Training Log Archive: Bash

Mix and match of Caron Shepley's 10 Minutes 2 Zen Youtube videos

The parent/runners out there failed to advise me that 8- and 10-year-old kids may not care about personal space. It's been 10 days since both my Achilles tendons were stepped on multiple times by tailgating children. My fault for wearing flip flops! I thought it would be short term but my formerly good right Achilles has still not recovered. Initiating ice and home physio.

Get Out There Magazine article on the Furry Friends 5K with 'Bent in the photos
http://getouttheremag.com/articles/4495/nutrience-...

Inaugural Furry Friends 5K race at the Burlington waterfront to raise money for the Burlington Humane Society and Speaking of Dogs Rescue Program.

Our friend and yoga/core instructor Caron Shepley has been one of the organizers of this race in Whitby for the past 5 years; they decided to add a new race in Burlington this fall.

It was just so much fun. So many different kinds of dogs! So many different kinds of dog owners! Little kids with big dogs. Big adults with puppies. Dogs sniffing and leaping and wagging in excitement.



AdventureDog was ready to rock.



Sherpa (Andrea Hutt Good) brought her adorable younger dog Maui to celebrate her 1st birthday. She placed 3rd in the "Female with Dog" category, which was won by Lumi Duca, whom some of you know from orienteering. She beat me even though her dog stopped for an enormous mid-race poop that she cleaned up before continuing. :)



Bob Knuckey, winner of the 1976 Toronto Marathon, had the foresight to bring a stuffed dog since he doesn't have one of his own. He tossed it in the air to celebrate at the finish line, horrifying a few spectators until race emcee Barrie Shepley quickly reassured everyone that the dog was fake!



There were serious athletes, fun runners and walkers. I'd guess that about half the people ran with a dog. It was an out-and-back run on the trail that runs along the surprisingly beautiful Burlington waterfront.



'Bent and AdventureDog looked great out there! Note that A-Dog didn't really do his job of towing 'Bent so they finished in 20:14 in 3rd place in the tough "Male with Dog" category. I was still heading out when they were coming back so I hid on the far side of the trail to prevent A-Dog from seeing me. Dogs occasionally lurched at one other to say hi but mostly they were well behaved. I suppose people only bring good dogs to something like this.



I passed a few dogs near the end.



Professional triathlete Jessey Elf set out to break the world record for 5K with a dog. As Trav has pointed out, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion when an elite runner arrived with an 8-month-old Vizsla.



He succeeded. Turns out his 16:54 record is unofficial, i.e. no drug tests, etc. Still, I think some of my Hamilton/Burlington friends should try to beat that next year!



Boys on the podium. AdventureDog was chicked by the husky who came 2nd. They won a 3-month supply of dog food, which they donated to one of the rescue associations at the event.



"Female Without Dog" category - This was only my second 5K and it was a PB although it was not that long ago that the first 5K of a 10K race would have been sub-25. So... not really a PB. It was good for a $25 gift certificate at Foot Tools though!



'Bent and AdventureDog returned to the podium as the 3rd highest fundraisers. They got an excellent dog gift basket. Many thanks to those who sponsored them!



Fun morning!

On the way home from Burlington, I had 'Bent drop me off in Cheltenham so I could run home, mostly via rail trail. Lots of podcasting. Not much other excitement.

BazingaDog is improving but he's not happy without freedom to run around, which makes it hard for the rest of us to sleep. Only 11.5 more weeks of recovery!

I went for a run around Palgrave Forest and over to the rail trail, sticking close to home since there was some tornado talk on the weather forecast. No tornadoes came here, just some rain.

My career as a dog nurse continues. Things were made more challenging today by the presence of AdventureDog, who needs to be kept mostly separate from BazingaDog to avoid unpredictable bursts of brotherly playfulness. BazingaDog has started snapping at me to stop his leg rehab sessions but at least he lets me hold an ice pack on his incisions. I'm supposed to put ice on his knee and heat on his ankle. Sometimes I wonder if the veterinary surgeons just sit around and make up random post-surgical instructions as a joke!

Treadmill again since it kept me close to my patient. I'm trying to get him ready to stay alone for a few hours so we can do the Furry Friends 5K on Sunday but if he isn't doing well, I'll stay home.

A mix ranging from jump squats to arch strengthening

Between the latest heat wave and taking care of poor BazingaDog, I ended up on a treadmill today. This may not be a bad plan during the early post-surgical recovery period when we have to be super careful with him. I did three 7-minute progressions where the last minute was at 16 kph. If it had been a minute and one second, I might have shot off the back of the treadmill but I just managed to hang on!

I can't remember if I've ever lasted a full hour on a boring treadmill before but it was only possible thanks to the fascinating Radiolab "The Buried Bodies Case" podcast.
http://www.radiolab.org/story/the_buried_bodies_ca...

Long, tiring day... Happily, BazingaDog is home. The surgeon found that his Canine Cruciate Ligament (like a human ACL) was fully torn and his meniscus had a very large bucket handle tear. But after his TPLO and Tightrope surgery, he should be able to return to running in December. The doc anticipates that he'll need regular painkillers to control arthritis pain in his later years but he should recover full function of his knee.



Rehab, as expected, is going to be hell. He is supposed to be in a cage most of the time right now but he uses every ounce of his strength to stay out. At all times outside the cage, he needs to be on a short leash with a sling under his stomach to hold up his back end. That takes two hands and there is usually a need for a 3rd hand to open a door or find a dog treat. His repaired knee is vulnerable right now (not to mention expensive) so it would be really bad to screw up and drop him. Only 12 more weeks... It will get easier as it goes on and the healing progresses. The next 2-3 weeks will be the hardest.

And... Happy 20th Anniversary to 'Bent! Talk about a low key celebration. In between doggie rehab exercises and ice packs, I scanned a few photos for the occasion. More on Facebook.





Since this is a training log, here are two photos from our mountain bike ride on the Minnesing Trail with our guests a few hours before the wedding. Apparently, bike jerseys had not been invented yet.



This was an early version of 'Bent's recumbent mountain bike - a far cry from the space age, full carbon machine he rides now.

After getting up at 4:30 a.m. to drop off BazingaDog for his knee surgery on the other side of the GTA, I figured I might as well get out for a ride before the heat warning became reality. I spent most of my time in Albion looking at potential CP locations for the Star Tracks Mountain Bike Adventure on Oct. 16. Registration is open btw. :)
https://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/2572

I returned through Palgrave. Now I'm waiting nervously and willing the phone to ring with news that BazingaDog is awake and doing well post-surgery. If all went well, we expect he can come home for dinner tomorrow night.

Bike computer distance.

UPDATE: BazingaDog is awake in the recovery room! Yay! A little confused but he's doing OK. The surgery was very long but the Xrays look good. If his recovery goes well, he should be running again by Christmas. :)