Everything I know about running I learned from my dog

On Friday, after my previous post, I went to the gym and ran. Because it's been so long since I've run on the treadmill, I had to scale back my running intervals. When last we left the consistent running, I was up to running 6 minutes and walking 1 minute. Friday, I dropped back to 2 minutes running and one minute walking. At first, I felt really guilty for having to slow down. Then, I decided that I just had to get rid of that guilt and focus on what lies ahead if I was going to make any progress at all. To do that, I had to look to my dog, Cleo:

I've learned a lot from her and from dogs in general: Dogs live in the moment. They don't lay emotions on their memories. That is, they won't look at a dog that they barked at yesterday and think, 'Ooooh, that's the dog that pissed me off yesterday.' They just go with the smell. To them, the dog is familiar but there's not anger, love, shame, frustration, etc., associated with the dog. It's just a dog, a smell and a potential playmate. So, what does this have to do with running?? On Friday, I just tried to pick up as it were a brand new day, as if I had never run before, as if this whole treadmill thing was brand new. It took a good chunk of time to wrap my mind around the concept, but I did it. And, the most amazing part is ... drumroll please...that I want to keep on running. I know I have to drop back a bit, but if memory serves, when I first started this thing back in December (and, in earnest, on January 1), I could *only* run 1 minute. I then had to walk 2 minutes. Clearly, there's progress. And, I have to go with that!

Saturday was my birthday, so I relaxed at home, skipped Pilates (and, in fact, based on the signs I saw around the gym yesterday, the class was cancelled and it's cancelled this coming Saturday...money back, please!), and enjoyed some time with my husband, my dog and my family. Sunday was more of the same, and yesterday was kickboxing. It was hard but fun. I haven't sweat that hard in a LONG time. Our instructor definitely put us through the ringer, but she's so enthusiastic and encouraging that it's hard not to have fun. My 68-year old friend was there again, and we had a nice chat. She stuck with the workout until 10 A.M. (with 20 minutes to go) when, again, she had to meet her trainer.

My body aches today, but it feels good.