Training Buddy Bails

Last night I needed to hide from my life so I packed my bag and headed to my parents house. Without digressing too much as so many bloggers often due I had a very very long and tiring night Tuesday and did not want to deal with any drama on Wednesday. There, now back to the run.

I was going to grab the Bails and head to the track for some 400's, but it began to rain and although the Bails likes to get wet and muddy with the best of dogs my parents, specifically my father thought he might melt (completely BS, just doesn't want me to get any mudd in the house). My mother however, surprisingly encouraged me to cover my dog in mudd and brave the elements. By then it was 7:00pm and I knew one of my friends would probably want to meet and eat at the Lizard, so I opted for an interval/fartlek run around my parents development.

I borrowed some running pants from my mom slipped into my still favorite running shoes and headed out to our starting line. Bails had taken a dump beforehand for once and I was stoked...no running with poop tonight. We were both feeling good and the first EZ mile was 8:33. Whoa! I told Bails we needed to slow it or we would blow up on these 800's to come. We ran EZ for another 3 minutes and some change and then picked it up for 5:00 min. I felt really good, but I have been fooled by that first interval so I kept checking my breathing and making sure I wan't pushing too hard. DONE. One down three to go. We slowed or pace for recovery for a 4:00 minutes or so and then we hit another hard interval. This is where things went wrong. We were going good for about 2:00 or 3:00 minutes when I noticed the Bails wasn't quite keeping up as well as I had hoped. I hit the split and immediately slowed.

I love my dog so much. He is although a dog, also a deeply loved family member. We spoil him rotten with scooby snacks and new toys. He has been the best running buddy a girl could ask for. He has run many miles with me and never quit or complained. That night though he just didn't have it in him.

I told him it was okay and he kept pace next to me looking around and letting me rub his head affectionately. The plan was for 5 miles, but we were just shy of 3 and I didn't want to take any chances. He started to pick it up a few minutes later and I thought maybe we would be able to hold that pace and have a medium effort tempo run, but nope he slowed again. I was at his mercy.

I started to zone out to my tunes when all of a sudden he bolted forward like lightning. Now, I run with the leash wrapped around my waist and not being ready for it he caught me off guard and twisted me 90 degrees in the air and I just missed falling on my arse. It was such a hard jolt that I had to slow and take a second to regain my composure. I looked at him and he seemed fine. No panic on his face, no squirrels or rabbits in the vacinity. What the hell had happened??? Not knowing what else to do we continued on with our run now at a leisurely pace and that's how it stayed... leisurely. We ended with a cooldown run around the the culdesac before heading in to get cleaned up.

Ahhhh, oh well, I will always go for a run with my Bails even if it means pooping in the middle of the run, trying to rip my spinal cord out of my body or chasing that bunny or squirrel outta the way. These are the moments I will cherish because someday I will run alone.