A Tucker Running Update

Been a little while since I mentioned any runs with the pup, so I figured I'd give an update.  With the cooler weather, he's also had a similar fitness boost to what most people experience after training in the hot summer temperatures.  Seems like every time we head out for a run, he's pulling me along for the ride the whole time, instead of just sprinting out the first mile and then pooping out.  He's building up some endurance! 

For right now, I've been taking him along on all of my shake out runs and/or easy paced runs.  Nothing crazy like tempos...yet, since those tend to be in the 7-8 mile range and we aren't quite there.  Though, he has been working on his hills lately, as his owner (me) has been doing quite a few hill repeats.  Yesterday, while doing such a hill workout, we set a new distance/pace record.  We ended up running a total of 4.5 miles at an average pace of around 7:40.  I could tell he was getting pooped on this one though, because he kept trying to take "breaks" when we'd be stopped for a car or a light by rolling around in the grass.  But before long, we'd be back on our way clicking off the miles. 

And since my training has really kicked back up into solid form, my weekly mileage with Tucker has also increased progressively over these last few months.  Just last week, we logged 16 miles together.  Not bad for a dog!

Today was a rough run though.  We did a an easy shake out run this evening, which turned out to be a hair over 3 miles, but after we were out the door for a bit, the rain started to come down.  Normally, he has a raincoat which works pretty well at keeping him dry and preventing him from having to stop every 2 seconds to shake his fur out.  But since we were already in the middle of the run when it started to rain, we had to tough it out.  By the time we finished, we were both soaking wet and I spent a good 5 minutes drying him off before letting him inside.

Oh, the things we do....but such a small price to pay for a great running partner.