Release the Hounds!!!

I am not a big devotee of running on consecutive days - too depressing and I am usually too lazy. But my running has taken a back seat during this holiday season so I conned Bridg into going out for a short one. She hasn't run in a while so I knew she was feeling guilty - sucker! I took Cosmo over to her house, thinking to do 3. She decided to run with John. Surprise, surprise, Bill joined us with their other two hounds, Rimmy and Maggie.

So, there were 3 humans and 4 greyhounds out for a little jaunt. John has run before, but I am not sure about Rimmy and Maggie.

I so wished I had a camera! They were remarkable to see. Maggie was so happy, looking all around, occasionally breaking into a slow motion canter. Rimmy was all business. Once he knew what was expected, he put his head right on out and just went - all forward motion, focused and intense. All four dogs seem like they really liked moving and covering ground as a pack. We were on a back street with no traffic so at times, we just took up the whole road. Maggie and Rim did 1.3 miles and then Bill started walking them while the rest of us continued on.

At about the two mile mark, John slowed to a walk and took a potty break. We walked a little bit and then started running again and finished at their house - 2.59 miles.

The feeling of running in the midst and watching the pleasure of these four greyhounds was absolutely awesome. It made for a great run.

Wow

I love Garmin. I feel like a techno nerd when deep down inside I know I am a Luddite.

3 miles - 31:47
Mile 1 - 10:29
Mile 2 - 10:31
Miles 3 - 10:46

10:36/miles

I had it set to beep when we fell slower than a 11 m/m. Yeah, that little thing is going to be disabled. It would beep and all I could think of was, 'I can't run faster.'

Week 7 on WW

4 pounds lost this week, which brings our total to 49 pounds in seven weeks. Pretty amazing for this time of year. I am so freaking proud of these women, I can hardly stand it.

We start the 16 week half training almost a week from now, January 7. I received a Garmin 305 as a Christmas present so there will be no fudging on those interval days. LOL

Christmas Morning

It is almost 8 am. I fired my computer this morning so I could find Bazu's sourdough pancake recipe. I want to make them this morning.

The dogs are all spread out on different beds, happily digesting their Christmas breakfast. All with the exception of Maggie. She didn't want to eat her regular food. She has a tendency to get a grumply tummy when it is empty so she is happily digesting a few big dog biscuits. Hey, it's Christmas morning and I can spoil her if I want to. Bridget can deal with the aftermath of a non-eating, spoiled dog when she returns home.

So, I am sitting here, waiting for the recipe page to load, when I hear the scanner go off. My son, who only minutes ago, was a typical 19 yr old, sacked out in his mess of a room, surrounded by his snowboarding paraphernalia, comes bounding out of his room, awake and ambulatory in a matter of seconds. This is the kid who usually takes a half hour or so to get fully awake.

I tell him to be careful as he bolts out the door, boots untied, coat only half on him.

Less than five minutes later, I hear the fire truck sirens in the distance. I know the trucks are staffed with people, just like him, who rushed out of their houses at 8 am on Christmas morning because their scanners went off.

I hope everyone is all right. I will wait until he returns to make his pancakes.

It has become abundently clear now

The mapping site I use for my runs is wrong

Or

My watch is defective

Or

I unknowingly enter some freakly time warp zone while running

Because

I know those times ain't mine -------------------->>>>>>>>>>


Oh, and just in case you are wondering.......the dog poo stayed safely contained today!

Gross Post

If you don't have a dog, you might want to skip this post.

If you don't run, you might want to skip this post.


Why?


In my experience, dog people and runners have high gross tolerances. Dog people deal with lots of poo, dog flatulence, the devouring of dead animals and other marginally civilized canine behaviors.


Runners deal with lots of undesirable bodily experiences. Face it, running can be gross. Gross things can happen while you are running - gut bombs, snot rockets, nausea, unexpected commencement of certain female functions, etc. Runners can be repulsive. And you can subject others to gross things when they have to run behind you for three miles because they, through no fault of their own but from poor genetics, are slower.


Consider yourself warned.


Today's run - 9:30 am. Temperature - 28 degrees. Skies - Overcast. Perfect running conditions. A little chilly but it warmed up to 34 degrees by the time we were done.


I run with a Handsfree leash from a company called LarzPetGear. I love it, absolutely love it. It has allowed my form to remain efficient and natural while still providing security and range of motion for Cosmo. I ran with a leash for a while but handsfree is really where it's at.


Everytime I head out for a run, I grab the poop bags because, well, Cosmo poops about 3 minutes into any run, 99.7 percent of the time. He is pretty regular in that aspect. I tie two bags onto the waist belt, like so:



When he does go, I scoop, tie the bag tight and tie it back on the belt. Don't get too grossed out - he is fed raw and his poops are very minimal, nothing like kibble poos.

So, today, he goes. I scoop and tie and think about how it is my lucky day because it is trash day and I might just happen across the garbage truck and be able to toss the load. As I am contemplating this wonderful scenario, I get a whiff of something nasty. I wonder if I didn't tie the bag tightly and glance down. This is what I see:

Oh, yeah, the poop bag somehow, someway, deposited a nice streak of dog doo right across my sweatshirt. Good thing I always bring two and was able to rebag everything.
I am used to carrying dog poo while running, but wearing it was a first for me.


