Just shoe me

Isn't it fun to get new running shoes? They sure help put an extra spring in your step. My left knee had been a little sore lately, which is a sure sign that it's time to get new shoes. So this weekend we went to the Greater Boston Running Company for some new gear. They're right in Lexington Center -- very convenient. I got new shoes, socks, and shirts, and my husband also got new shoes and a shirt. His calves are still giving him problems, but he's being diligent about stretching so hopefully he'll be running-ready again before long.

But this morning it was just me and my trusty hound, tackling the Lerner Loop. My shoes felt really good, and if it hadn't been a tad warm out, we probably could have taken that second hill without stopping. Next time!

As you can guess, Tasha runs barefoot which suits her just fine. In the winter we sometimes have to put booties on her to protect her paws from the snow, ice and salt. After a few winters in New England, she's learned to put up with them, but she still doesn't like them. I don't blame her, they are really unstylish (like baggy balloons) and probably uncomfortable too. If only Saucony would make doggy running shoes, with extra cushioning, real laces, and some flashy details ... well, I'm positive she'd ask me to put them on her so we could match!

I am getting giddy just thinking about how cute that would be! :-)

Tips for running with a dog (part 1)

Today brought a change for the better in the weather (cooler, drier, breezier). Tasha and I were so excited! We set out for Lexington Center with a bit more energy and faster pace than our usual summer trot. We went around the Battle Green, admired the very nice tush of the Minuteman on display in statue form, and finished at a steady clip up Lincoln. One of my daughters was at the soccer try-outs at Lincoln Field so we mentally wished her luck as we cruised on by.

What a pleasure it was to just run without excessively sweating and panting, going slow to keep the heart rate down, and stopping every few minutes to catch our breath. I wonder if the heat and humidity are really behind us, or whether we'll get hit again in September? Never mind, I'll follow Tasha's example and just enjoy what today brings.

Here are a few tips for anyone thinking they might like to run with their dog: (1) Be prepared to stop on a dime when your dog decides she absolutely, positively must take a bathroom break right on this spot. It helps to have a little slack in the leash that you can pay out as you slow down and stop. (2) Speaking of bathroom breaks, always bring one more bag than you think you will need. (3) Try not to get annoyed if your dog attempts to wrap you like a maypole by running to the left/back/front/right of you. Just pay attention and maneuver the leash as necessary to keep from getting tripped up. (By the way, my husband refers to getting wrapped up like this as being turned into a "dumb-pole." I'm not sure if the "dumb" part refers to the person or the dog! I think I'd better not ask....)

Save our stones!

According to the forecast, today is going to be the last hot day for a while. We decided to run through the Minute Man Park again, which has the advantage of being shady, but also has the associated disadvantage of being un-breezy due to all the trees. So we stopped and walked more times than I cared to count. The other downside to this route is that there are no public trash cans along the way, so I had to carry some extra baggage almost the entire way. You would think that a national park could afford to offer trash cans. Then again, I hear the national park system is in trouble, so perhaps I should just be glad that we still have a park within running distance.

Seeing all the stone fences that line the paths in the park reminded me of recent reports of thieves in New England stealing stones from fences for use in landscaping at private residences. Apparently, stones from the older fences are more valuable because they are more "weathered" looking. Currently the penalties for stealing stones from fences are laughably light, so there are movements afoot to make them harsher. I say Amen to that! Our New England stone fences are so beautiful and such an integral part of the landscape. Maybe someone could invent an inexpensive stone weathering process so that there would be no incentive for wrecking these wonderful structures.

Happy-go-puppy

Another Monday brings another work week, and how better to kick it off than with an energetic run with an eager running partner? We did the Back Boardwalk again, but for variety we ran it in reverse. That puts the big hill at the end of the run instead of the beginning, but that's OK. We got a slightly later start than normal, due to my sleeping in a few extra minutes, which probably accounts for the greater number of people -- and dogs! -- that we saw on our route. One of our encounters was with a woman walking her black lab puppy who said they'd like to follow in our footsteps when her puppy gets older, bigger, and more able to focus. I said I hoped she was able to do that, and then I started thinking of all the great things about running with one's dog. For instance:

• Your dog stays in shape and hopefully has a longer, healthier life.
  
