Who let the dogs out?

Those of you who have been following along for a while will know I usually run with my dog Max.

The hound in all his furry glory!

When I started out on this running gig (the first time) I took Max with me, but he was a shocker on the lead - pulling ahead, jumpy when cars and bikes went past, chasing other dogs and getting all super-excited and boundy when he saw them. He tripped me up more than a few times and hurt my shoulder, so after a couple of weeks, I ditched him and concentrated on just lugging my own ass up and down the pavement.

And I did it! Finished Couch to 5K and ran in the Sydney Running Festival. All without Maxy-doodles.

After that I hurt my hip, got lazy, got fat(ter) and then had to kick-start myself again. I started by walking the dog. I read about training and watched Cesar Milan. The walks were INSTANTLY better - it was like he knew I was in charge. I got a Halti Collar for him and then we were set! It is not a muzzle, but puts you in control of the walk and stops pulling.

When I started up running again, Maxy was with me every step of the way, working our way up from 30 second running intervals to running the entire 5km! Rain, hail or shine. Except not hail.

We have our little morning run routine going - into the car, drive to the beach, he whines while I fiddle with my iPhone, out of the car for a little sniff, wee and poo (him, not me; I went before we left), stop at the garbage so I don't have to run carrying dog poo, 5 minute walk warm-up and then we are off! I now carry an extra poo-bag up my compression shorts so we don't have a repeat of the "unexpected second poo" incident. Back to the car for stretches and licks.

He trots along nicely beside me now. I "run" and he looks like he's out for a Sunday stroll. I've only taken him for one lot of sprints and he had no idea what was going on, I had to drag/encourage him to keep up - thank goodness it was only for 1 minute! He'll get used to them and so will I!

He has lost weight too! I've given him a haircut for summer, but he was getting a little on the skinny side, so on run days he gets a bit of extra dry food in the morning. We do not feed him treats! Not because he might get fat, but because his sensitive stomach reacts badly and then we have repeats of the "unable to pick up liquid poo" incident where I used all my post-run water trying to wash the offending mess away. Too much information? Sorry - we keep it real around here!

One of my favourite blogs is Shut Up and Run - she also tells it how it is and has a lovely JFDI attitude. She also blogs about all of life, and just yesterday she had me at "Lucky" - I dare you to read that post and not shed a tear. I'll wait while you cry...

Back now? Need a tissue or three? Here you go...

I will digress and mention, however, the annoyance I feel at fellow dog owners who can't do the right thing:

• Dog owners who let their dogs poo on the footpath and either don't have poo-bags with them or don't even bother to kick it off the concrete where everyone is walking and onto the grass. Just defies belief.
• Dog owners who have no control over their dogs on or off-leash. I get annoyed with people who let their dogs run around and set mine off with excitement.
• I have a spent a lot of time and effort getting my dog to heel next to my left side. I understand that not everyone has trained their dog like this, but people - I'm trying to run, and it's bloody hard work! I am not here for your puppy to have a little 'socialisation' with my my puppy while we stand around and have chat. Keep your dogs close to you and not under my feet!

On the whole though, running has been fantastic for me and for Max. We are both much fitter and healthier. Max gets his exercise and discipline before he gets his affection. We have a much better human/dog relationship now and he knows who is boss (me!).

Do you run with your dog?

Have you ever had an "incident" that you'd care to repeat here?

Or you could just tell me how much you love your dog :-)

Cat-lovers, I'm sure you love your cats too, but you can't run with them! (or can you?)

A Pain in the Butt

This running thing is a pain in the ass. Literally!

Again. It's back again. I get to 30 minutes, run a couple of times a week and it's back! I was doing so well - building up slowly and I haven't suddenly increased mileage or pace. So frustrating. Stupid 42 year old body.

I seem to have a very tight piriformis muscle. It has been hurting since Thursday and the pain radiates through to my hip flexor region. This injury stopped me from running for 3 months last year. And on Thursday, the dreaded pain returned.

So, I didn't run on Friday like I planned. I didn't run yesterday and I didn't run today. I might take the dog for a walk later this afternoon. All I was trying to do was run consistently. Not fast. Not far (less than 5km!). Just run.

Maybe running isn't for me? Maybe my body just isn't cut out for it. It peeves me no end to read stuff like Run Fat Bitch Run - which espouses just getting out there and running. I get all enthused and motivated and then this. Again. I'm not just having a whinge at little aches and pains. It hurts. All the time. I obviously have some weirdo biomechanical imbalance which I haven't addressed properly because it keeps coming back.

I'm not the only one - Beth at Shut Up and Run has it. Her answer is to drink margaritas in Mexico - sounds like a good plan to me! Mollie at Eat Run Read has it.

So. What to do? I LOVE running. It's like nothing else. My dog loves running with me. My immediate plan is to keep walking. And get serious about the foam roller and the stretching and strengthening exercises I have for hip flexor problems. I'm going to give it another shot. If I nip this in the bud before it gets too bad maybe I won't have to start again from the beginning. Because I honestly don't know if I can do that. Again.

Winner! and Walker

I won something!! No, it wasn't a Shut Up and Run t-shirt or visor, it was a copy of My Run DVD from the lovely Candice at I Have Run who is also nursing a hip injury - although admittedly, she nursed hers through a freaking MARATHON!. Anyway, I'm pretty chuffed about that - the movie is about Terry Hitchcock who ran 75 freaking marathons in 75 days!!!!

