SUAR 10 Questions

One of my favorite blogs is Shut Up and Run. It's irreverent, full of great information, funny, and frequently about farts so the 10 year old in me thinks its awesome from that point alone.
In her post yesterday she answered the 10 questions below and asked folks to answer them in their next post so here goes:

Best run ever? Geez, that changes every few days! My current answer is my run in Kanawha State Forest a few days ago. On the trail section I felt like Daniel Day-Lewis in Last of the Mohicans and I ate up the climb with a huge grin on my face.

Three words that describe your running? Easy, light, and smooth. OK, that's actually three words I hope will someday describe my running.

Your go-to running outfit? Asics shorts, and a NorthFace shirt. Add a bandana and I'm ready to head out.

Quirky habit while running? Singing while I run on my recovery runs. It helps me make sure I'm running at the right pace.

Morning, midday, evening? Usually midday or evening. I'm am definitely not a morning person. Nothing against morning, it just comes too early in the day. If morning started around noon, I'd totally be a morning person.

I won’t run outside when it’s ____________No answer here. I don't care what it's doing out there or what time it is. I'll run whenever I have to.

Worst injury—and how you got over it. Messed up left knee from my coach changing my stride. I got over it by waiting for years and years while it healed.

I felt most like a badass mother runner when _________ I can pass my dog. Just read the title of the blog and you'll understand this.

Next race is __________The Canary in the Cave 25K in November. Never ran anything close to this distance in a race so it ought to be interesting.

Potential running goal for 2013? Run a ½ marathon and a marathon (or longer). The trail running thing is keeping me going!

On the trail again!

Besides the book Born To Run that brought me back to running, it was also the idea of trail running. I'm not much of a hiker, just ask my wife, but the thought of busting down a trail is a totally different mental concept to me. It's more than just a faster version of hiking. It's becoming one with the trail, taking what it gives you, and blending in a way that is incredibly spiritual.

Today I had a chance encounter with a trucker passing through my home town. I was coming out of Walmart and saw him stretching after a run next to his rig. I walked over just to comment to him on how I didn't think I'd ever seen a trucker running anywhere in all my travels around the country. He admitted he was one of a very small minority but it helped to break up the tedium of his day and he needed the exercise after hours behind the wheel. He said he ran mostly along highways and back roads since he couldn't take too much time to look for a perfect place to run.

It got me to thinking about exactly how lucky I am to have a wealth of trails to run on near my home. I have definitely taken for granted the fact that I live adjacent to a national park, a national recreation area, and countless state parks all of which have a plenitude of trails for my happy little feet to run on. I can run on flat trails, steep hilly trails, technical trails, rails-to-trails, I mean you name it I have it nearby.

One of my favorite local trails.

 All of this got me to thinking...would I be running again if I didn't have so much trail access? As you know from the title of the blog and my previous posts, running with my dog Skye is a big part of my running experience. I have to believe that if I was running in an urban environment I probably wouldn't run with Skye nearly as often as I do. There is also that sense of discovery that comes with trail running. I'm an avid birdwatcher and I keep track of the birds I hear as I run. The other wildlife I catch a glimpse of as I cruise through the woods brings an even bigger smile to my face than I already have. I run along rivers I've been rafting and kayaking for years. Their rapids are like old friends I greet as I run past. Having lived in this area for more that 30 years the area itself has become a part of me. The mountains of the Appalachians speak to me like a neighbor I pass on the streets of Fayetteville.

I like to think I probably would still be a runner without trails at my very doorstep but it's the trails that keep me lacing up my shoes every day to get out the door and try to keep up with the dog.

What's your favorite trail you've ever experienced?

Have you ever seen a trucker running?

