swim, bike, run…and the rest of life…

…my new running partner!

Her name’s Belle, and while she might not look like she’s ready to run, believe me — I’ll be struggling to keep up with her!

As you can tell, she’s a tough-nosed dog, born on the streets, made for fightin’…

…or maybe not.  Maybe after her tummy rub.  Perhaps she’s just the cutest thing ever.  It’s also possible that I’m slightly biased.

Belle came to me in a roundabout kind of way:  a story of No-Good people and Do-Good people.

I had gotten an email from a friend of mine:  her co-worker — the Do-Gooder in this tale — had found a dog muzzled and tied up to a bench outside a laundromat.  The dog was hungry and scared, and when Do-Gooder inquired, found out that she had been there for days.  She had very recently given birth to a litter; she still was carrying milk.

Now, don’t get me started on the No-Gooders:  the person who abandoned her after she gave them the puppies they wanted.  The people in the business who KNEW that she had been out there for days (and it’s the Midwest in March!  It’s not like it was a balmy 65 degrees outside).  It really is beyond my comprehension how people can be like this.

But Mr. Do-Gooder, he took action:  untied the poor girl and brought her home with him.  Took her to the vet, fed her, got her all cleaned up.  And wanted to keep her, but realized that the best thing would be to find a good home for her, as he already had another dog and a small living space.

The email went out to me.  And it was like the stars aligned:  when I moved last month, one of the big upsides was that I’d be able to get a dog.  But – I wanted to wait. Wanted to get settled in and unpacked. Wanted it to be the “right” time.

It seems as though the “right” time picked me … so after exchanging a few emails with Mr. Do-Gooder, I went a met her and was immediately smitten.  She was friendly and curious, energetic, athletic and sweet. Everything I had been looking for.

And so, I brought her home with me.

It seems like she’s settling in nicely, too.

It’s been a joy to have Belle around (though – admittedly – she can be a little shit from time to time – good thing she’s so dang cute!) and I think I might have hit the jackpot with the universe dumping her in my lap, without me having to do one lick of work to make her mine.

I hope so, because that’s been the bulk of my physical activity the last two months or so.

Which seems like a long time to be using that as an excuse for not training, doesn’t it?  And even LESS of an excuse for not blogging, I suppose.

But – it’s what I’m going with.  I’ve never claimed creative excuses as my strong suit!

My life’s been all manner of chaos for awhile, and just seems to now be settling down into a new normal, a new routine — something that I’ve been desperately waiting for.

I’ve got my old house rented out, so there are no more trips back out there to check up on it, which I’ve appreciated.

My (human) roommate has been moved in for almost 2 months now and we’ve managed to not only not kill each other, but actually co-exist pretty well.

And I’m slated to get my new (doggie) roommate on Tuesday!

So – everything’s falling into place.

This weekend will be the final push to get everything unpacked — I had gotten around to everything that I needed on a day-to-day basis, but had gotten tired and mostly bored with the process once that had been accomplished.  But this weekend?  I’ll be a an Unpacking Whirling Dervish!

I figure I should — even in the midst of the cardboard and bubble wrap flying! — be able to cobble some workouts together this weekend (if for no other reason than to have a legitimate excuse to not be unpacking for a bit).  And then starting next week?  At it full-time, with gusto, zeal and a resolve not seen around in here months.

And my 4-legged roomie-to-be is an energetic tyke:  she should force me outside even if I don’t exactly feel like it.

That’s the plan.  Just trying to get it done.  Yet again.

When your trainer greets you with a smile and a twinkle in her eye, and says, “So, can we work your legs hard today?” under no circumstances should you say yes.  Well, not unless practically needing a walker to get around for the next few days appeals to you.

Just trust me on this.

Just a quick note.

I’m 3 days into my second try at starting my New Year’s resolutions.  And how am I doing?

Not too shabby, actually.  I’ve hit the treadmill every day so far — nothing jaw-dropping, not even close — but I’ve gotten it done despite the fact that I had absolutely no desire to sweat at all.

And you know what?  I felt better for having done it.  Lesson learned?  Perhaps.

My nutrition hasn’t exactly been spot-on, but at least I’m no longer consuming crap like it’s about to be outlawed.  Or heavily taxed.  Even just a little moderation in my diet has trimmed a few pounds off.

So far, so good…

Of course, today I’m close to dead on my feet (or, dead on my ass, since I basically sit in front of a computer all day).  The last thing I want to do is train.  But, sweat I will.  It helps that I have a trainer beatdown scheduled (this is why I pay for someone to inflict pain… it’d be too easy for me to skip otherwise)… and while I’m there, I might as well run a little, right?  Make better use of my time?  Exactly.

I suppose that’s MY state of the union address.  At least for right now.  Let’s see if I can keep this going for a few more days at least…

One of my very favorite things to do is to bring someone new into my world of triathlons and running.  Sometimes they are reluctantly dragged into it, kicking and screaming, quite sure that they’re going to absolutely hate it.  Other times they have no idea what exactly they’re agreeing to but go into it willingly enough, until – of course – they figure out that, um, yea, this might not exactly be fun (let’s just say there was a long night of drinking after a softball game where I talked a friend into doing her first 5k the next morning… picking her up at 5am… hee).

I’ve mentioned before, I’m in the middle of picking up and moving.  And one of the things I’m most excited about is the opportunity I’m going to have to get myself a training partner!  I’ve always talked about how I dislike the solitary aspect of training, and how I’m much more a social-triathlete than a competitive one, so this is like a gift from the training heavens.

Yes – I’m taking in a roommate when I move.  But that’s not who I’m referring to.  By being closer to work, and closer to people who will be able to help out, as soon as I’m settled in?  Yea, I’m getting myself a four-legged training pal.  And I cannot WAIT.

Last time around, my dog was the epitome of lazy:  I would leave him home for 11-12 hours at a time and when I would get home?  He’d look at me from his perch on the couch and cock his head at me as if to say, “Tired?  Wanna nap with me for awhile?”  Yup.  I had the best dog.

But he was never a runner.  And that was my fault – I got him from the pound when he was older and I never took the time to properly train him on leash.  He would be okay walking, but running?  He would either be sprinting ahead or stubbornly stopping to sniff and mark things behind me.

This time around I’m doing it right.  I’m going to make sure I make the effort to train the new recruit to run with me.  Make the new pooch a motivator for me to get off my duff and get outside, too.  Gotta walk the dog, right?

I’ll probably go the same route as last time — go to the pound, find a dog that needs a good home and some lovin’ (and who’s already been house-trained!).  And one that will give me the puppy-dog eyes guilt trip when I’m sitting on the couch, ice cream in hand, instead of pounding out some miles, dog at my side.  My future pup has NO idea that he’ll be one of the few dogs around that will BE the trainer as well as the one being trained!

Yup – I’m indoctrinating the newest breed of triathamutt.  Super Dog!