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Haven and I having a blast racing in the 2008 Bailey's Doggie Dash.
Since I began running almost five years ago I've participated in 25 races (including 3 adventure races) but surprisingly only three events have been repeats. Twice each I've run the Grand Rapids Marathon and the Irish Jig 5K, and now I can add Bailey's Doggie Dash to the list for the fourth time!
My first ever organized race was the 2005 edition of the Doggie Dash and it's been an annual staple for Haven and I ever since. Why? You'll be hard pressed to find more fun packed into a 5K!
Haven poses as Amanda takes advantage of beautiful photography settings.
Haven has always been a fast runner - after all, she's a dog! They're born to run, even the lazy ones. :) My training over the years has helped me keep up with her and our Doggie Dash results show a favorable trend:
2005 Bailey's Doggie Dash - 24:39 - 10th overall, 1st/1 age group
2006 Bailey's Doggie Dash - 22:42 - 5th overall, 1st/4 age group
2007 Bailey's Doggie Dash - 20:17 - 3rd overall, 2nd/3 age group
(A note about the age groups... Yes, I "won" my age group in 2005 by being the only runner in it! Although technically I'll never truly win my age group as long as Joel Bierling and his dog Anubis are here - they've won the Doggie Dash outright every year since 2004, and Joel is my age. In fact the top three humans in 2007 were all 31 years old!)
The one and only Bailey, the "assistant race director" of Bailey's Doggie Dash.
Could Haven and I continue to improve in 2008? Sadly, no - I am still recovering from a lingering hamstring injury and knew going into the event that I would not be able to run near full speed, but Haven didn't get the memo...
We lined up behind the chalk line with "START" scrawled on the pavement - part of the appeal of this race is how casual and old-school it is - and Haven immediately began screaming in excitement! Just like before last year's race - she knew exactly what was going on and just couldn't wait to get going.
Krista Durham heard Haven (who couldn't?) and walked over to say hi as I tried to buckle the Ruff Wear Roamer leash around my waist. Krista and Ron discovered the Doggie Dash - and indirectly their dog Kasey - last year thanks to my blog! In 2007 Ron won his age group but this year was Krista's turn and she assured me that she was no threat to win an award.
Race director Kevin Sweeney "barks" out final instructions before the start of Bailey's Doggie Dash.
Photo courtesy of Jim Falk, Kent County Parks Foundation. The race is held at Wabasis Park in Kent County, and 100% of the entry fees are donated to the Foundation.
Finally we were off! As you can see in the photo below, even though I was trying to go easy Haven was definitely in afterburner. The pack began to thin out a bit when suddenly a Golden Retriever whizzed past... off leash! I heard a woman behind me calling for her dog but it was having too much fun! I stopped a couple times to try and snag its leash but without luck; however, the dog was soon back in hand.
Haven launches us off to a quick start - who do you think is having more fun?
Heading up the first hill from the boat launch a young Husky mix kept trying to play with Haven, but Haven wasn't here for games - she wanted to catch the lady in front of us! To Haven's chagrin I instead struck up a conversation with Neil, the owner of the playful Isla. This was Neil's 4th or 5th Doggie Dash but the 1st for recently-adopted Isla - in previous years Neil had to borrow his daughter's dog!
Going downhill pulled away from Neil and Isla and Haven settled in behind a woman and her Irish Setter, who was also using a hands-free leash like us. We followed about half a mile, reaching the 1-mile mark where I realized I'd forgotten to start my watch! I started it here and based on my finish time, was able to deduce later that Haven and I posted an 8:16 first mile, faster than I've run in a long time.
Neil Bierling and Isla work their way up a hill.
Once again it was a downhill section that allowed us to pass a runner and Haven and it made the turn onto the wooded trail section of the course. With nobody in sight ahead or behind us, Haven must've realized the sudden privacy - she stopped for some "business"! Fortunately I carried a couple Business Bags in my pocket and cleared the trail of landmines, but then had to carry the live ordnance until we found a trash can! When all was said and done it was almost a one minute delay.
