I've been an off and on fitness fanatic most of my adult life. I say off and on because there have been those times where I become too obsessed with other things in life and something has to give. Lately, however, my lack of enthusiasm for running has been due to my running partner. He's getting up there in years and while he happily bounces around when he sees me going through the usual motions of getting ready for a run, he's slowing down. He's starting to lag at the end of the run and just can't handle the number of miles that he used to. 5 miles became 4, then 3, and now I think 2 miles is his max. And it is just too hard for me to get out the door in my running gear and leave him behind. My running partner is my border collie mix Skippy, and he will turn 13 in a few weeks.
Nothing makes him happier than when I say "Do you want to go for a run?" (okay, except maybe "Time to eat!") For the past several years, he has always been the "chosen one" to go for runs. Lacey was unable to run, Xera is very reactive and requires too much of my focus and Izzie was just a pup. So that was always Skip's "job", and he does love his job! Now that Izzie is old enough, she is learning to be a good running partner, too, but I just don't have the heart to leave Skip behind when he is bouncing at the door. So my solution is to split my run into 2 parts so Skippy gets his time (whether it be 2 miles, 1 mile or eventually a walk around the block) and Izzie gets to build up her stamina, conditioning and distraction training until she can handle the longer runs.
And suddenly now I'm motivated again! Dogs make such awesome running partners. Nothing like barking, leaping, smiling dogs to get you to put those running shoes on! Skip starts me off on the first leg of the run at a nice, easy pace for a mile out and a mile back which is a great warm up for me and makes him happy. Then I switch into "dog training" mode when I trade dogs and grab Izzie, the youngster. She's figuring out that she has to run at my pace (and I'm motivated to run faster than I do with Skippy), she's learning to wait for my cue "okay-go sniff!" to pull over to check out that tree and learning that strange things (like remote-controlled lawn mowers!) are not going to eat her alive! She is doing great and will make a great running partner!
Nothing makes him happier than when I say "Do you want to go for a run?" (okay, except maybe "Time to eat!") For the past several years, he has always been the "chosen one" to go for runs. Lacey was unable to run, Xera is very reactive and requires too much of my focus and Izzie was just a pup. So that was always Skip's "job", and he does love his job! Now that Izzie is old enough, she is learning to be a good running partner, too, but I just don't have the heart to leave Skip behind when he is bouncing at the door. So my solution is to split my run into 2 parts so Skippy gets his time (whether it be 2 miles, 1 mile or eventually a walk around the block) and Izzie gets to build up her stamina, conditioning and distraction training until she can handle the longer runs.
And suddenly now I'm motivated again! Dogs make such awesome running partners. Nothing like barking, leaping, smiling dogs to get you to put those running shoes on! Skip starts me off on the first leg of the run at a nice, easy pace for a mile out and a mile back which is a great warm up for me and makes him happy. Then I switch into "dog training" mode when I trade dogs and grab Izzie, the youngster. She's figuring out that she has to run at my pace (and I'm motivated to run faster than I do with Skippy), she's learning to wait for my cue "okay-go sniff!" to pull over to check out that tree and learning that strange things (like remote-controlled lawn mowers!) are not going to eat her alive! She is doing great and will make a great running partner!
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