Had a fantastic run today. I ran 8 miles with Daisy and felt like I could've easily gone 3-4 more (and I would have if it wasn't for my new "dilemma"). The weather was perfect: cold and sunny with no wind, my favorite type of weather for long runs. I hadn't run in a few days so my legs felt fresh and primed for a long run.
So what's the dilemma? What do you do when you have a dog who loves to run, who hasn't gotten any exercise in a few days, who is going beserk as you put on your running gear (she knows the routine), and who is generally fun to run with??? You take her with you, of course.
But here's the problem: she loves to stop and lay in the snow. No kidding. Seriously. She runs for about a mile or so and then just stops and lays down. My friends have seen it and they laugh. She lays so that her back legs are sprawled out behind her as far as they go. And she just lays there!
It's funny at first. And she usually pops right up when I say her name and trots along. But today she stopped every 100 feet or so. I thought maybe she was thirsty so I ran her by the brook that runs by Westlake King Soopers to get a drink but noooooo.....she just stood in the water and panted happily, looking at me like she hadn't a care in the world.
That's fine on short runs. But on long runs, I like to run LONG! I like to keep going without stopping. There's a zen to long runs and you can't get it when you have to stop every 5 - 10 minutes. Just as I swear I will never take her again, she'll get up and trot along very obediently.
The other maddening thing that she does - that actually turned out to be fun - is that she likes to run in the snow. Today, as I ran along 20th street, where there's 3-4 feet of fresh snow on the side of the sidewalk, she galloped blissfully in the snow, pulling me further and further into the snow with her.
When we got to Aims, where there is a huge "field" of untouched, fresh, white snow - she suddently took off to the right, pulling me behind her into the field of snow. At first I resisted and tried to get her back onto the sidewalk; I wore capri running tights with short anklet socks and the snow was cold on my ankles and feet.
But it was too much fun! I gave in and followed her into the snow field. She sped up and we "galloped" through the snow. I felt my socks and feet getting wet but I didn't care. It felt like being a kid again - running pellmell through the snow as fast as we could. Daisy looked wildly happy and so was I!
We ran to my mom's house on the west side of town and I got her some water. She rested a bit and we headed for home. She did the same thing all the way back. I guess it's not bad to stop so often, esp when you end up having so much fun, but it does beg the question of whether i should take her with me on warmer days and longer runs. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, she's one happy puppy.
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