  I don't think we had any specific expectations regarding our performance in these climates that can be dramatically different than our normal environment.  It felt like a great adventure every time we slipped on our sneakers and took to the trail.




Bridge on Little Blue Trace Trail

In Missouri our hotel had a path linking it to a 25 mile maintained, multi-use trail called The Little Blue Trace Trail.  It was awesome.  There were cement stretches, but mostly the path is hard pack dirt with tiny gravel.  It is very soft on both soft tissue and the joints.  Most of the pathway that we were on was relatively flat.  The eastbound trail from our hotel wove in and out of shady areas and among fields for the most part.  Heading westbound on the trail from the hotel the trail wound among more residential areas, we preferred the eastbound route. Our longest jog/walk was a 5.5 mile outing that left me exhilarated.  We also did a 6 mile walk on the trail system and a 4 miler (jog/walk) in between.





When we arrived in the Denver area, we were anxious to know how the elevation was going to affect us.  I had been advised that maintaining proper hydration was key to success in adjusting to the elevation, especially if we were going to do anything active.  So we packed water everywhere we went and began hydrating the evening before we exercised.

Luckily we discovered The Bluffs Regional Park in Lone Tree with absolutely gorgeous views of the mountains, Denver...  Although we were concerned by the signs about wildlife in the area, the trails were a delight to navigate!

Greeting at the trail head...

This trail wound around an area of bluffs and the elevation changes were dramatic for lungs that are not acclimated to the elevation.  Unlike the trail in Independence, this system ranged from hard pack dirt that looked like asphalt from a distance, to fine deep sand, to rocks larger than gravel.  If we were going to run these trails, I would be most comfortable in trail shoes to accommodate the varied surfaces.

From coarse gravel to rock, this was a steep decent portion of the trail system at the Bluffs

Although I don't have a camera that takes great distance pictures, this is a sample of the views that took our breath from the 2.7 mile loop.  We walked this loop both days we were in Lone Tree. I'm happy to say that the second day the trail was much, much easier to manage from a breathing perspective.

Near the top of the bluffs and anxious for the descent

We arrived back in Georgia yesterday afternoon.  Today was my scheduled "long" run.  I decided that I wanted to put in a 6 miler, so we were out the door about 7:30 this morning with the dogs.  We walked them for a mile and a half, then I left to finish the 6 miles with as much jogging as I could push myself to do.  It was very humid this morning and I struggled.  Somehow I managed to average 13-14 minute miles.

A little let down after having such a great time on vacation, I decided to find out what the differences were between my three adventures.  I kept thinking that the fact we walked in Lone Tree shouldn't minimize the impact of the elevation, especially since the trail had such significant elevation changed within the 2.7 mile loop, so I did a little research.  Google is a good thing, I feel a smidge better about my struggle today.

Independence Missouri elevation: 952 feet above sea level
Lone Tree, Colorado elevation: 5,948 feet above sea level
Marietta, Georgia: 1,128 feet above sea level

At the time I began this blog this evening:

Independence Missouri humidity: 42%
Lone Tree Colorado humidity: 11%
Marietta, GA humidity: 52%

Looking forward to my run on Wednesday and hoping I will have re-acclimated to the "hills, heat & humidity" of home, sweet home.

Cross Training and Marathon Preparation

It's summer heat, or nearly hot enough to feel like summer, around here.  The weekend has been lovely, but this past week and a few prior have days peaking at 90+ degrees.  The weather has given me pause to figure out how I'm going to combine my goal of  qualifying for the Boston marathon in October during my maiden marathon in Atlanta with the simple, pure joy I have when I'm out trotting down the road with my dog next to me.

Cooling down after a warm evening run

I find myself beginning to select pieces of training from my years of agility competition, run training, triathlon training and even the sporadic riding lessons I took for a couple of summers, in an effort to incorporate more time with the dogs while measuring my strides toward the "goal".

To answer the weather change, I'm drawing from Mary Bromiley and her book "Fit to Ride".  In her discussion of joint flexibility in Chapter 8 she references walking as passive stretching for joint mobility as a means for warming up.  One of the ways I warm the dogs up is with a head to tip of tail massage (learned from Dr. Christine Zink in "Peak Performance; Coaching the Canine Athlete").  Since it has become so hot, and I'm forced to walk the dogs more than run, I'm using this portion of my run time for their modified summer exercise and my warm up.

It seems their climate "limitations" are tempering me. I'm learning to reflect back on the lessons I've taken in over the past decade of training in various sports and gather pieces from each that benefit both canine and human in this adventure. I am thrilled that my per mile times are beginning to improve, even in the heat and neither dog nor I am encountering overuse injuries that are keeping us off the road for extended recoveries.

Maddie impatiently waiting for her harness

Tomorrow is another day...

I'm ready for tomorrow already.  Karma kicked my butt tonight.  Somehow, some way, I must have taken for granted that I loved running and that every time my sneakers met pavement my knees, shins, hips and all the connective tissue in between would be energized and synchronized.  I give.  I made a mistake, I really do love this thing called "running" and I love it more than I normally state out loud.  Yep, it's become "what I do".  I love it so much that I've committed to my first marathon in October and have tossed the idea around that I'd like to qualify for Boston as well.  But tonight it didn't feel like the run loved me in return.

