In the mornings I take our two dogs for a walk of 4 1/2 miles, the old one trots around with the odd run, the young one (11 months old) trots round and wants to play with every other dog she sees. When she finds a willing candidate there is 5 minutes or more of mayhem, charging round at 100 mph. Once that one gives up, she is then in search for the next.
So for tonights run, I thought I would take her with me. My thoughts being that when she sees me run, she will join in. I would run the route we walk in the mornings and stop when I reach 3 miles, or cant go on any more.
We left home and she was pulling a bit on the lead with excitement. At the five minute point I started my run. Started off slow, and she was just trotting along beside me, perfect. When we got to the woods I took her of her lead and then started running again. She stopped and sniffed and I called her on. She turned and slowly trotted towards me. As she got close I started running thinking she would run and keep up. No, she just kept walking and dropping behind. I stopped and called her on again and tempted her with a treat. She ran to catch up, great.
I started running again and she just walked along, stopping and sniffing. This was hard work. This carried on with me running 100 yards at the most before having to stop and check she was behind or wait for her to catch up. I was a bit worried there was something wrong.
Then, she met a dog who was up for a play. The two of the flying around the woods at 100 mph. Finally she stopped and we parted ways, I started running and she just walked along. No way had that worn her out. Five minutes later, the process was repeated but this time the other dog got tired and gave up. My dog decided that was no fun so off we went again, but her still walking.
This went on for the entire route through the woods. Finally we got to the road and she was back on the lead. I started to run but the bl**dy dog just walked. I kept running but was basically running on the spot as I didn't want to drag her along. We got to the end (the run start/stop point) and I returned to a walk to get home.
We got in and immediately she ran into the garden and charged around like a lunatic, obviously energy to burn.
So, a total on 4.15 miles covered during my "run" at an average pace of over 15 minutes per mile. Unfortunately, I didnt get more than a couple of hundred yards of continuous running before stopping for either 30 seconds waiting for her to catch up, or longer while she ran with another dog. The walk in the mornings usually takes 1 1/2 hours with similar stops, the run section today took 1' 05" so when including the two 5 minute walks was only 1 5 minutes quicker than my walk time.
I may give it a go again at some point, but didn't feel I had much of a workout. Heart rate of between 89 and 158 and averaged 128. The elevation was 152 feet.
Yes, I covered 4 miles running, but because of the frequent stops, I cant claim I ran four miles as it was not continuous. It was more like three week one runs back to back.
I am wondering if I should try a dog or squirrel costume to see if she chases me like she does the real thing, although I may need to work on my speed a bit!!! Well you do see people wearing costumes during marathons, maybe thats how they started. 😁
On Friday's run, she is definitely staying at home. The dogs can have a separate walk!
Written by
Chris--B
Graduate
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I took my dog out with me for the early weeks of the programme, but got fed up with the constant stop/start for picking up poo or waiting for him to finish sniffing something, so now he gets walked separately.
If you go with the squirrel costume, we will naturally need to see a photo!
Hmmm, I just had a vision of me running hell for leather over a hill being chased by hundreds of dogs while dressed as a squirrel, maybe that may not have been one of my best ideas.
And seeing the state of the disemboweled toys in the garden, I dread to think about what would happen if I got caught. I would probably get a mention in the Darwin Awards!! 😂
I think that would resemble a scene out of a comedy sketch. Let us know where and when if you do try it, one of us could capture it on our phone and make £250.
Well, you might call that Intervals... ? If not for you then for the dog.I notice you are still taking note of your heart rate too???
It was a good outing, you were out there and you had a run/walk. Every run does not have to be a workout.
It is quite strange.. I have never, ever thought of any of my runs as a workouts? A workout involves, for me things like core strength and stamina work.. or is a series of running type exercises which are labelled as workouts .
Maybe the dog just wasn't feeling it... lessons to be learned from animals ?
Now the burning question ...the dog charged around the garden...energy left.. did you have energy left and did you do a series of exercise o burn it off, too?)
My heart rate is automatically recorded by my watch, so its an observation really rather than a target. It just indicated how much less effort was involved on this outing.I must admit, once home I could have easily done something else, but my meal was ready (well overdone actually as I had been out longer than expected). My older dog wanted to play after so I was out in the garden but just throwing his toys and watering the vegetables (waste of time that was as it rained all night).
Okay Questions answered... and watering the garden first before rain is a great idea... the rain is absorbed much more, especially if it has been very dry previously. I watered all my stuff last evening, just before it rained Go you!!!
I tried running with my young dog a few times. Used a lead which goes around your hips. It wasn't great as my dog got distracted too much, plus I did worry about tripping over her. I decided running was 'me' time and combining it with a dog outing just didn't work. I need to concentrate when I'm running, not concentrate on what my dog is doing!
A waistbelt attached bungee lead is a great help! It takes a while for a dog to learn that this is a run (just as it takes them a while to learn 'this is a going somewhere' walk as opposed to a 'sniffage' walk)
I had a few too many ' we're in the same wood but not together' incidents and found the 'Total Recall' book a worthwhile read... added sachets of cat food and warm sausage wrapped in foil to my running kit for a while!
And I thought my dog was the only one! I've got a Jack Russell pocket rocket, if we're walking off lead she's doing zoomies in circles around us if it's on lead she's doing 100 MPH on the spot ahead of me trying to speed me up. If we go for a run she's perfectly happy doing the walk sections but as soon as I start to jog she switches to snail mode and I'm either jogging on the spot or dragging her along. I've come to the conclusion we'll enjoy our walks as usual and running will have to be a solitary pursuit 🏃♀️X🐕
Sounds familiar! I am re-doing C25K for the 3rd time, trying to get back in shape. I quickly discovered that I can’t bring either of my 2 dogs with me if I want to be able to run uninterrupted!! Good luck to you!
I found the first attempt at running with my dog super-frustrating, got quite cross with him and neither of us enjoyed it much.
However, I then remembered that my dog had no idea why I kept putting him on the lead when he's usually off it, nor why I wasn't happy for him to do his usual sniffing and exploring when he was off the lead.
Now I only run with him when I'm prepared to go back and forth, round in circles, stop and start randomly, and ignore pace completely. For me the numbers don't much matter anyway, and Jedi couldn't care less about them. It's so much more fun running like that, and I know that in a few years, when he's no longer around, I'll remember the daft, happy times that we shared, not my run stats.
I think taking the dog out and running are probably going to be two separate activities in the future. As she knows the route we took well, I think she felt confident and so me running away at a speed she probably considers insignificant didn't bother her. It may be worth retrying on a less familiar route as when out walking she keeps closer in new locations. But for now, when out with the dogs, it will be there time to play and explore.
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