Day 49 - April 25, 2010

5 miles ??? (plus strength training)

I headed out today without a plan, and within blocks my watch died. This further complicated my motivation to do a tempo run, as a tempo run feels meaningless to me, without the reward of knowing the actual pace. I also had an expected visitor with me. When I dropped off the kids at my Mom's house, their dog gave me the look and the bark. I do NOT like running with dogs. I run to get away from scolding, bossing and carrying around poop (which I finally, after over five years of diapers, don't have to do anymore). I felt it fair, however, that I take Tosca, as my Mom and Ken were watching my kids, I could easily return the favor (just don't tell Tinsel).

I headed out with no watch and Tosca towards the park. Tosca is not like Tinsel. She is trained to stay with you off leash, and she is friendly with other dogs (as long as they don't bite first). I am usually in agreement with the leash law, however with a dog like Tosca, who will stay right next to you, I don't believe it is necessary, so I felt okay running with her. I do however, get VERY annoyed by dog owners with out of control dogs pooping all over the place and messing with our dog, who is on a leash. I am also just a little bothered when an off leash dog comes running up to one of my kids, and I hear the owner yell out from behind me "That dog isn't friendly." Are you kidding me? What is it doing running on a highly populated hiking trail without a leash? Anyway, I must admit, I LOVED having the running partner this morning. It sure was nice to have the company without the constant leash jerking and yelling. I didn't even mind the one poop pick-up. (And, sorry again Tinsel. We know you spent your first six months wild in the woods, and that wild animal side will not be tamed, and we love you and the leash for it).

Anyway, the run was a great one. After a nice warm-up with Tosca, I dropped her off back at her house, and headed back to the pond. I know the pond loop is half a mile, so I just did a bunch of laps at a medium pace, but mixed it up a bit, by stopping every lap to do some strength training. I might have looked a little silly doing squats along the trail, but it broke up the laps and made the run more challenging and interesting.

Just a few more days until we head to Omaha, where we will most likely not run. Better make these next couple of workouts count. There will be plenty of time for recovery later this week.