A few dogs and people passed us during the pit stop and I must've subconsciously accelerated a bit - we ran the second mile at a 9:05 pace including the poop delay, but by this point Haven was finally growing tired of giving my pace a free ride. The leash went slack and I was on my own!
Surprisingly I felt pretty good but I didn't let the slow pace fool me into thinking I was fit enough for anything faster. We jogged through the campground where a camping family was watching with their dog. They asked me about race and I ran backwards a few steps as I explained the basics before Haven coaxed me onwards.
Haven and I cresting the final hill and still having fun.
At long last the final uphill was in sight and we did our best to maintain momentum. Along this stretch of road Amanda was lurking on the shoulder to snap some photos with the amazing fall colors in the background. Every year the Doggie Dash has seen great weather - clear, sunny, cool, and leaves every color but green.
Cresting the hill I noticed that Neil and Isla weren't far behind, so Haven and I made sure we didn't get lazy as we chugged towards the finish line. Woo hoo! Yep, it's an old-school event - no chip timing here. A volunteer ripped the perforated tab from my bib number while another wrote down my time on a clipboard. 26:59 was written by my number, probably my slowest 5K ever but also among the most enjoyable!
Juanita Stasik and Lance working hard - well, one of them is working hard. :)
The last mile clocked about 8:45 - not having Haven's help really exposed my slowness! We hung out at the finish to watch some other folks finish, including a couple of my friends from work. Juanita Stasik and her yellow lab Lance were running their second Doggie Dash after discovering the event in 2007.
Bob Fry and Monty make their way to the finish. Monty was glad for the cool, 45-degree weather!
Making his first Doggie Dash appearance was Bob Fry and his Pomeranian mix Monty. Bob is one the guys I run with at work during lunch (when my leg is healthy) and a former Boston Marathoner. Notice that "50" on his shirt - I'll bet that he and I were the only two runners wearing shirts from a 50-mile ultramarathon! Monty probably took as many steps in this 5K as Bob does in a 50K!
Now it was time for the treats - dog biscuits for Haven and Halloween candy for me! Race director Kevin Sweeney sure knows how to dish out a post-race spread! He also knows how to organize a smooth event - low tech, low stress, high class and high fun!
Haven is in full-on begging mode, explaining in dog language why she deserves yet another biscuit!
Once all the runners and walkers had finished it was time for the awards. First up were the door prizes and I finally won! The loot was a hand-made blanket - I've been pining for one of those hand-made dog beds and blankets that are given out each year.
The little wizard, winner of the Bailey's Choice costume award.
Next were the costume winners as chosen by local meteorologist Peter Chan - many great outfits but there was a certain charm about the winner - a little wizard. And finally the running awards... Once again Joel Bierling and Anubis won overall but he had to pass a high school cross country runner on the last hill to earn his victory! If that kid is back next year, Joel and Anubis are in trouble. A girl from the same high school took a close 2nd overall for women, too!
I should mention that trophies are handed out for the people and engraved bowls for the dogs! Three deep in each age group, so there's a lot of hardware going home. Neil and Isla won their age group as did Bob and Monty! However Bob had already headed home, so after the awards I got their trophies and dropped them off with Bob at work. He has two other dogs besides Monty and he thinks they'll be jealous of Monty's engraved bowl.
Not to be outdone by our co-worker, Juanita and Lance went home with some hardware, too! They finished 3rd in her age group, a task made easier by arriving on time. Last year Juanita took a wrong turn while driving to the park and started the race 10 minutes late! Apparently she still had so much fun that she came back for more.
Krista Durham and Kasey try to shrug off their award after promising at the start to not win one. ;)
Remember Krista's promise that Kasey wasn't going to win anything? Wrong - they placed 3rd in their age group! Kasey is 2-for-2 with trophies and now has more than either of his owners. Ron had his own race the next day - the Grand Rapids Marathon as his first 26.2 and he rocked it with a 3:37! Wow.
