New Running Buddy

It's a dog! Well, she's a puppy at the moment, and also, not a runner (yet). My husband and I adopted Sadie, a little pit mix, just a few weeks ago. But it didn't take long for me to realize that I want this "puppy stage" to end as quickly as possible and just have a normal, functioning dog that doesn't act a fool when she sees a rock on the ground.

I know it will be a while before this can happen, much less, before she can run for more than 30 seconds before discovering another rock. But I decided to take her down to the community track last week and begin some conditioning exercises anyway.

Just a little running by my side on the straightaways is all I had in mind.

But apparently, Sadie had other motives. Either that or the worst ADD I have ever seen. In short, she would run when she thought she was chasing someone. Those were full-on sprints. There was a lot of, "Come on, Sadie...just run a little more until we get to the finish line!" and I would proceed to nearly drag her against her barely-moving little paws for the final 5 meters to the end of the straightaway. I think we did 3 laps total (mostly walking), then headed home.

I don't know if this counted as a "workout" for either of us (maybe more so the dog than me, just because it tired her out for a good long nap later on), but at some point in the future there will be human/dog workouts going on.

Doggie-selfie fail

All tuckered out from too much shoe-chewing

I don't want to set myself up for total failure though. If by some stroke of fate Sadie does not want to be my running buddy (highly unlikely), I guess I cannot force her. But I do know that she loves the outdoors, and along with me, my husband, and my husband's sister Jenny, Sadie completed a long day of hiking in LA last weekend.

No running buddy? No problem. My hiking buddy you shall be!