I Just Want to Run

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it's been really hard to run during the week. There is not enough hours in the day and with the mosquitos so bad (seriously Houston, are we going to do ANYTHING about it?), I've barely even taken my dogs out for somewhat long walks. Hell, I threw the ball for Lady last night, but I had to cut it short at only 4 minutes, because I was eatin' alive even with bug spray on and through my clothes.

I am taking Remington on as many runs as I can, but he doesn't last long. Just like with people, dogs (after a certain age...9) have to build up to a mile. Yesterday, I decided that I need to get cracking on this whole running thing if I'm going to survive a half marathon. So, I wasn't going to let Remington dictate when we stop; I was going to push him. We drove up to Hermann Park, got out, he did his business, and then we walked for a little bit. As soon as we hit the sign, we started running, which he immediately stopped to mark his territory. Okay, now we are going, running like the slow wind, with Remington in tow. He's gotten a lot better running on a leash; he's not always trying to get ahead of me. We ran all the way around the 1.5 mile loop (not the entire Hermann Park loop) without stopping. Well, we stopped twice (quickly), because Remington was being such a good boy for not attacking another dog or a golf cart; he deserved a treat. If I haven't mastered the art of running, grabbing water, and chugging said water, then I've certainly not mastered the art of running, grabbing treat, and handing said treat to Remi without dropping the treat or accidentally getting some teeth.

Remington was dragging alittle bit when we got closer to the car, but I wanted to push him. As we passed the car, he looked longingly over to it thinking we were going to stop. Nope, we did not. We kept on going until we made it to the other side. By now, the traffic was getting thicker with lots of loud cars and I kept having to give pep talks to Remi, "Come boy, you can do this." And then he started dragging more and more and then I did the slow slow runs (thanks Haley) so he could catch up. Finally, he just started walking, so I decided to turn around and go back the quiet way. There were loud trucks and a guy with a baby stroller and a dog. Remi was lunging and wouldn't sit, but he didn't bark. Since he didn't sit when I told him to, he didn't get a treat.

We walked a little bit more and I saw Remi pick up the pace. So, I did and we ran all the way back to the sign. Then, we walked to the car for a cool down. I did some stretching and we got in the car headed for home.

On a side note, I finally went to boot camp. I'm like jelly right now. Also, I know I've said stairs are rough, but try doing squats (more like plie's) with a 15 lb kettle ball all the way around the gym. And this came after we did regular squats all the way around. OUCH! I'm going to feel this throughout the day.