Finally it was time for my age group and... nothing. Lots of guys in their 30s can run faster than gimpy me, so poor Haven had to endure the shame of no engraved bowl this year. But hey, we won a blanket!
Haven relaxes on our door prize, an evidently comfy hand-made blanket.
Even though it's only a 20-minute drive home, Haven slept the entire way - she was one worn-out pup. We posed for our photo in front of the burning bush in what has become a post-race tradition, then went inside to indulge in more treats. As if Bailey's Doggie Dash wasn't enough of a treat already!
The traditional post-race photo - we'll be back in 2009!
No worries about gas prices when running on human power!
For several years I've been hoping to go for an epic bike ride from my house in Lowell to my parents' house in Ann Arbor, a distance of roughly 120 miles. With my recovering hamstring preventing me from planning any running races, I thought that maybe this year I could squeeze in an all-day bike ride.
However, "real life" gets in the way as it often does and I wasn't able to put in enough training to prepare. Sure I could've pulled it off, but I figure that to do something like riding my bike across an entire state ought to be done right. For example, a decent road bike would help compared to my 6-year-old "comfort bike".
Yeah, that's what my Giant Cypress DX is called and it's since been "tricked out" with a new seat (twice), bar-end hand grips, new pedals and second-hand pedal clips, bottle rack, speedometer, rear rack, and a cheap bike computer. It has served me well over the years on the roads, mountain bike trails, and even in adventure races. But it's not a fast bike.
A few years ago I bought a 25-year-old Peugot road bike for $65 just to see what a road bike feels like. Despite being an old 10-speed I easily averaged a full 1 mph faster on my standard routes. That bike is now in need of repair so the Cypress is all I have, meaning that a 120-mile ride would take 10-12 hours including food stops whereas a nice road bike could shave a few hours off of that time.
Ready to ride despite the rain.
Instead I planned a ride that traveled 55 miles, starting near Lansing and finishing at my parents' house. Last Sunday Amanda dropped me off near Webbersville at the I-96 exit in a heavy, steady rain! I was standing in a two-inch deep puddle as I unloaded my bike from the car and got ready to go. Due to the weather I had to keep all of my gear in a dry-bag bungeed to the rack on my bike and I wore a rain jacket to stay warm. You can see what the weather was like in Amanda's video:
The first 15 miles of my ride were solo as I pedaled my way to Stockbridge where I would meet Dad. It took me about an hour despite a strong WNW crosswind on my southbound road and the steady rain blurring up my sunglasses. Believe it or not I found the glasses to be of help because they kept splashes and road grit out of my eyes, but also being polarized it really cut down the glare from the wet road.
No frogs here, yet...
Worse than the wind and the rain were the frogs - dead ones. The shoulder of the road was littered with hundreds of dead frogs! I don't know why so many were trying to cross and getting hit and why they ended up on the shoulder but I was constantly weaving my tires among the slimy amphibian bodies, not wanting to get a taste of frog leg sushi kicked up into my mouth!
Finally I made it to Stockbridge and rendez-voused with my parents. Dad's raincoat was rather heavy - it's meant for field work, not cycling - so Mom offered him the $1 "emergency poncho" that she keeps in her car. He was quite pleased although the poncho went down to his knees and he just about fell over trying to hop on his bike when the plastic caught on his seat! Mom had to trim off a foot or so of plastic and after the obligatory photo, we were on our way.
Dad and I are "waterproofed" prior to hitting the Lakelands Trail
Our route took advantage of the Lakelands Trail, a linear state park created as a Rails to Trails project. The first several miles of the trail were packed dirt that was rather rough in some areas due to horse traffic. We'd had several days of rain here in Michigan and the ground was wet but not soft. The bumpiness was pretty rough on me as Dad kept looking back wondering why I was lagging behind. I think his fresh legs had a bit more pep that mine after having ridden for an hour just to meet him!
