Running with a dog

Active.com has a cool blurb about how owning a dog makes you fitter than an non-dog owner. I can definitely see it. I've been out walking a lot more with ours, and that's part of the reason why I realized I missed the physical activity. We went on a looooong walk yesterday, and he still had some energy to want to play! Right now he wants to play with the cats, and my tortoise shell is growling at him. Too funny!

Anyway, here's that article. We're going for a short run tonight, and we'll see how we both feel afterwards :)

I miss running

Yeah, some people will think that's a crazy statement but somehow I don't think my readers do. Well, some of my friends who read my blog might.

Anyway, what brings me to this is the fact that I have some time off from work coming up soon and the weather in the evenings is beginning to get bearable. I might be a little silly for thinking a vacation is a great time to start working out again, but it works for me. Plus I need to train the dog how to run with me!

So here's the idea: with the dog I need to try and exercise him everyday. Right now we play in the yard and in the house. I think I'll start running a short distance every day so he has a chance to get his exercise and we both work on acclimating ourselves to the running.

I start next Wednesday. Woohoo!

Water running

So I took advantage of the kids going back to school and hit the pool Saturday. After splashing around a bit, I decided to try swimming a couple laps. I accomplished about 1.75 before my arms got too tired. Rex says I need to kick more and rely a little less on my arms. After catching my breathe from that, I tried water running. Let's just say that while fun, I can see why it's a great work out. I was tired!!

For those who aren't familiar with water running, here's a good link that describes it. A lot of people suggest getting floats but I just ran in the shallow end. I looked pretty silly, but it was fun :)

Maybe I'm on summer vacation?

Yeah, that's it! Although if that's my excuse for not running I'm sorely out of luck. School has started in the Atlanta metro area for some counties this week, and the rest are back in school within the next two weeks. Did I mention today's high was around 100 degrees? That's right. I said it. 100!!!

The good news is the dog has been in obedience training since Saturday, and already his behavior is markedly better. He's only distracted by things that are super hard for dogs to ignore, like bunnies running for their lives. If I give him a couple more weeks he'll be obedient enough to take to the trails! It'll still be super hot, but I'm hoping to make it out sooner rather than later. Yes, I'm using the dog as motivation to get out and at least walk since he needs to get some exercise too. A tired dog is a well behaved dog.

How has running been for everyone else? I must say thanks to the 25 people who actually follow me on blogger, and who knows how many others elsewhere? One of these days I will get back into the swing of things. I do want to run the Georgia half-marathon again in March, so I'll need to get back into running soon. Some 5ks this fall would be nice as well. Oh! I can take the dog! Not all 5k races welcome dogs, but some do. Some even offer prizes for the dogs lol. Hmmmm....

Well, as far as my own working out goes (because I do need to give some kind of update), I've been outside walking around the yard with the dog on a 15 ft leash. We play fetch and I only break a sweat because of the heat, but at least I'm outside! Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm so glad I can be a part of the food chain.

What's my plan short-term? Once it begins cooling off a bit I'll take a lot more walks and some light jogs. Ease myself back into running. I have a feeling this will pick up somewhere in October. I'm not sure what I'll do in the winter when the sun goes down before 6pm, but we'll figure it out.

Here's to making grand plans!

So I have a good reason to at least get out and walk more

And that reason is......

Dingo! We rescued a dog a couple weeks ago, and because he's young (about a year old) he needs lots of walks. So far it's been a tad exhausting since his feeding and potty schedule mean I must be up around 6am every day, regardless of what's going on. Granted, on Sundays I go back to bed after I take care of him but still.

We're also still working on training, but I'm planning on training him to run with me. I've got to get him to obey simple commands regardless of his environment first though. I can't have him trying to chase anything and everything that crosses his path.

Wish me luck! :)