Eek!

I don't have nails so I was far less confident on this trail than Amber wanted me to be! The air was crisp & cool and she thought we should run like the wind...

Look at her go!

This is fast becoming one of my favorite views!

Goose

• Meet Mother Goose - she is 11 years young and mother and grandmother to many of the dogs in the kennel. This afternoon she learned a new skill - cani-cross - as she accompanied me on my long slow distance (9.5 miles) run. She is facing retirement this season because she just can't keep up with the younger dogs on the team. But, her cardiovascular system is amazing from all her years of running so that while I may have been breathing hard, she never did and had plenty of energy to start pulling me during the last 2 miles to home! She's timid, but after a few miles of looking to me for guidance and confidence, she figured it out and even a cyclist we met commented that he could see her tail wagging from down the trail. It is so much easier (and more fun?) to do my long runs with a canine companion!

Good girl Gwen!

The 6 mile training runs went well this morning. This weekend is the first time that they have gone that far, and the distance is certainly showing which dogs are sprint dogs and which are distance runners! Yesterday our little Gwen was a frustrated point dog, so today we put her back in lead. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by her big teammate Shark, and would shoulder into him to keep him running right! Good girl Gwen! We just need to work on those water crossings...

10 miles on ITS 89 with this guy!

Yukon is a great companion for my long runs!

Cani-cross training in the rain!

Because dogs love cold wet weather, and there is a hot shower at home for us humans! This was my first run with Yukon and I was a little bit nervous since he's so big and fast, although I know that he is a gentle soul. I hooked him beside Amber, and she did a great job helping to hold him back a bit and keep him calm. Somehow they pulled me to a faster pace than I have ever run though! Crazy fun!!

Meet Scott

This afternoon we took a nice 11 mile ride along the rail trail and stopped to visit with Scott on our way by!

Let's try this again, shall we?

I have been having issues with sciatica, so haven't been able to run much lately. Amber was very patient and we ran a mile!