Soon after starting down the trail the rain stopped and since the temperature was already 70 degrees even in the rain, we were plenty comfortable. It was actually splendid weather for a ride with overcast skies, a now NW breeze and warm air temps.
When my water bottle ran dry we stopped in Pinckney at a gas station to refill and we also chomped on some food: a Power Bar for Dad and some Clif Bloks for me. When planning the ride we talked about stopping here for food but we both were feeling very good and decided to just continue to our "dessert stop", a Dairy Queen in Hamburg.
For quite a while I was telling stories about the interesting politics I've been getting involved with in Lowell, only to be occasionally interrupted when Dad would point out one of "his" many projects in the area - a water tower, a subdivision, a boardwalk, and more - he's a land development civil engineer with lots of handiwork in Livingston County.
Suddenly Dad said "Oops!" It turns out he completely missed the turn for Dairy Queen! We'd been distracted by the conversation and since I've never been on the trail before, I was relying on his navigation. We only went about half a mile out of our way so it wasn't too bad, and when Dairy Queen is the destination you don't lose any motivation to get there.
At the DQ Dad got a large chocolate shake and I ordered a Blizzard with M&Ms, but asked if they could use chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. The guy at the counter suggested their "Chocolate Extreme" flavor - chocolate ice cream with hot fudge syrup, fudge brownie chunks, and pieces of hard chocolate mixed in. Awesome! Yes, I love chocolate, but I also learned that even I have limits - a large Blizzard more than filled me up, but it was worth it.
Sitting at the outdoor table at DQ my dad whipped out his Blackberry and showed off some coolness, like how he can pull up a weather radar image. Days before our ride he had mentioned this and I teased him, saying "How would that help us on the ride? Are we going to see imminent rain and decide to pedal faster?"
We'd been riding precipitation-free for hours but looking at his Blackberry the radar image showed that a ton of rain was right upon us despite the bright but overcast skies. Wouldn't you know it... five minutes later as we pulled out of the DQ parking lot some big, fat drops of water started to fall! We could only laugh at the irony and besides, we'd been soaking wet since Stockbridge.
Soon we were at the end of Lakelands Trail and heading south on back roads near US-23 on our way home. The skies never did manage to open up - occasionally it would sprinkle a bit but then stop. Since the rain was coming from the NW and we were riding south I think we were keeping ahead of the weather.
Recharged with chocolate I was feeling pretty good but Dad was starting to tire out and we took a couple of extended water breaks on the side of the road to rest the legs. With about five miles to go our quads began to cramp up - both of us at the same time! Yet fortunately a couple miles later our legs relented and allowed us to finish our ride in comfort.
All smiles after dozens of miles.
But not in style - the first thing Mom said when we pulled into the driveway was "Wow, you're muddy!" Actually I didn't think it was that bad, but Mom insisted on a "rear-end view" photo nonetheless. Dad explained how only a two mile stretch of Warren Road was to blame - the rest of the entire route was paved or puddle-less dirt.
If Mom thinks this is "muddy", wait until we go mountain biking!
Dad and I also discovered that one or both of our bike computers isn't calibrated correctly - mine had logged a couple more miles than Dad's over the same course! I used MapMyRun to determine that my Webberville-to-Stockbridge solo ride was 15.2 "mapped" miles compared to 15.4 "computed" miles so it seems mine is a bit off. However, it's hard to say for sure about the rest of the ride since our double-back for missing Hamburg can only be guessed for distance.
All told my computer showed 55.3 miles, so assuming that it's off by 0.2 every 15.4, my total distance would be 54.6 - not a major error. I'll just call it 55 miles and be content.
Soon after getting home the "Blackberry rain" arrived and it began to pour cats and dogs. Two of the dogs were mine - Haven and Beacon arrived with Amanda and her parents, as did Ryan and Megan. We all (except the dogs) went to dinner at Red Robin where it rained even harder and the restaurant even lost power for a couple seconds before the backup kicked in! Perhaps it was a good day to not be riding 120 miles after all!
