When I get too hot my mutt will carry my mittens for me. I don’t mind the drool; they are an old pair from Target used only for running.
Ace has also been known to carry my hat and keys (when attached to a big lanyard or key chain). It’s useful to own a retriever in the spring and fall when you can never be sure if it’s too warm for gloves or too cold to go without.
We ran a timed 6-mile run in 57:53, and then walked for a total of 6.03 miles. The goal was to keep it under an hour. We hugged a nice 9:35 pace for most of the run – not too fast.
My lingering ankle pain from an old injury crept up around 4 miles. I won’t see a doctor because I know what any doctor will tell me – quit running.
Today I wondered if Ace ever has any pain while he runs. Like me, he’d probably keep on without saying anything. I do always watch him closely to make sure he is not slowing down or limping. Sometimes he will favor one leg after agility or playing too much fetch.
I joke that my dog sets no limits, that he will chase a tennis ball until he collapses from near exhaustion. His retrieving drive is stronger than his common sense.
The reality is, I am just like my dog. We will both stubbornly keep on until we hurt ourselves.
I have to watch myself or I become obsessed with following a training schedule despite how I’m feeling. And that’s the worst thing any athlete can do. Running too many miles is a common mistake made by beginning runners – and experienced runners – and easily leads to injury or mental stress.
Listening to my body is the best way to run.
And what a difference just one day can make. Yesterday my dog and I could barely finish 3 miles. Today we were back on track.
Ace is a good boy.
April miles: 18.16
Recent Search Terms:
- walking the dog 6 miles
- is 6 miles too much for my dog?
- walking dog 3 miles
- how easily can a dog run a mile and a half?
- walking a dog 5 miles a day
- Is it too much to walk my dogs three miles
- walking 5 miles day too much
Boy do I know the pushing over every limit your body has. The drive to continue always defeats the lingering want to just stop dead in your tracks.
You’re clocking up those miles very well.
I invested buying Kimi a Gentle Leader on Sunday — the reasons not because of the pulling but to just have that extra reinforcement with my commands and what I want her to do. Her leash reactiveness had spurred up a little more when we started venturing further for our Miles, but today I can tell you, having that extra reinforcement to just distract her by turning her gaze away from what she is fixated on, and then luring her a little or correcting her with a gentle tug, made our walks today an absolute wonder. We even past a horse and rider, which she hasn’t seen and seeing how she reacts to my own horse, she just trotted by my side nicely. she did grumble once or twice but with a slight correction and turn of the head, she was fine.
I also, due to my lack of map-reading skills and sense of direction, got lost. So in a way it was nice, we found a lovely long walk, we saw loads of different things for Kimi to see and it was a lovely walk. We did a little bit of jogging, I took it easy and did it in spurts as you said.
So far, my April Miles are: 10.5.
The majority of those from just now
I’d like to thank you for writing such an informative blog, and giving such driven ideas to try and achieve things that normally we wouldn’t really think of.
I hope everyone else’s miles are going well too. Good luck and have fun just getting out an walking with your buddy and not only bonding a bit more but relaxing as you walk — Hopefully!
Also apologies for this comment being so long!
I appreciate the long comment! Thanks for the reminder that it is all about getting out and walking with my buddy.
Gentle Leaders are great, aren’t they? I’m glad it is working well for you and Kimi.
I’m glad you were able to get out for a nice long walk that included some running, even if that involved getting a little lost.