This post is dedicated to the two people in my life who most love gross stories. They aren't afraid of a little dog poo.........

Hmmmmm.......last workout over there ------------>

Not sure what that is all about but I know that pace can't be right.

Recent searches...

that turned up my blog:

My dog has issues

Can greyhounds eat turkey?

My dog is pooping alot

Chicks following dog

Run Report

I realize the numbers for yesterday's run don't look all that impressive, but if you break them down, there is a different story to be told.

5 miles @ 12m/m pace.

Mile 1 - 12 m/m warm up
4x800 progressive intervals w/ 800 recovery (usually walk for .1 mile then back up to 12 m/m
#1 at 10:30
#2 at 10:20
#3 at 10:10
#4 at 10:00

Now, I realize that a 10 m/m pace is a piece of cake, a walk in the park for most runners - for me it is a sprint. Seriously, set that treadmill at 6 mph and it is an all out sprint for me! And let's just say that my last interval was a spectacle. I was the only person in the gym, running 10 m/m with sweat flinging off my elbows, flinging off my hair, doing that groaning/moaning/grunting breath exhalation (you all know what I am talking about!). It was a pathetic sight. My left knee also went hinky on me so that I had to actually walk the last .25. It was one of those things when I extended it and put weight on it running it would hitch up. Didn't do it while I was walking either, so all the old people who can go at the gym during the day were treated to the sight of:

Me: Damn knee hurts. Walk.
1 minute later, Me: Hmm, doesn't hurt now, speed up.
15 seconds later, Me: Ouch, ouch ouch, slow down.
1 minute later, Me: Hmm, doesn't hurt now, speed up.
15 seconds later, Me: Ouch, ouch ouch, slow down.
And on and on for a quarter mile.

Doesn't hurt now, either. Of course yesterday, having the brilliant idea to walk up two flights of stairs to Bridget's office, it took me about 5 minutes to get up them, with lots of pauses. I finally had to just straight jacket my leg and swing my leg up the stairs. My embarrassment was completed when Bahar and Michael (who we were meeting there) came up behind me and witnessed the sorry spectacle.

WW Report - not a completely stellar week for our little group but we still lost - 4.5 pounds. Our total gone now is 39.5 pounds. I am very excited that we are almost assured of cracking the 40 lb mark next week. Then on to 50!

Just some things I have been pondering lately

Our national political/religion obsession is getting a little out of hand. Did we actually have candidates raising their hands that they don't believe in evolution?

Newsflash: Creationism (and I use that term loosely because it is just a plain stupid way of trying to validate religious mythology) has no scientific basis. Believe in creationism? Then feel free to see a faith healer when you break a leg. Personally, I will go to a physician, trained in medicine and science.

I don't want my preachers talking politics or my politicians talking religion.

The CIA feels it is necessary to destroy material to protect agents? My guess is that there is plenty of tapes, materials and papers remaining at Langley. Wouldn't most of that information and material compromise operations and agents? Too bad no one there felt it was necessary to destroy information pertaining to Valerie Plame before she was outed by White House officials.

Oh, and waterboarding?

Torture.

Just saying.......

Death March

After a couple of decent runs, I decided to take a new weights class last night. It is amazing how you can get used to a certain workout and then try something different and it kicks your butt. My butt was kicked from here to all ways next week. I don't know why.....I run, I cycle.....why do lunges and squats trash my legs? I definitely have sore quads, hams and inner thighs today. That must account for the abysmal 11:47 pace today. At least, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

WW weigh in is tonight. I think this might be my first no lost week. At least according to my scale at home, I haven't lost anything. Bah.

Edited to Add: The run wasn't all doom and gloom even though I can barely walk right now. The temp was in the mid 30's (perfect!), snow is on the ground but the roads are completely clear. Timing was such that there weren't many cars on the road in my neighborhood so I didn't feel like I was taking our lives in hand by running. Cosmo was full of p*ss and vinegar and was so happy to be out, spinning around, bumping my hand and side with his nose. Yeah, I guess it *really* was a good run :-)

My Winter Run By Cosmo

Tale of a Winter Run
by Cosmo

We are in some kind of funky weather pattern. All snow, wind and cold. School was cancelled yesterday.

But a 5 mile run was on the schedule and there was no way I was going to let that mo-fo of mine leave me home again. She ran on the treadmill Monday and left me. I stayed attached to her like glue, all day long. No way was she getting out of the house without me.

5 miles in the village and on the parkway along the lake. We did a 9 run, 1 walk because the ladies were so completely miserable. Only happy camper around was me! No bro for me today, they thought it might be a little too cold along the lake. So W dragged out an old single fleece coat that she had in her car. It was pink. Good thing I look smashing in every color.

Real men wear pink.

We b jammin'.

Action Shot! I go slow over the ice because the humans are so darned putzy!

25 degrees. Snowy. Windy. 5 miles. To all those who think greyhounds are delicate, fragile, couch potatoes......I say...Yo Mama!

Post Run. These chicks will stand around and talk for hours! They should put me in the car.

Ah yes. The couch is a fitting location for a post run nap.

Christmas 2007

If you look closely, you will see that Mally is wearing his reindeer ears. These pictures are from a fundraiser by one of our local adoption groups, Greyhound Outreach.