Run With It Navarre | The Jog Blog

            As new pet owners, we are reading everything we can about dogs these days.  Kingsley is a big, active puppy – about a year old, Australian Shephard, collie, lab mix.  He is very active.

            Everything we read says that a “tired pet is a happy pet.”  Pet experts all stress that you need to exercise your dog every day.  We found this to be true the hard way.

            Kingsley and I run every day, and also spend some time in the dog park so he can play and romp with other dogs.  The one day a couple of weeks after we got him that we didn’t do this (we thought rain was an excuse at the time) we lived to regret it.  He was bounding around the house all day, pouncing at the cat, wanting to play.  We did play with him a lot.  However, late afternoon as we were all watching TV and not him, we found him chewing on the side of the wall.  Not a good thing to find your dog doing.  He does have sharp teeth.

            So since then, we go early mornings to run and to the dog park.  Even in the rain.  And with winter coming, we will go even in the snow, sleet or freezing weather.

            He starts out bounding down the paths to get to the dog park.  Once there, if there are other dogs there, they run full-out as fast as they can go around the park.  They chase each other.  They chase the balls and Frisbees.  It is a pleasure to behold.  Especially when the greyhounds are there – to watch them run is artwork in motion.  I chase them – they chase me.

            If it’s raining, we just do a 3-mile run around the meadows.  Kingsley runs at a great pace for me – about an 8-minute mile.  This is much faster than my 10-minute mile, so he challenges me.  My legs are burning, sore in places they have never been before.  It’s good for him and good for me.

            The same is true for the whole “exercise every day” philosophy that all the dog experts recommend.  It’s not just good for dogs – it’s good for people too.  To get out in the fresh air, running, moving, feels great.  To play.  And not just every now and then – every day.  It’s been so long since I haven’t run every day that my body craves it.  I feel like a slug when I don’t run every day.  It’s my body telling me that it’s ready to go!  Just like Kingsley,  missing a day of running makes me want to chew the walls.

            And then, like the dogs, when done running , I am ready to come back and take it easy.  Maybe chew a bone or two.  And I definitely have earned the ultimate people treat – that glass of wine at happy hour!

I’ve run for years by myself.  Oh, I’ve had running partners come and go over the years.  And that’s been great – it made it a lot easier to get out of bed at 5 a.m. on cold winter mornings if you knew someone was waiting for you out there.

            But now I’ve entered a whole new chapter of running in my life.  We recently got a dog.  When deciding what kind of dog we wanted, we took into consideration that I wanted a dog who could run with me.  We figured it would be a lot easier to get the dog the exercise it needed if it could just tag along with me, putting in a few miles every day. 

            That was the plan…and amazingly, it worked!  We have had Kingsley for about a month, and from day one, he was a great running buddy for me.  He is a year-old collie, Australian shepherd, and lab mix, full of energy when he gets outside.  That first day, I put him on a leash, opened the door…and out we bounded!  And it’s been that way every morning since.

            Running takes on a whole new direction and meaning when you are running with a dog. It’s not the same as a 45-minute, continuous, steady run.  It’s like running with a little kid who keeps getting distracted, and keeps getting you distracted.  It is a lot of fun.

            We start out bounding full-out at 8 a.m. as fast as we both can go.  We do that for about a quarter mile, until he stops abruptly to…well, you know what dogs stop to do.  As soon as that’s over, he REALLY feels light and energetic, and the pace speeds up even more. This is a little like flying, as we are bounding through the mountains.

            We are at full-speed for about a half mile until we get to the dog park.  Then, off-leash, with other mates to play with, Kingsley REALLY speeds up.  The dogs rough-house, bark, chase each other around, and just generally have a great time.  I throw them balls…and chase the balls with them.  This means several sprints for me, as it very hard to keep up with labs, retrievers and shepherds when they are chasing balls. I chase them around, trying to steal their balls and Frisbees, also fast sprints and fun for all. I have never done sprints before, so I think this is great for me.

            After about 10 minutes of sprints, the dogs’ tongues are hanging out and they are panting in the shade.  That’s when I start my laps around the dog park.  Six laps are a mile.  I do this for 10-15 minutes and feel like a rat in a cage.  But I get in the good, steady (if shorter) run that I am used to.

            Both Kingsley and I fairly well warmed-up, we leave the dog park for the trails.  We do a couple of more miles on the trails.  We are a great match – Kingsley likes to RUN DOWN the hills and WALK UP the mountains, just like me! I guess this just makes sense to dogs and to people too.  So we run-walk for awhile longer.  The closer we get to home, the more apt Kingsley is to just plop down in the middle of the trail, unable (or unwilling) to go another step until he has rested a little.  This is a good exercise for me as well – it’s good for someone to say it’s break time.  Gives me time to notice how blue the sky is, or how mellow the morning air.

