Running for the joy of it lately (and with Ruthie!)

Not much blogging lately. Sorry. Trying to find a balance between crazy-busy work (but busy in a mostly good way), freelance work, time with Bill and the animals, and running. Notice I wasn’t able to say writing.  That has fallen by the wayside, and I hope for not much longer.  The freelance work for M is slowly getting closer to completion, so we can shop the chapters to critiquers and possibly an editor for thoughts.  M and I are definitely prioritizing it this semester.

I find that lately getting up around 4:30 or so just seems normal.  That’s scary. I either research or run, or try to do a combination of both, or walk with Ruthie.  Last week, Bill ran a small bit on one of his walks with her, and he said to me “she took off on a full gallop!” And then he said it basically looked like she was smiling. He suggested I maybe do our “short loop” that we do in the mornings with her, but while running.  So today, we did.  It was fun, and I could tell that she was disappointed at one point that our walk/run was coming to a close so shortly. I could tell she wanted to stay out of the house a bit longer.

She’s kind of funny because she seems to be less distracted by sounds and smells when we are running along.  It’s definitely been a good distraction technique for when we see other dogs.  You see, we’ve realized she doesn’t mix super well with other dogs. Last week she had a scuffle with another dog which resulted with us taking a trip to the vet last Saturday.  At first she seemed fine (it happened on a Tuesday) but when we looked at her face on Saturday morning, we didn’t like the looks of her little bite wound.  So, she got another rabies shot (her most recent one had been about 45 days prior) and we’ve been giving her antibiotics since.

So, now when I see her running toward another dog, I just yell “come on, Ruthie Ruthie” and she starts running again.  She really is so cute.  We just need to coordinate ourselves better – this morning at one point she stopped right in front of me and I ran right into her. Then, another time we were running along, and she stopped suddenly, but seeing as I’m attached to her by her leash, I kept on going! But luckily I was able to stop quickly and no one was hurt.

Having Ruthie has been good for Bill too. He takes her on long walks every night for at least 2 miles and they do their bonding thing.

As for me and my running, well, I’m not going crazy with mileage, but I am trying to get out there. Lately sunrise has only been around 6:10, and I’ve been trying to avoid having to use the headlamp (it just reminds me of wintertime running, and honestly, I don’t want to go there mentally yet.)  So I’ve been doing runs of about 4-4.5 miles or so. Last weekend I totally took off from long runs – it was Bill’s and my 5 year wedding anniversary, and I just felt like taking it easy. So I did.  The week before, I met up with Lis for a nice 6-miler at the Minuteman Historical Park. There were lots of runners out, even in the ridiculous humidity, and we walked often (for me and my asthma) but it was still awesome to see her and run and chat with her again. I’ve really missed those runs together.

I have been trying to concentrate on beautiful views that I see in the morning. Running past the wetlands this week, when it’s been really nice and cool, it’s just been breathtaking around dawn and at sunrise. At both the wetlands, and especially at Silver Lake, there’s usually been a fair amount of mist. It lends an otherworldly quality to the landscape, and I’ve been trying to take mental pictures with my mind so I can calm myself down during the day at work when I need to. 

Anyone else out there do that?

I’ve not been caring about my pace too much, trying to keep it within the 9s most days and sometimes succeeding but not always. And that’s ok. Goals can change sometimes.  As in, I’ve decided I don’t think I’m going to do a half marathon this fall. I’m happy doing my shorter distances this year.  I’ve got two 10Ks coming up, and I’m going to see how I do. They are both on flat courses (hallelujah!) Keeping, or trying to keep, a balance in my life is more important to me right now than just trying to build more distance into my routine.

Speaking of balance, I think it’s time for me to get to reading some of your blogs before I crash for the evening!

Thanks for reading.