Overall the ride was a total blast and surprisingly "easy" if 50+ miles can ever be deemed easy. The route was pancake flat except for a few short hills between Hamburg and Ann Arbor and traffic on the non-trail roads was never a problem. My legs were sore for the next couple days but I never felt bonky or worn out. I'm already thinking about doing this again! But not this weekend. :)
4th of July weekend I set out for the fourth time in my new inline skates; my previous three sorties carried me 7.5, 7.5, and 5 miles. I figured it was time to stretch into the double digits so I drove over to the White Pine Trail and laced up the boots.
Almost three hours later I arrived back at the car after covering 33.4 miles! I felt great - yes, I was definitely tired, and my heart rate had been 150-170 (that's above "easy run" range for me) the whole way - but I was nowhere near toasted. My quads felt a bit crampy over the last half hour but not painful. Before setting out I was confident that I could finish 30+ miles, but I never thought I'd cover it in 2:58 and still have some pep left over.
Last Sunday I talked Amanda into joining me on the White Pine Trail again, but instead of skates she was riding her bike. The night before she kept telling me "I think I only want to go to Rockford" (that's an 8 mile round trip) and I assured her that we'd just go until she got tired then turn around since it's uphill going north and downhill back south.
After riding and skating for an hour I asked her to check her bike computer and it read 10 miles, but we hadn't turned around yet! I knew that Amanda had been selling herself short the night before. We continued on since Amanda felt OK still, but within a couple miles she wanted to turn around. I pressed her on for another mile since then we could say we did a marathon.
And we did, going 26.8 miles in 2:31 although strangely I felt more tired than after my 33-miler. Amanda totally bonked at the two-hour mark and we inched along for about 10 minutes until her system finally rebooted and we cruised back to the car.
As impressive as it felt to be skating along at 11 mph for 2-3 hours, it blows me away that elite runners would've dusted me! I skated a 2:30 marathon and folks out there can run that same distance in less time. Wow.
Having stayed up until 2am last night this morning to watch the entirety of the 2008 MLB All-Star Game, I better make it worth my while and share some insight from my bleary mind. For those of you wise enough to get a good night's sleep, the game lasted 15 innings before the tie was broken, giving the American League a 4-3 victory that awards home field advantage to whichever AL team reaches the World Series.
Yes, you read that right - an exhibition game that impacts the results of baseball's crowning event. Why would the MLB do something so silly? To avoid something even sillier - an All-Star game that nobody cares about.
Tell a professional athlete that winning doesn't matter and the athlete won't show up, choosing instead to rest his worn out body for the remaining half of a season that does matter. Tell a fan that the players don't care, and the fan won't pay money to watch the event. So what to do?
After the 2002 All-Star game embarrassment (that ended in a tie after just 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers) the MLB decided to put the World Series home field advantage at stake in hopes that the players would care enough to show up and play hard, despite the slight risk of injury that any sport entails. The managers, it was hoped, would save enough pitchers in reserve to go the distance no matter how long the game lasted.
It just doesn't work that way. Pitching takes such a toll on the arm that many All-Star hurlers will adjust their usage before and/or after the game to accomodate the extra stress. Regular season games are played just two days before and two days after the All-Star game, giving pitchers little time to recover.
Most starting pitchers are limited to around 100 pitches per start - more than that might increase the risk of injury. Consider that the Milwaukee Brewers were so desperate for quality pitching that they traded their top prospect for a stud starter, CC Sabathia, just a week ago. Yet their staff ace, Ben Sheets, tossed 42 pitches yesterday. Should the Brewers be forced to sacrifice half a game of ace pitching while in the thick of a playoff race?