            I am never bored with my routine morning run anymore, to say the least.  It’s fun to have a new running style and pace, and probably really good for me too. And through the eyes of my new running partner, everything is a new experience, every corner a new adventure awaiting us. I highly recommend a dog-trot!

            I just shook up my usual running routine, and not without some feedback by my body.  I have been running 3+ miles for 35+ years, almost daily, I hate to admit. Recently, I got a bike, and decided to train for a triathlon.  So I added biking to my routine a couple of days a week.

            This was not without incident, to my surprise.  I started biking 5-10 miles each time, so not huge distances.  It was not difficult.  I really enjoyed it from my second time out – once I had a biking friend put my seat at the right height, pump up my tires to the right weight, and show me how to put the helmet on facing the right direction.

            Biking then got really fun!  I love racing through the wind down mountains – it feels like I am a kid again.  I love the exhilaration of climbing the hills to the top.  I love the freedom of going longer distances than running allows.

            But after a couple of weeks, I noticed a couple of strange things.  First, I got a blister on the side of my foot.  It’s been 30 years since I’ve had a blister; I was amazed.  It was big too.  Luckily it was on the side and did not hurt much if at all.  But it wasn’t pretty, and I could not figure out where it came from.

            The second thing is that my knees started to hurt.  I thought it was from running; that I had finally gotten the knee-thing that most runners eventually get.  I was amazed, and I stopped running pretty much and started walking instead.  I had been slowing down my runs to a few walks, so this wasn’t a huge deal.

            Then I made a visit to Run With It, and after talking with Jeff and Donna, I realized that switching to biking was probably the culprit for both my ailments.  Because at the beach, running on flat surfaces, and not biking, my knees magically quit hurting.  I could run and run and run again without knowing my knees were even there. Yippee!!  I can still run!

            And finally, my blister went away.  But I am sure the new pressure from biking was its cause, as it popped up just after biking popped up in my activities, and has not returned.

            The moral of the story: when you change your exercise routine, you might hear from your body about it.  Change sometimes begets change.  You may have some aches or pains or itches or something else strange suddenly pop up.  Be aware, and you can happily make changes without major battles with your body.

            If you haven’t been to a Wednesday night run at Run With It, you’ve got to go! It is a really fun evening for runners and walkers.  You will feel at home whether you walk 2 miles or run 5+ -- runners and walkers of all kinds and age levels are there.

            The run starts at 6pm, not sharply, just 6-ish.  The crowd gathers right at 6 and there are 15-30 hearty souls who show up.  The run starts behind the Publix Shopping Center, and goes straight down, to the left, and then straight back – the 3 mile run anyway, which is the one I did.

            I was just visiting the beach when I crashed the run – I usually run in the mountains of North Georgia, so the flat Florida route was sheer pleasure.  There were two “hills” I encountered.  The only reason I even noticed them was because of the incredible heat and humidity of the Florida run.  The heat and humidity of the route were NOT sheer pleasure, and we do not have THOSE in the mountains.  But it was good for me (I think).

            My running shoes are off to those who run in this Florida summer climate! There is nothing like it anywhere.  You can hardly breathe, which just adds to the running challenge.  You sweat buckets, which is great for cleansing toxins.  Running in the summer in Florida is not for the faint- hearted.  The Run With It Wednesday night runners deserve a pat on the back.

            Because of these harsh conditions, when you finish the run, you feel great! It’s an accomplishment.  The evening we ran, it was cloudy, so I cannot imagine what it would be like to run on a sunny evening.  Toasty is a good word for it.

            And you feel even better when you finish because there’s that cooler of iced brew waiting for you!  I am not a brew drinker, so the great folks at Run With It had a bottle of my beverage of choice, Chardonnay, waiting for me.  It has never tasted so good! Or felt so deserved!

            And it is great to sweat out and brew up and catch up with the other walkers and runners afterward too.  A fun, congenial group – all talking about their biking, swimming, triathalon, and running experiences, sharing notes, giving advice, reminiscing with the injured guys who come anyway even though they are out of running commission for awhile.

            The Nike rep was there the evening I ran, and stopped mid-presentation to make the run too. It was helpful for everyone there to ask him questions directly about his products and get the inside scoop on Nike.

            After the race is a great time to shop, and talk with Jeff and Donna about shoes and issues you might be having, and suggestions and products they might have to help. I found a great tri-suit that is made to wear for all triathalon events, plus several other great running clothes that I spied, but could not try on in my sweaty state – I will be back early before next week’s Wednesday run to try them on, if not before!