A New Beginning

This morning, the Artist drove to my home at 5:15 in the morning to join me for a run. I have, at last, found a running partner!

I am so pleased. We plan to run together three days a week and both feel that having a running partner makes all the difference in the world. It does. If I know she is waiting for me at her house at 5:00 AM, I'm sure as hell going to get out of bed and meet her! There is nothing like accountability.

We ran a good pace together and with an extra pair of hands we easily managed the three dogs. Buster was a good sport and did VERY well. In fact all went well with one exception.

Stella. Yup. She was actually EXCELLENT for most of the run. We were on our way back when we reached an area I know a fox lives. Sure enough, she and Zoe caught sent of it and though both pulled, only Stella managed to escape.

So she disappeared into the early morning darkness and the Artist and I lost track of her. I finally had to go yelling through the brush to find her and when I did, she had magically lost her LEASH. Great.

Fortunately, since I have a knack for finding and catching strays, I knew a trick. She still had her gentle leader on (thank heavens!) so I took Buster's leash off him and attached the hook to Stella's leader, took off Buster's collar and fed it through the leash handle, and voila! Two dogs on one leash.

It wasn't terribly hard running with them that way actually as both pups were getting pooped. The Artist held onto Zoe and we happily ran back home.

So it's a new beginning for me!!! One I'm pretty sure I can continue and enjoy. It's a winning situation all around. I can get back into shape, wear out Stella, and catch up with a friend all at once! I love the human company and we're both so excited we're already talking about a spring race. She has never run a race longer than a 5K so we're starting small with a 10K. But I might investigate a spring half-marathon and should I get the permanent gig here, I might even look at a full marathon for the fall of 2009.

Hurrah!