Milwaukee's division rival, the Chicago Cubs, saw three of their best pitchers throw 57 pitches combined. That almost seems fair until you realize that the St. Louis Cardinals - in the playoff race with the Brewers and Cubs - saw its hurlers throw zero pitches because none of them were good enough to be All-Stars.
In truth, the All-Star game will never be fair - after all, due to the whimsical nature of fan voting many of MLB's best players don't even get invited. Fundamentally the All-Star game is still an exhibition, so I wish baseball would stop pretending that "This One Counts" (the pleadingly sappy official motto of the 2003 contest) and instead come up with a solution along the lines of "We Care" because that's all that matters for an exhibition.
My proposal is to run the All-Star game as a charity contest:
-- Each player voted into the game selects a charity to represent.
-- MLB lines up corporate sponsors to ante up a significant pot of cash.
-- Players on the winning team split the cash as donations made in their name to their chosen charity.
Further, bonuses could be handed out, such as:
-- An "MVP sponsor" gives a extra bonus to the charity of the player who wins the MVP;
-- Additional sponsors could hand out bonuses for players hitting home runs or pitchers getting strikeouts;
-- The home run derby could have "jackpot" bullseye targets in the bleachers that could earn extra donations if struck.
And so on. If a player wants to back out of the game to go fishing instead, he'll have to endure the boos of fans for turning his back on a charity. Rather than being a physical burden, it would be an emotional honor for a player to compete.
Since the game has zero impact on regular season or post-season games, there's no need to drag it on for extra innings because something affecting the players' professional future is at stake. Instead a tiebreaker can be used - remember, it's just an exhibition put on for the fans. Some have suggested that a home-run derby can break a tie, but that's rather anti-climatic.
An exciting tiebreaker would be if the game is tied after nine innings then each subsequent inning starts with the bases loaded. The highlight of last night was when the AL loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th inning with nobody out (albeit due to two errors and a walk) but failed to score a run as Aaron Cook induced three straight ground ball outs, getting two force outs at home plate.
If the current version of the All-Star game is so ho-hum, why did I watch? Because I'm a die hard baseball fan without cable TV, so I watch any televised game I can. Amanda is a baseball fan, too, but she decided to count sheep instead of innings. Fans don't care about World Series home field advantage in July. Fans do care about seeing their favorite players together on one field as they exhibition the skills that make them such beloved athletes.
When running on roads I wave to passing drivers, especially if they give me a little extra space on the shoulder. It shows my appreciation for their efforts to put me more at ease, but I also want to remind them that runners and cyclists are people and by waving, it likewise conveys that I recognize them as people even though they're in a vehicle. My hope is that by seeing each other not as competing "motor vehicles" vs. "pedestrians" but as two friendly folks crossing paths, that they will be more aware and respectful of the risks they're responsible for when driving.
While most drivers do wave back to me and smile, many of them do not wave. Why? They're holding a steering wheel in one hand and a cell phone in the other. It's not a physical problem of having both hands full that causes them to not return my friendly gesture - they don't even notice me! I've observed that drivers on cell phones just stare straight ahead and zoom right on by without even a glance, and without giving me extra clearance despite a clear view on a wide, empty road.
Studies of cell phone usage while driving have confirmed my observations that such behavior causes visual fixation, reducing peripheral vision and overall situational awareness. On July 1st, California and Washington will join New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as the states that have enacted laws banning in-hand cell phone usage while driving. Will these laws improve roadway safety?
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it best in a report on a commercial bus accident (PDF) where a too-tall bus collided with a too-low bridge caused by "the bus driver’s failure to notice and respond to posted low-clearance warning signs and to the bridge itself due to cognitive distraction resulting from conversing on a hands-free cellular telephone while driving." [emphasis mine] While this is just one accident, NTSB investigations are very thorough and they did some digging. In the report (page 16 for reference) the NTSB cited some cell phone studies and summarized the most critical results:
-- Using a hands-free cell phone is just as risky as using an in-hand cell phone.
