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This morning I woke up around 6:30am and one of my first thoughts was "Hmm, I feel like going for a run." Despite calling myself a runner I don't usually think such a thought in the morning, probably because I rarely run in the morning.
As I got dressed into my running attire, Haven began watching me intently and then started whining when she realized that I was going running. She convinced me to take her along, and I decided to add foster dog Ella to the mix as well.
Instead of two leashes I used just one, which I clipped to both of their lead-collars - this allowed me a free hand with which to carry water. It was early on a Sunday and for the first 40 minutes of our trip we only saw three cars! We had the road to ourselves and were also treated with a low 50's temperature, clear sky, and some thick fog near the river.
The excited girls tried to push the pace for the first four miles before finally showing some fatigue, but I think they helped pull me along. By the time we got home we had run 6.75 miles in just under an hour, a pretty good pace for me despite an easy effort.
Since Beacon had missed out on the fun, I rewarded him with a 15-minute session of frisbee fetch - long enough for his tongue to drag just as low as the tongues of exhausted Haven and Ella!
I took the day off from work to give myself a longer holiday weekend, and decided to do my weekly long run today instead of the usual Saturday or Sunday. I planned for about 12 miles but ran out of time before Amanda and I had to pick up a couple dogs from the vet for Vicky's Pet Connection, so my run only lasted 9 miles.
Both Haven and Beacon joined me for the run and they got pretty tired, but they tired me out, too - it's hard to manage two dogs using two leashes while running! At least on the trails they were able to run off-leash. In order to give them access to water, I detoured down an old two-track that's strewn with giant downed trees that I had to climb over rather than "steeple-chase" over. This is important because once the dogs and I left the river, I got stung by a hornet on the elbow! OWWW!! They kept chasing me so I flat out sprinted back up the two-track, somehow jumping and clambering over the massive tree obstacles.
My run ended when I met up with Amanda, who was walking our foster dog Ella. Amanda left just five minutes after I did and had trekked 5 miles already, and then we walked the last 2 miles home together. While walking home, wouldn't you know that Haven got stung by a yellow jacket! Right on her front leg - I had to use my foot to knock it off her. She was clearly in pain when it stung her, but the little trooper didn't complain once we resumed walking.
A 9-mile run isn't terribly long, but it helped that I had the 2-mile walk at the end of it. My big 50-mile race is just two weeks away, so next week's long run might be just a long hike to ensure that my legs are rested up for the long day of running. Just a few more miles of training until I (hopefully!) add a cool 50 to my training log!