BOXER ADVENTURES

 The weather forecast has PROMISED that if we can just get through this weekend that we are going to see a warm up.   I'll believe it when I see it!  Swear words were DEFINITELY said this morning when I woke up and it was 23 degrees.   But, as usual, the dogs were raring to go and let me know that I would be running outside - like it or not. At least the sun was out, but in that temperature even a light breeze sucks. We got in 4 miles and were back early morning. They were both expecting to walk in and immediately get some treats.  But I had other plans. Boxers are pretty "wash and wea" as the saying goes, but it had been a long time since they'd had bath, so into the shower they went. After that, they were towel dried and then we each given a huge raw chicken leg which they were thrilled with.  They then chased each other around the house and rubbed their faces on the bed as they always do after eating raw meat. Then it was errand time.  We ...

 This morning, we decided to head to the beach again.  I was hoping that over the last week that most of the snow we encounter ed the last time would have melted.  I was planning on doing a short run and was super happy to see a deserted beach with the sand showing! I wasn't sure about letting Sisko run off leash on the beach.  His knee continues to get better, but he tends to overdo it on the beach.   He was SO excited to be on the beach he was actually jumping up in the air.  I hopes that meant that he was not feeling any pain, so I told Marc I was going to let him run with me and would turn around and bring him back to him if he seemed to slow down. We started running and I immediately noticed that the sand was super soft.  For me, that meant slow going.  It did not bother the dogs at all.  They happily ran and wrestled with each other the whole time.   Around 2 miles in, I noticed that I was way up on the beach and there wa...

 I went over today to the trail that we ran last week.  It was a snowy run last week and I anticipated that I could run again this week.  I was incorrect! Over this past week, we got rain, now, melting and freezing.  This meant that once we got about 1.25 miles in, we were in the woods and found that the snow had melted, but not completely and then froze.  This meant that the surface was not only slippery with ice, but it had frozen unevenly. There are brave souls I know that would have gone ahead and ran on it - just trying to be careful.  But I am clumsy AF and also know people that have been determined to run their planned route and have hurt themselves.   So Booker and I turned around and headed back.  For a minute I thought of either doing a shorter run than planned or running back and forth on the same 1.25 miles.   Instead I decided we would run around the adjacent village.  This just so happens to be village I grew up i...

 I should have known better than to get my hopes up that we were out of the woods with winter.  Sure enough, yet another storm. Our favorite trail had melted, and I was hoping the fresh snow wouldn't keep me from being able to run on it.   But boy, when I woke up it was super windy, cold and snowing like crazy.  I resisted the urge to jump on the treadmill and made my way over. I wasn't sure I would be able to stay on my feet, but the snow was wet, which meant the traction was pretty good.  The first 1.25 miles were fine, but then I crossed into where the woods are thick and though I couldn't see where there were the piles of hard snow that hadn't melted with the warm up, I could feel them! It was a slow slog.  There was one other car in the parking lot and I could see his footprints as I ran.  He was on his way back when I hit about 1.5 miles in. So when we turned around at 2 miles, I let the dogs off leash.  They were so happy.   ...

 Yes, I complained mightily about daylight savings and losing an hour of sleep.  And yes, I am feeling it today.  BUT the silver lining is that it doesn't get dark 3 minutes after I arrive home.  Which means...... I can run after work! A warm 5 miles tonight! We were charged by a super fat Australian Shepherd - I almost felt bad yelling at him as he ran towards us as he looked like a giant sausage! I feel so bad for dogs - especially breeds that NEED exercise- who don't get any and are underfed.  And it's a vicious cycle because the less amount of time they are exercised, the more out of control they are when they get any freedom.   Sure enough after he made his way back to his screaming owner I saw her forcing him into the house as we ran by.   I resisted my inner Karen who wanted to stop and explain that it's all her fault.  Instead we carried on. 

 I HATE losing an hour of my weekend! Motivation was hard to find this morning.  I didn't want to run, and I thought the dogs would both be tired from yesterday and not interested in getting out to run.  But both of them saw me getting dressed and were so excited. I am still wary about taking Sisko.  I was looking for signs of a limp after yesterday.  He clearly wanted to go but I didn't want to re-injure him.  It has been 5 1/2 months since his injury.  Even when he limps a little he doesn't seem to be in pain - it seems more like a functional problem.  So he - like some people - might always have a bit of a limp due to scar tissue but that doesn't mean he is in pain.  So I decided to once again run slow and see how he felt. We started off slow and he was lagging a bit and I thought we might need to turn around and I'd put him inside and finish the run with Booker. But he soon got into the groove.  I normally turn around at the end of o...

 Finally!  We are getting a promise of spring! I've been out of town at a conference and when I got back last night the boys were SO happy to see me.  - but I think I was happier to see them! Today it was sunny.  They were calling for some rain, but even if we got wet, I wanted to be outside! So we went to the beach hoping that the snow had melted enough for us to walk. It felt so warm after the long winter and we managed to avoid any rainfall! The boys were thrilled to be off leash and made the most of the time to run and wrestle. The beach still had some snow on it but it was walkable.  And even though huge ice shelves prevented us from seeing the lake, they both wanted to run through puddles of melting snow - which had to have been freezing! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Hudson Mosher (@jenhudsonmosher) Back home, both dogs were wiped out from all the energy they had expended. But happy?  I think so!!