Preparing for the next race

The Willow Bay Run is in August and it is the race that the beginning running group will do as their first. So, even though my psyche is still recovering from the tri, it is time for me to hit the pavement.

We have had some wet, hot weather here. Wednesday morning, I took off to do my usually 2 big loops with Mo. It was about 7:30, nice and early and it should have been cool, right? Within 5 minutes of starting, the sun came out and started to bake the wet pavement. I felt like I was running in a steam room. We did our first loop, started on our second. At about 1.5 miles, Mo stops. Just out and out stops. Standing in a puddle. He has never stopped on me before. But this time, he was done. We took a turn, headed back home. We ran about 1.8 miles.

When I head out on a run, I always have a plan. How far, how long, how fast I might want to try for. Running with a dog though, means the dog always take precedent. Mo loves to run and so our rule is when he is done, we are done. I have found that he is good for about 30 minutes or 3 miles. I think he can physically go for longer but he doesn't want to. I have felt him mentally check out when I have tried to go longer. His interest isn't there. So when I run with Mo, I run what he wants.