BOXER ADVENTURES

 The state park that we were staying in was just south of Letchworth State Park - which holds what's known as the Grand Canyon of NY. It was a perfect day for us to head there bright and early and get in some miles. We had a perfect day hiking the trails.  The place was very busy and the dogs were good with everyone.  We got in a lot of miles - and more stairs - my Garmin indicates we climbed 109 FLIGHTS of stairs!  We made it back to the campsite early afternoon.  At this park, the sites are relatively close to one another and "neighbors" had moved in.  They have 2 dogs.  They are pretty well behaved but a few times they have gotten excited and barked at our boys.  Not only did they not bark back but they have not tried to run over there to see them.  They also have done spectacular with people walking on the road right next to our site.  They have watched everyone go by but have made no attempts to try to go out and greet people - not ...

 We decided to go camping at a place we'd never been to this weekend.  The dogs are smart enough that when they see the suitcases come out, they get excited and nervous.  We packed up a lot of things last night.  Booker jumped in the Passport at least 3-4 times and we had to make him get out.  He reluctantly did, apparently afraid we were planning to leave without him.  This morning I got up at what is the crack of dawn for me.  I took the dogs out and they were excited as this was different routine.  After they did their business they prepared to go back in the house but I had different plans.   We did a quick 3 miles in the col morning air, but it was warming up quickly by the time we finished.  We then packed up the rest of things and headed out.  They were appropriately tired from the run and settled right down despite the change in routine.  It was a long trip, but as always they traveled well.  We got to the cam...

It has been super hot all week - I have been coming home from work and the dogs come to greet me and are excited for about 30 seconds before lying in the shade and panting.  So any form of exercise has pretty much been out.   I on the other hand have been slogging along in the heat that I have not been used to and my Garmin tells me my status is "STRAINED".  But of course, the weekend hits and we experience a cool down.   Bad for my mood but good for the dogs.  I got ready to run and Sisko ran to the door, all excited  I have been letting him dictate whether he wants to go or not and his message today was clear.  We headed over to the trail and since my body was telling me to run slow I would run with Sisko and let him tell me if he wanted to quit.  There was no quit in him today.  He ran right along, happily in front with Booker and wanted to greet everyone we passed.  At 6 miles we reached the area of open water.  He ran...

 Last year Booker raced the Lake Monster 12K with me.   I wasn't sure about this year because the forecast called for pouring rain and I was debating in my head whether I should force him to the same torture that I was about to endure. When I woke up this morning it was lightly raining and the forecast assured me that the rain was headed out right before the race was to start. And it was a cool 53 degrees, so I knew he would be fine. So we loaded up and headed over to the race start.  Booker started the race - as I knew he would - wound up and wanting to sprint as fast as he could.  So the beginning was a fight to keep him next to me. You can see me holding him back in this pic. Given his history of pooping as soon as we start running, I took him to the back part of the race lot and desperately tried to get him to poop.  No luck and sure enough, about 1/2 mile in he pulled over to poop.  Fortunately, I have trained him to go off to the side and he poop...

 This week started out BLAZING hot.  Too hot for the dogs to do anything, let alone run! Sisko walked around in slow motion and glared at everyone - like it was our fault.   Booker wanted to play but would last about 2 minutes before he couldn't do it anymore. Since the Lake Monster race I am doing is tomorrow I was hoping to get in some kayaking today that wouldn't use my legs. Unfortunately, Mother Nature went crazy and decided to drop the temps by 30 degrees. We still planned to kayak, but after getting to this reservoir we wanted to try it was WINDY and freezing cold. So instead we bundled up and went for a hike. Not exactly the resting of the legs I was hoping for, but the boys had a great time!  

Due to the cold water that just wouldn't end, the growing season has been delayed.  I am definitely a summer girl, but I LOVE lilacs.  They are at least 2 weeks behind.  When Booker and I returned to our yard after a short run this morning, I could smell they are just opening up.

 I was going to run alone tonight, since the weather was too hot for the boys.  But Marc went for a bike ride, and they both were following me around the house begging to be entertained. They won. We headed out to the beach so they could run with me and dive into the still COLD waters of Lake Ontario any time they got to warm.  Just over 7 relaxing miles... Much better than my original plan!