Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Changing it up...


This was our playground today.  I've been needing a change of scenery lately.  After Zoey was attacked by two dogs on our last long run, I am hesitant to take the same route with her.  So, today I loaded her up in the van and we took a short little drive to the trail.  It was a gorgeous day and I think we both appreciated the new route.  We had a lovely eight miles.  I brought her home, leashed up my baby boy, Henry, and off we went on our one mile victory lap.  I am really looking forward to when he is able to join us!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Something New : Meet My Running Buddies

I haven't been blogging like I would like to lately.  It's not because of a lack of things to write about.  I feel like, although I am still logging the miles and still passionate about running, it's changed for me.  I started out on this journey and running was something totally different to me back then that it is now.  It was a way to get in shape, lose the baby weight, and find some "me" time in the craziness of raising little ones.  My children are all school age now...life is still crazy, but a little more layed back crazy.  Running has become my lifestyle, a part of me.  It's no longer about an escape per say as much as it's about pushing myself further, challenging myself, and finding solitude out on the open road. 
 
I have run with a single jogger, a double jogger, and even a triple jogger chasing after my sanity.  Recently, they have begun to run beside me...such an awesome thing!  Although I love to run in silence, I have never really enjoyed running alone.
My little chicks began leaving the nest, my joggers began to have fewer seats, and then one day I was selling my single...it meant I was alone. 
 
About that time, Zoey came in to my life.  She's my husband's dog.  We adopted her from a shelter when she was a tiny puppy.  She had been abandoned with her siblings and her mother...left out in the cold to freeze to death.  Her mom and her were the only ones to survive.  I fell in love with her picture...and awkward looking little pup with crystal blue eyes.  I knew that one day she would make the best running buddy...and she has.  We started out slow, but she has logged many, many miles by my side.  She has run in all kinds of weather with me.  She has helped me make it home on those days when I am just not in to it and she makes me feel a bit safer out there.
 
 
 Zoey girl - 2.5 years old



Back in November, I lost my Pit Mix, Macy.  She was also a rescue, adopted at the age of six.  It was a loss like I have never experienced before and took me a while to feel like myself again.  I knew I wanted another dog to call my own, I just didn't know when.  I also knew that the next dog would have to be able to join my team.  I had been in touch with a husky breeder for about three months.  I turned down one of her puppies at the beginning of the year because it just didn't feel like a good fit.  One night, shortly after the 4 month anniversary of Macy's passing, I decided to go on the breeder's site and see if they had anything cooking...and that's when I saw him.  A puppy of theirs that had been adopted out, was taken back out of a bad situation.  I emailed her about him and she immediately wrote me back and told me that he was mine if I wanted him.  I talked to my husband and got the okay.  A couple of weeks later, we were driving back from Michigan with Henry curled up in the back seat on my daughter's lap.  He has been such a good fit for our family and a wonderful boy.  He has made my loss back in November a little easier.  He just turned 5 months at the end of April so he's not able to run with us just yet, but in no time we will have him out there with us.  For now, he's my victory lap boy...I pick him up when Zoey and I are finished and he enjoys a mile or two with me.
Henry (5 months)