• It's more interesting than running alone.
  
• Your run will automatically have a few breaks built in where you can catch your breath.
  
• If your dog loves running as much as Tasha does, she will be so joyful every time you take her out, and that will make your day just a little more rewarding.
  

About that last bullet point, running is so important to Tasha thas she has made a careful study of my normal morning activities, and closely monitors me each day for any sign that I might choose to take her for a run. She knows we're on when I go into the kitchen to stretch. She'll come stand next to me, often stretches alongside me, and then does not leave my side until I go get the leash. Then the tail starts wagging and she hops or turns in circles to show her excitement. Every once in a very long while, I might get to do something that makes a friend or family member that excited. So to get to induce that type of delight in my dog several times a week ... well, that's pretty cool!

Swiss Miss was here

I'm done whining about the heat (for now). Today I'm going to whine about the humidity, which was at about 150% this morning. Miss Dog and I ran a Back Boardwalk loop and at times it felt like we were running through, I don't know, really thick air? Maybe an air/pudding mixture? It was the worst when we were in the woods because even though it was shady, there was no breeze. But we perservered nonetheless and made liberal use of walk breaks.

We met only one other dog, who was fortunately friendly. Here's a picture of our encounter. The other dog seemed old or was maybe just very laid-back, and Tasha was tired and panting. So they passed up the sniffing and settled for a neighborly "Hey, what's up." "Not much, how 'bout you?" instead.

Speaking of other dogs, on a conference call today we got on the topic of running, and one of the other participants said that she has a yellow lab that she takes on 6-7 mile runs! That sort of makes Tasha and I look like slackers. But I've run a marathon (exactly one) and Tasha used to be a professional prize-winning athlete. So we've earned the right to tone it down a bit. Especially when the air has been blended with pudding.

The heat goes on

Another hot and humid morning, another short run with T-Diggy. This one took us through a different part of the boardwalks around Lincoln Field. The picture makes it look cool and shady ... but the picture lies! Our commitment to exercise paid off big time, however, because we saw not one, not two, but THREE dachshunds at Lincoln (a pair and a singleton). My grandparents once had a dachshund named Heidi, and my friend Jill also has one named Mr. Dudley Doodles (I kid you not). They are shaped so differently from Tasha, it's hard to believe they are both the same species.

I took this photo on the boardwalk to illustrate what we spend a great deal of our "running" time doing, which is sniffing. We take lots of walk breaks when it's hot, and Tasha takes advantage of those opportunities to catalog the identity, whereabouts, and probably important health and diet indicators for every animal that's been around recently. She really loves to sniff! Sometimes I think she would sniff at a spot for an entire hour if I didn't drag her off. I do wonder what she gets out of it. Is there a lot of really interesting content there, and is she building an incredible database in her head of local animal facts? Or does it just smell good?

Gotta run for shelter, gotta run for shade

Finally, after enjoying a June and July with no 90 degree days, we've hit a hot spell. High temperatures have been in the 90s for the past couple of days, and it looks like they will wind up there the next couple of days as well. I actually don't mind it too much, especially because we have AC at home and at the office. What I mind is when the low temps at night don't get out of the 70s, because that means it will be pretty warm for jogging even when we hit the road early.

Tasha is just like me in terms of temperature preferences. We both droop in the heat and humidity, but we're cool in the cold. It's a good thing that we transplanted ourselves to New England from our native Texas and Alabama! Running in Texas in the summer is just beastly, even with an early start. With Tasha I have to be extra-careful too, because dogs can get heat stroke and even die if overheated. So on days like today we take it easy. We did a shady "Back Boardwalk by Bridge" loop and stopped to walk often. Today's bonus -- encounters with two friendly dogs and no mean ones!

