Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Boot Camp and Puppy Love

Did I ever doubt if Lily would be anything but a great addition to my life?  Heck, no.  All the more reason to get up early.  She fits our lifestyle so completely.  Get up early to walk the dog, get up for boot camp, what's the difference?  One makes you sweat more.  We practice running with Lily up and down the driveway.  Our neighbours think we're nuts as we trot along like trainers at the Westchester County Dog Show.  She will never be able to run at our pace but she loves to run.  Soon, when she's had all her shots, we can take her to the park to run, though I would be very hesitant to let her off the lead.  This is a popular breed to get stolen.

Meanwhile, boot camp continues and I find everything I ever knew about training seems to fit tongue and groove with everything I am learning about dog training: patience, attention to detail, consistency.  It all pays off.  My weight has stopped fluctuating, I have more energy and I sleep better.  Oh, and I have a dog.  Did I mention that?

Monday, May 16, 2011

Backing Out

I'm backing out of the 10K race in Ottawa.  No Ottawa Race weekend for me but not because I can't do it.  It's not the knee or the hip - it's the PUPPY!!!!


Meet Lily.  She's a French Bulldog.  I got her three days ago.  She's 11 weeks old which means I can't go anywhere for the time being.  Not that I mind being home with this much cuteness around.  She's learning to walk on a lead and go potty outside but the weather has been so terrible I had to buy her a raincoat.  Here's Lily looking like Super Dog in her outdoor apparel:


We love her to bits and don't mind having to miss our 10K to stay home with her.  There'll be other races.  Meanwhile, she has made my mother very, very happy.  She wept tears of joy when she met her.


Stay tuned for more stories about Lily - oh, and fitness and weight loss too, of course!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Boot Camp - Week Three

The weather has finally improved so there should be no more cancellations.  I'm happy that we can now move forward because I'm looking to seeing improved strength and ability in myself.  Having said that, I am finding it interesting to note that while I believe I can do better, I am stronger than some of our newer members.  This is only to be expected; everyone has to start somewhere, but I had almost taken my strength for granted. Of course I remember a time when doing a simple push-up was one of the most difficult things I had ever done.  Looking back over my journal from the first year, one of the most frequent comments was "I want to puke".  Everything exhausted me at a much faster rate than it does now.  Nowadays the routine is familiar and almost comforting.  It's definitely enjoyable, something I would never have said four years ago.

Today was interval training, which is one of my favourites because I love running so much.  We run a mile to start with and then do five sets of run/walk for two minutes each.  We follow this up with two sets of strength training exercises: push-ups among them.  I am getting far, far better at those.  I can go a full minute and get my chest lower than originally.  I'm working on doing one-legged bench dips and leg curls for the sake of strengthening my knees but it's slow-going because I tire quickly and wind up having to put both feet down.  My goal for the end of the summer is to be able to do more of them.

It was a gorgeous morning, sunny and bright and the leaves are at the point of early Spring perfection where they are that tender green in colour that will last only a very short while before they come out in full and darken in colour.  These are days to revel in.  Thanks to boot camp I get to enjoy them more.