After Dave and I brought the girls home from a mile walk tonight, I took out alone to wrap the evening with a quick couple mile run.  As I started up Barrier, I felt light and began to pick up my pace.  I've been reading "Running Within" by Jerry Lynch and Warren Scott, so it seemed like a good omen that I was feeling "lighter than normal" as I breezed up the hill.

About the time I crested the hill, body parts began yelling at me in less than pleasant terms.  I had a pain in my glute, the opposite hamstring was tight, my left knee began to throb and then all of a sudden my right foot began to flop onto the pavement.  There was no "stride" in my step anymore.  You could not hear my left foot touch ground, but the right foot sounded like a clap of thunder each time it struck pavement.

By the time I turn the corner onto Reef,  I'm getting used to the "sensations" of this particular run and have pretty much worked through the issues, (except the thunderous right foot), when I find myself urgently needing to get to a restroom.  I didn't care whose, I just needed one.  Damn the neighborhood without a port-a-john when you need it!  Again, I'm picking up my pace and the thunder that is flailing beneath my right foot is now less bothersome to me than the fact that I'm still a half mile from the only restroom I know how to get into at this point.

Well, there you have it - thundering foot, thundering tum and a run cut in half.  I don't see Boston tonight, I don't even see a 5k in my immediate future.   But then again, tomorrow is another day and the day after that will be another run.  I vow to be grateful for the run tonight, however slighted I may have felt at the time; lest it be repeated as a necessary lesson to the one who didn't "get it" the first time.

When Rain Showers Stop

Rain, rain, rain today.  I've been watching the radar on weather.com to see when I could possibly get my scheduled five mile run in.  We have a gym membership, but I hate treadmills and I don't like to run without my dogs.  For me, being with the dogs is as much of the point of the run as my overall fitness is.

The weather break came close to one o'clock this afternoon.  Mira and I were out the door within minutes of the rain stopping to start my five mile trek.  I knew before we began that this was not a five mile day for her.  Sixty one degrees is a reasonable temperature to run with her, but the humidity was intense, so I decided to take her back to the house after the second mile. 

When I dropped her off at the house, Maddie was not at the door waiting.  Normally, this would make my heart race and my stomach flip to have one of the dogs not anxiously waiting for their turn, they are both very motivated to be out on the road with us.  Dave had just finished painting the bar area and was watching golf with chips in hand.  I was trumped by "Ruffles".  Maddie didn't even look at me when I walked by.  There was a possibility she could sweet talk Dave into potato chips and I was obviously on my own as of now.  The remainder of the run was going to be up to me and me alone.



Back on the road I finished the last three miles solo.  With Mira, the first two miles were finished at an average of 14 minutes each.  These miles included three pee stops and one poop stop for Mira.  Not stellar time, but all in all enjoyable in the freshly rain washed air.

My first solo mile, mile three, was a 13 minute/30 second mile.  It was pretty uneventful.  I finished mile four in 13 minutes and felt great as I began mile five.  The finishing hill on Reef is a killer when you're tired.  It's not long, but the grade is steep enough that I often walk at least part of it.  After I crossed Seafoam and began the flat stretch headed to Barrier, I could see two loose dogs ahead.  They were unfamiliar to me, and I know most of the dogs in the neighborhood.  They were bouncing up trees after squirrels and going from house to house and back and forth across the road, obviously thrilled with a new found freedom.  Weary of unfamiliar dogs, I caught a glimpse of my watch and uttered an unpleasant phrase as I realized I had been, up to then, on target to finish the last mile in 12 minutes, but knowing I needed to be cautious of these dogs I slowed.  Watching them, I had to pause to be grateful that I didn't have a dog with me at that moment, they seemed almost frantic in their obsession to chase squirrels and I was certain I may have been a target if I'd had a dog with me.  Sure enough, when I caught up to them, they came charging across the road to me hackles up, growling and barking.  I slowed to a walk and ignored them as I drew my watch up to catch my time.  Damn dogs, I wasn't sure how I was going to make up the time and I wasn't nearly as concerned about them hot on my heels sniffing me as I was about the clock.  Thankfully after a couple of driveways, I heard a calm female voice call "Maddie, Emma, come on, come here".  Both dogs turned on a dime and headed straight to "Mom" who was calmly standing in the road with leads and collars waiting for them.  I waved to her, and she to I, as I picked up my pace.  When I turned the corner from Reef to Barrier and glanced at my watch, I realized I had plenty of time to finish my final mile in 12 minutes.  I stopped at the top of our driveway with a time of 12:01.

After I got home, Dave decided he was going to run an errand.  Since I told him it wasn't raining, he took his clean car instead of my dirty rental.  I doubt he'd been away from the house five minutes when it began to rain and it really hasn't stopped since.  I think the universe is supporting my quest and running goals! I only need a little time, and Mother Nature was very kind to me today!