-- The risk of a crash increases 30% when simply talking on a cell phone.
-- The risk of a crash TRIPLES when actively dialing a number.
-- The risk of an injury accident QUADRUPLES when using a cell phone.
Critics of the new cell phone laws, however, can point out a couple failings in these measures. Washington's law is only a "secondary" offense, meaning that the police can't pull you over for talking on the phone - all they can do is give you an extra ticket if you were on the phone when being cited for a "primary" offense such as speeding. Looking at the below graph of Michigan's historical safety belt use shows the benefits of secondary vs. primary enforcement. Michigan enacted a secondary seatbelt law in 1985, and upgraded it to a primary offense in 2000. I imagine that the impact to cell phone use would be similar.
California's law is indeed a primary offense, but insanely does not apply to text messaging except for teenagers. Texting is certainly more distracting than talking and I find it baffling that the lawmakers didn't include such a provision for adults. Perhaps those very lawmakers want to continue using their Blackberries while on the road? I hope not. Considering that 89% of Americans actually want a ban and evidence that a crash is SIX TIMES as likely while texting, there's no excuse for any state to not outlaw text messaging while driving as a primary offense.
It was after reading the NTSB report over a year ago that I stopped using my cell phone in the car - a 30% risk increase just isn't worth it. Several more studies lay clear the dangers of driving while "in-talks-icated". In fact, that drinking-related pun is chillingly appropriate - one study found that cell-phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers (PDF). Perhaps the penalties for using a wireless device while driving should be on par with the penalties for drunk driving, too.
Overall the new laws will improve safety for drivers, runners, cyclists, and anyone else on the roads. Just like the seatbelt laws helped promote overall safety awareness and voluntary comlpliance, so too could primary regulations that ban the use of wireless devices while driving. It's unfortunate that these early laws are full of holes even before going into effect, but something is better than nothing. So I plead to Michigan and the other 44 states without meaningful cell phone laws, "what the h3ll r u w8ing 4?" Hopefully you aren't reading this while behind the wheel...
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| From Haven & Beacon |
Happy birthday Haven and Beacon! My dogs turned 5 years old yesterday (Haven) and today (Beacon) and we celebrated in style. Beyond the new West Paw Tux toys, silly party hats and whipped cream 'n bread "birthday cake", I also took both dogs down to the river.
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| From Haven & Beacon |
We ran one mile of trails to get there, then I tried not to fall down the steep, muddy hill that descends to the water. Sometimes I throw sticks for them, but this time I went into the river with the dogs, wading upstream as they swam along beside me. After a long night of heavy thunderstorms, the river was deeper than usual and running fast - Haven and Beacon couldn't keep up with me! I had the advantage of long legs that could keep contact with the river bottom to push me forward.
A few times I walked toward shore where the pups could take a breather in shallow water before mushing onward, but eventually we got to a point where the current was flowing so quickly that the dogs could no longer make headway! Time to turn around, and boy was the "float" back downstream an easy one.
While my dogs got to have fun on their birthdays, it's been a rough summer for the dogs of some of my friends. Six weeks ago Paul unexpectedly lost his beloved yellow lab Sky from a heart attack during hip surgery. Sarah's fluffy akita, George, died of bloat on Saturday. Not a day later, Matt and Lisa's greyhound mix Eddie succumbed to cancer just a month after the diagnosis.
All three dogs were exceedingly loved and are dearly missed by my friends. I feel so sad for them - it's just so devastating to lose a furry family member. One hard truth about dogs is that they just don't live long enough - a 10-15 year life expectancy means that the end will always be too soon.
Sky, George, and Eddie all lived wonderful lives and as time heals the grief, hopefully my friends will remember how lucky they and their dogs were to have had each other for so many years.
So much sad news, but it's also a happy day that I'm able to celebrate the 5th birthdays of my two dogs. When they go it will be too soon, but hopefully there will be many more trail runs, river swims, treats and birthdays in between.