I'm Back

I'm back running. First, I hurt my ankle and my knee playing indoor soccer. I had forgotten how much of a contact sport even recreational soccer can be! Then, just when I figured it was time to try out my ankle (actually it was probably too soon), I came down with bronchitis. I'm at the end of week two of that, so I decided to try a run today. I have been taking some long, brisk walks in an attempt to strengthen my ankle and not get too far out of shape.

Oh, there something more to say first. I have a new running partner! He's pretty quiet most of the time, and all he asks for is some food, water, and a little petting now and then. He's a Siberian Husky puppy named Ares! He was born January 20th, 2009, so he's still just a young puppy. He's doubled in size since we got him about a month ago and is now bigger, much bigger, than our chihuahua.

Now back to the run. Since Ares is in training mode and I wanted to try out my ankle first, I started out by myself. I took the back loop as usual, but not all the way to the high school. It went better than I expected, with just a few walking breaks. I did have one coughing fit, but I survived. I went 3.5 miles.

Then I stopped at home and woke Ares for his training. He ran the first 1/4 mile at a pretty good pace, then he needed to walk a bit. We did a combination of running and walking, and we ended up with 2.1 miles. He even did the sprint up the hill at the end -- how I usually end all of my runs. Well, it was only about 3/4 of the way up before he had to walk, but that's pretty good for a rookie! Now, of course, he can sleep most of the day if he wants. Huskies have a lot of energy, though, so this will be good for him. Plus, now even if I don't feel like running some days, he will probably insist on it.

So, I'm back, and I ended up with a total of 5.6 miles. I feel better than I thought I would. I feel great, actually! My ankle seems to be OK, and it was so much fun to get outside and run. The weather is supposed to turn nasty again -- possibly SNOW -- but I'll find away. I have not yet pulled out of the Flying Pig Marathon (5 weeks), so maybe I will be able to at least participate in it, even if I don't meet even my slowest time so far. Now if I can just lose that 10 pounds I "found" over the winter and my running break.

Gotta run...