Monday, June 30, 2014

Be a Better Running Partner

Today's Happy Tail starts with me being not so happy. I stayed up too late so getting up early wasn't fun. The camera I was charging wasn't charged for some reason. I have blisters on the backs on my ankles that have scabbed over, but still hurt when my shoes rub on them. Then, it was pretty humid for 5am and I haven't really run in that humidity yet.

All of this seemed to throw off Henri and I's sync. He kept wanting to stop and sniff things. He wasn't sure which direction I wanted him to go and, at one point, he was jumping horizontally in front of me to stay out of my way. I'm not even sure how that happened or how I managed not to trip over him. 

I was reminded of several articles I've read about how your dog is the best running partner. They never complain about being tired.  They don't need to fuss over getting ready. They don't whine about "being sore". I was being a bad running partner by whining about these things.

So, I put all of these things aside. I wasn't really that tired. I can try the camera again tomorrow. The blisters didn't hurt that much once I got going. There was a nice breeze and avoiding the oppressive heat and humidity is why we get up so early to run. We had the world to ourselves. The sun was rising slowly and we got to see it. I had my favorite songs playing in my ears and my favorite dog running by my side. How could I complain?  

We fell into sync after that. Henri even slowed down to run right next to me for a block which either meant he was hot, he was getting tired or his confidence was shaking and he just needed the assurance of being right by my side. I choose to believe that he just wanted to run WITH me for a spell. We even took an extra cool down lap around the lake to spend just a little bit more time outside.  

Now it's raining. If we had gotten up a little later, we would have gotten soaked. Henri is curled up on the spare bed, opening his eyes every so often, while my fingers hit the keys and I decide that if Henri is going to be the best running partner for me, I need to be the best running partner for him. That's a pretty Happy Tail in my opinion.  

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