Doesn't look like that will be me anytime soon. Back to the physio - hip is still healing. She has given me a massage and my butt has the bruises to prove it - and thankfully I will not be sharing pics (I do have my limits), I have (kinda, sorta) been doing my stretches and now I have hip abductor strengthening exercises too.

In the meantime, I admit I have not much enthusiasm for exercise. I did manage some laps at the local pool:

That's my son, not me -
but that's the lane I swam in (nice warm water)

And a nice long Saturday morning walk with the puppy:

Maxie

Not too shabby, hey?

I have 4 days (count 'em - f-o-u-r!!) until I hop on a really big boat over that ocean and head to New Zealand. I might actually use the gym this cruise and I will definitely do a few circuits of the promenade deck (walking, not running). Can't wait to post some nice pics for you!!! (because you have to have things to look forward too).

Lastly, a bit of shout out and recognition (yanno, because soooo many people read this blog!).  I am really chuffed that in some small way I have inspired my e-buddy Jane to take up running - she is doing brilliantly! She is up to two lots of 14 minutes and will be running 30 minutes without stopping before you know it. All that in the dark and cold too! What an inspiration :-)

Day In The Life

So, this is a blatant attempt to win a Shut Up and Run visor (the t-shirts on offer would never fit me!). And maybe, just maybe, pick up a few extra visitors to my blog!

Beth, at SUAR, is offering t-shirts or visor to those who blog about a day in their boring life. I might qualify. Although having said that, today was an unusually busy day.

Now, SUAR is not afraid of bodily functions. So, it appropriate that my day started at 7am, with a "fairy circle" of doggy doo doo left on the carpet by a dog not able to hold it in until I got up and let him out. Sigh.

Just how I love to start my day...

The culprit!

So....what's a girl to do, but ignore that and have a cup of tea. It was an early start this morning, so I continued to ignore the funk downstairs and hopped in the shower - how great do I look at 7:30am??

Check out that thyroid!

That grey hair is why I should have used this:

Note the really cute lululemon hair tie!!!

Instead, I applied pain relief for my still-dodgy hip:

Unfortunately, I have no satisfying bowel movement of my own to report - an unfortunately common occurrence (not helped by not having any breakfast this morning).

I never wear my running shoes during the day, but considering I'm not running much with the dodgy hip, I thought "bugger it".

Then off to my 8am maths tutoring gig. Maths at 8am??? Bloody hell. But like all good wives, I left hubby to deal with the dog poo and get the kids up.

When I'd finished there, it was off to pick up my Mum who lives nearby. I apparently promised to drive her to her cataract appointment  45min away. I homeschool my kids, so I swing by home to pick them up so they are not left home alone all day!

Drop Nanna off at the doctors. Head on down to the "mall" (I use that term loosely!!). The kids are growing  so fast, they need some new clothes. I try on a dress - but it makes me look like a elephant. What a pity I forget to take a pic of that one!

Kids are starving, so we stop at Donut King and get my son a White Chocolate Marble donut and my daughter a Raspberry Slushy - all the additives and sugar you can eat in one easy meal! I avoid artificial colourings and flavourings because I figure we'll eat crap for lunch too and I like to limit my crap intake to once a day - yanno, so one day I won't look like an elephant in a dress.

After we got bargains at Target, Kmart, Payless Shoes, Jay Jay's Jeans and the bookshop, Nanna was finally finished at the doctors, and it was time for a quick lunch at McDonalds. I opted for lowest fat seared sweet chilli wrap, but regretted it - obviously no-one ever orders them because the guys took 15 minutes to cook it! There is a pretty nice lactation room in the mall, but it's been many years since I felt the need to use it.

I tried not to break too many speed limits rushing back home. I love living on the NSW south coast - it's beautiful and did you know all those trees have so much wildlife including kangaroos, possums, owls and wombats in them? Seriously - you should move HERE!!

How nice would it be to run down that road?

Running late now for our next appointment at 2:15pm back in town for my son's optometrist. He is getting contact lenses that you wear at night so you can see in the day - pretty cool! But he didn't enjoy getting poked in the eye - it will be something he has to get used to.

Dropped Nanna back to her place, rushed home in time for my 4pm afternoon maths tutoring! Yay! More maths!

It was 6:30pm by the time I'd finished. Time for wine. 

Given the lack of breakfast and crap lunch, I was happy to make a relatively health dinner of chicken burritos:

Hopefully that corn will get me going!

Spent the evening supporting my son in his attempts to shove bits of plastic into his eyes and then reading to him, because his eyes were watering. With any luck though, he will wake up tomorrow morning being able to see more clearly than he has in months.

"Miss Congeniality" is on telly now. I might watch the end before I hop into bed. Nothing planned for tomorrow - but I will have to get up and get on the exercise bike (in lieu of run) and inflict pain on myself with my foam roller - joy! I have news on the hip front...but you can wait until tomorrow for that, because Sandra Bullock and I have a hot date :-)

The thing with every day stuff, is it just has to be done. Fit in appointments, get dinner on the table, try not to eat crap, squeeze in some exercise. What is the point? Cuddles with my son, watching my daughter draw turtles at the optometrist, sitting on the couch with my hubby at the end of a long day, safe in the knowledge he will clean up dog poo for me. Life's good :-)