Training Log Archive: Yukon King

iced my hip last night, very tired. Icing it this am, looking out at sunshine. Now today we will discuss whether I am allowed to go to Maple Ridge, arggghh!

so Gypsy & I did get to go to the Maple Ridge Spring Ramble - D galloped around in the woods & twisted his ankle & had a heck of a good time, & me N the O-dog wandered about, made it about two thirds of the way to the lake - when the Boy Scout trail turned to unashamed mossy bushwhacking we turned back. Lotsa skunk cabbages. Lazed in the sun by the car & gave the O-chair its first workout of the season, had our lunches, met lotsa kids who have apparently joined the Gypsy Fan Club on the sly. Went to Alfie's for dinner after returing D's fancy new shoes - too narrow. Mine are nice tho. two hours outside for pup.

Cold & spitty rain so I was thinkin' a ahort-ish walk, but then it felt good so we kept going, a nice mix of woods, parkway, & street walking to keep the little doggy mind stimulated, along w/ a lil obedience... towhees & a woodpecker of some sort, just lotsa birds. pilaf (rice...almonds, onion, peas, red pepper, broccoli, some lentils...) & mango salad, plus a raita w/ tomato & cucumber.

another feeble half hour outside (total 75 minutes actually fairly sturdy considering weather), pretty cold & rain & wind have showed up as promised. R hip has been hurting a bit over last few days & now is no exception. Oh well. Back inside, fire is on, Doggy is groggy, & I am getting into the third HP book, having finished the second in the series AND Attenborough's Living Planet, great as usual. Now back to the history & technology of trains...

under blackening clouds we went down to the parkway & over to Taylor Park around its base (oddly no spidermonkeys - have they migrated north to breed?) & home exactly the way we came, sat by the gate & thought about things for total of 45 puppy minutes outside. Started raining a bit. Saw two russian mommies & a chinese grama (w/ appropriate small companions) on similar/identical route. Vietnamese noodles & hummous fr dinner... maybe lemon & sundried tomato in hummous? Am trying slightly different recipe in breadmaker to see if I can get pitas that are more tender for the hummous.

still spitting a lil rain, out for 50 minutes to sniff & trot fairly briskly about - up thru the woods to the train station & then back down the other side of the block. Thinking about that article about Joshua Bell in the Washington Post all day - I remember two-three days ago I stopped on my way thru the formal gardens to watch "l'amour" - a lil Mr. House-finch sitting on the back of a park bench trying to persuade a Mrs. House-finch that he was great, with lil hops and tweets N stuff. I remember thinking how I "had other stuff to do" & then I thought "not more important than this, you don't. L'amour is the center of the universe". But it was a hard decision to slow down, and I'm GOO-oo-ood at slowing down to smell the roses & watch the birds - it must be hard and so sad for other people who commute & stuff....

really fun morning walk w/ the O-dog all thru the woods down the creek, & then across to the top of Stairmaster & back home, 1.4 km, 65 minutes outside.
Then staggered off 1.4 km total to Alfie's for tea & pie, but felt very groggy (allergies? eyes all gritty, no energy) so did a lie-down on his sofa before going off w/ him to get his crown done.
Afternoon walk was no distance for me, but G ran back & forth for a few over-stimulated km. w/ Kelly the miniature collie. Then we sat quietly for a while to rest & cool off, total 40 minutes...
Last night's cilantro-pumpkin seed pesto worked good - put in enuf olives & capers this time. Tonight it is a cornmeal-dumpling-topped thing like a shepherd's pie. Hope it works, it is new recipe for me...smells good.

couldn't open the elastic-laced new shoes today cuz of crapless hands - felt sad in kitchen for a few minutes but then we put on my old shoes & went out into sunshine for nice walk around Cortina along the trainline, back by the elementary school, along the parkway & up the top of Stairmaster. Windy & smells like flowers everywhere, may have slight sunburn. Played w/ super-tough Yorkie named Cassie, met Dallas & Tiffie coming out of Mayfair. O-dog exhausted! Maybe I'll try new shoes w/ normal laces for a while. 70 minutes outside.

corner grocery for bread, & a walk-around-the-block with Gypsy just before dinner...clouding over, cherries & star magnolias losing petals in drifts.

Gaaaa-a-ah! Called Canmore this afternoon to search for place to stay for Barebones - Highland Games has the places I wanted ALREADY sold out & Labor Day is still 5 months off! But I quickly called the (expensive-ish) cabins we stayed at last time & luckily they take O-dogs AND had a place for us. YAY!

in my new Brooks walking shoes, w/ the O-dog, down the creek bikepath, along parkway & home. 50 minutes w/ some time sitting in sun talking to admirers & practicing for O-meets. Wildly varying weather, windy, went back in to put on two coats cuz freezing, came home sweaty & carrying half my stuff. Grumpy in the afternoon so did some peaceful taxes to recuperate.

mirror-image loop over to bike trail & up around the corner grocery & back home - so windy & cold that it was hard to sniff much, but we did another half hour of outside...

Misty morning. Easter bunny visited. Also, the G-dog apparently encountered her first Attack Slug in the woods - report is she was snoofin' about w' great intensity when suddenly was inspired to do rapid (extremely rapid) "Four-Point" Take-off, just like a lil yellow Harrier Jet, a move guaranteed to get a lil yellow dog quickly out of range of voracious Attack Slugs. Thank goodness.

pup feeling a bit groggy so shorter walks, 0.7km/0.7km/0.2km is total 1.6 km, 90 minutes outside with girl.