Running with the not so big dog, Part 1

As you should be able to garner from the name of my blog, my dog plays a large part in my journey back. Skye is my first animal shelter dog and definitely won't be my last. When my sons and I went to the pound to look for a new dog the pens were filled with yapping, howling maniacs that must have known what waited for them if they didn't get a pardon. We walked down a long row of pens without spotting a dog that had that special something that you just know when you see it. I've found that I make snap judgments about people and animals that usually are correct. Job interviews with me are a real hoot. “Hello, my name is Bob”, they'll say, obviously lacking that special it. “Thanks for coming”, I say. 

The catdog on guard.

Down the far side of the pens we walked discussing the various dogs we passed. As we came to the end of the row, there she was. Sitting quietly and watching us. When we paused she put her paws up on the pen door and stretched, wagging her tail. “This is the one”, I told the boys and they agreed. As it turned out she was a recent arrival and we had to wait a day to make sure her MIA owner didn't come looking for her. When we came to pick her up she quietly sat as I put the leash on her and took her to the car.

Once we got her home we discovered a few things about her that weren't outwardly obvious. One was that she was quite proficient at barking...at almost anything that came down our road, and other dogs, and sirens, and well you get the idea. Another odd thing about her is that she is a cat dog. She may look like a dog but in many ways acts like a cat. For instance, she likes to look out windows and will lay anywhere that allows her to accomplish that goal. The back of the couch, the bedside table, etc. I've never had a smallish dog before so this may just be a factor due to her size. Our Golden Retriever and Lab wouldn't have fit on either of those two options so I guess they just never thought of it. 

Trying to guilt me into a run

Ultimately, the best thing about her is she loves to get out and run! I've never really run with a dog on a regular basis. The Golden Retrievers we've had were interested in running as long as there was something to retrieve at the end of the sprint. The Lab was kind of the same way but she tended to lose interest mid run and just look at you. “What was I doing out here in the yard?”, her expression would seem to say. Skye is another matter completely. She isn't much of a retriever although she will play the game for a brief time. She absolutely goes crazy when I put on a pair of running shorts. She begins to jump vertically, bouncing her way around me. Normally I put her on a leash when we go outside so she doesn't run next door and visit with the cows and George the guard donkey (she and George have a thing going on, but that's another story). When we're going running she goes straight to the car and waits for me to open a door so she can take her position in the passenger seat.

Do you run with a dog?

Who is the leader on the run, you or the dog?

Leashed or unleashed?

What's it all about, Skye?

So, what's this whole thing gonna be about anyway? That's the question all bloggers have to stare down when they begin the process. What drives you to the penultimate step of creating and committing to a blog?

For me it's about possibilities. As you may, make that should, have read on the Tiny Facts page already I have become not only a tall guy but a big guy. Yep, big and tall. Just like you see on TV commercials. We apparently have our own stores. Odd I didn't seem to get the memo on that. You don't have a choice about being tall but that other one is totally in my control and I seem have to completely lost control of the big part of that equation.

So, do I sit in my Lazy Boy (man, I gotta get a chair with a better name) and wallow in self pity? Should I just accept the fact that I live in a state with a combined overweight/obesity rate of 68.1 percent according to the Trust for America's Health and I apparently joined the trend and didn't realize it? Is it just over for me and I should just accept that and move on. Albeit, slowly and in a sloth-like manner? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Ok, before you freak out I know that isn't right. I'm just quoting Animal House.

Nope. That ain't gonna be how it plays out.

My trusty dog Skye and I are going to get me back in shape. A little at a time, there's no need for giant steps. She's always willing to head out the door on some kind of adventure. She's a dog so her expectations of adventure are pretty easy to meet.

Ready to run, girl?

Keeping up with the Dog will chronicle my road back to health. Cycling, running, and a vegetarian diet will be the main roads followed on the long path back to where I (and lots of others) should be. What other side hikes I'll take on the path will remain to be seen but you can bet that Skye and I will keep you up to date on how it's going. I'll keep you in the loop on my progress, share info with you that I gather along the way, tell ya stories, and even recommend the odd recipe, book or running shoe I stumble across in my journeys.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!