Do you remember this post about the start of my running? Well tonight I finally accomplished something that has me SO stoked! Most of my friends who are running in the relay with me in October have been running 4+ miles for weeks (or months), but I have been slacking behind. At first when I started running I was sidelined for a couple of weeks with shin splints . Of course I ran after first experiencing them, which just made it all worse. So after giving the necessary rest and icing them I had to start back from the beginning again. I've been running 3-4 times a week now around our neighborhood and Callie has been my loyal companion. At 7 years of age already, this sweet and spunky girl needs the exercise and she's the best running partner because it's like she's not even there!
When I began running, Daddy was taking Callie when he went running due to a slight tear in his rotator cuff and so I took Ben. 
I ADORE my Ben, he is the snuggliest, cuddliest, most affectionate dog and my napping and bedtime buddy (when Daddy isn't home), but a good running partner he does not make! He whines at other dogs and pounces to a stop suddenly when the gentle leader bothers his snout - I've even had to leapfrog over him on occasion to avoid a collision! Needless to say, I'm glad Daddy's shoulder is doing better and that Callie is now my running buddy and Ben can just stay my snuggle buddy.Yet I digress...pretty typical for me as I usually have lots to say! So I've been running but have realized my route that I thought as about 3 miles, is really only about 2. :( Well tonight I found a new route, charted it out to be 3.62 miles and was determined to see if I could do it. To my surprise - I was feeling so good that I added some extra streets and ended up running 4 miles exactly, and in 38 minutes! Now to you runners, this may seem like a teeny little accomplishment, but to me it was HUGE! Honestly, if it wasn't getting dark I feel I could have kept going, I was very energized and excited, although Callie looked about ready to drop.
Our time would have been even faster too except for the lady who screamed bloody murder as we ran by and her tiny Chihuahua chased after us. She screamed and we stopped because her scream sounded so horrible, like something you'd hear from someone who had just found out her beloved had died. It was then I saw this little dog chasing after us so I stopped it and he and Callie sniffed each other for a few moments before she came running over to me and said, "You can go - I don't want my dog to get bit!" Excuse me?? That scream was all because your dog ran out of the house and you thought my Lab/Whippet mix was going to BITE it? What about a "thank you" for keeping your dog from running into the street or further away from home? Anyway, that delayed our time a bit, but wasn't about to ruin our nice run.
So in short I've accepted that I'm old now. I'm 30 and gone are the days of my breaking the Junior High mile record, no more weekend long softball or soccer tournaments and no more "bouncing right back". It seems daily lately that Daddy and I have been lamenting about this sore muscle or that gray hair (on him at least, NOT me). But tonight I felt physically alive again, athletically speaking, and that FEELS GREAT!!!
Brandy didn't run but was a critical part of the team shuttling runners back and forth between the check points.
