Running With Dogs

I've never loved "recovery runs".  They're usually on days when I'm tired out from doing a long run the day before.

I've turned them into an opportunity -- to exercise my dogs.

I have two retired racing greyhounds.  This is Gold.  He is 8 years old.  Once upon a time, he chased a stuffed rabbit around a track.  Now he chases me as I shuffle through the neighborhood.


And this is Curves.  She is 6 years old.  She is a greyhound, but at her petite size of 51 pounds, she was never a racer.

These guys are 45 mile per hour sprinters who can catch a squirrel in my backyard (yes that's pretty gross cleaning up the mess).  But when it comes to distance running, I am a little faster than they are.  We're happy doing a 11-12 minute per mile pace.

We stop a lot.  We sniff and pee and poop on things (well, I don't do those things, but my dogs do).  We say hello to other dogs in the neighborhood.  And overall, we have a good time.

The dogs are great companions.  They get my mind off of worrying about my pace.  They remind me of why I run -- to escape, to feel good, to free my mind of stress and obligations.

And when they are exercised, they are happier.

 Here we are.  One big happy family of runners.