Not bad for August

This morning was probably the last cool(ish) morning we'll have for a while, according to the forecast, so T-Dog and I took the opportunity to go for a run. We went on a 3-mile route we call the Lerner Loop, since it goes by the house of our friends with that name. It's a great route for hill training, with one right at the beginning and another, tougher one partway through. We invited our Gentleman Friend (aka my husband) to join us, but his calf started giving him problems so, sadly, he had to drop out.

It turned out to be a little hotter than I expected, so we did have to stop and walk a few times, but still we had fun. Here's a picture of Tasha at the end of the run ... hot dog!

I should probably tell you a bit about Tasha, shouldn't I? She's a retired racing dog who spent her first couple of years at a racetrack in Alabama. She did have some good finishes, including a few first places, but eventually it was time to start a new career as a pet. We adopted her about five years ago from a wonderful organization in Hopkinton, MA called Greyhound Friends. She has beautiful brindle coloring and long graceful legs. She loves to run, either with me or in laps around the backyard, but most of the time she sleeps! (Greyhounds are incredible couch potatoes.) She's very outgoing with people and other dogs but ignores our three cats. Which is a good thing -- some greyhounds can't live with cats because of their strong prey instinct. I wasn't too certain I wanted a dog when my husband proposed rescuing a greyhound five years ago, but now I can't imagine not having her around!

Grateful for separate shoes

Today started with a lovely overcast morning with temps on the cool side, so TDog and I decided to do a slightly longer 3 mile run. We chose a trail that went through the Minute Man National Historical Park, looping around the visitor center. This park covers part of the route taken by the British army on April 19, 1775 to destroy the munitions in Concord, and their retreat under fire by the local citizens who disagreed with the purpose of this mission. I'm currently reading a book about that historic day called "Paul Revere's Ride" (by David Hackett Fischer), so it's interesting to run along the same path where the extended battle took place and imagine what it was like.

We stopped to read an informational display about Parker's Revenge and took a picture of one of the memorial markers. This one marks a British soldier burial spot. What a lousy day it was for those soldiers -- a long pointless march followed by a dangerous retreat through hostile territory. Plus they had to do it in awkward, uncomfortable uniforms, including shoes that came in just one shape (no separate shoes for right and left feet).

TDog and I had an infinitely more pleasant experience on the trail. It is wooded and shady and mostly flat, although we had to go over a big hill to get there. I took this picture to show how inviting the path is. It's a little blurry (impressionistic?) and there may be a bit of a thumb, but hopefully it gives you an idea. Hey, it's hard to be perfectly still when you're panting and sweating! We saw four other runners which is a lot. Perhaps like us, they couldn't resist the call of a beautiful (and historic) path on a cool summer morning.

What this world needs most is another blog, right?

Welcome to my dogblog! I'm a resident of Lexington, MA who likes to run for fun and exercise. A few years ago, my family adopted a retired racing greyhound, Tasha, who has become my four-legged running partner. We like to go out and hit the road a few times a week, so I thought it would be fun to record where we go and what we do. And just maybe one of my fellow runners will consider adopting one of these wonderful dogs too.

If there's anyone else out there with a four-legged running partner, I'd love to hear from you!

So, about this morning's run. It got warm and humid overnight, so we decided to keep it on the short side -- only about 2.5 miles. I call this path "Back Boardwalk by Bridge." It starts on School Street, goes over the Mass Ave hill, down by the bandshell to Worthen Road, then on the boardwalk behind Lincoln Field, pop out on the bike path by Bridge School, head towards Lincoln Street and then back to School. One reason I like this trail is that the path behind Lincoln Field is very shady which helps with the heat. We had only one encounter with another dog -- an aggressive terrier which we met on the boardwalk where there was the least room to maneuver (of course!). But I pulled the leash up close and Tasha kept her cool as we carefully walked by. In our home stretch on School Street, we waved at a policeman parked in his car, probably catching speeders. (Fear not -- we weren't going fast enough to get a ticket!)

I've included a photo of Tasha and me above. If you see us on the sidewalk, say hi!