Spring is in the air

Hi Athletes!

I don’t know about you, but with spring finally getting serious about commitment to our cause, I have renewed energy and enthusiasm for all things movement and outdoors… even talking (or in this case writing) about all things movement and outdoors. I want us to get back in touch with each other this season and not just let you know what promotions we are having at RLA, but what we are actually getting up to while practicing what we preach.

So today’s email is a bit of a blog from me about my first run outside of the season.  I love my treadmill, but the sun was out, the streets were clear of ice, and the dog was giving me that “look” that he gives me when I run on the treadmill. “Human, you know you could just take me for a walk right?”

I had also purchased a handy new gadget from Amazon that I was keen to try out - a running belt leash for the dog.  Just band it around my torso and get running.  

The first part of our run was what you could expect, I ran and with the instructions of my reactive dog trainer in mind, I did not stop to let him engage in barking at other dogs, lifting his leg to mark every fence post, or any other distractions.  We were getting down to business.  I ran like I meant it!

I ran down the road to this little wooded park with some trails that makes a nice 30 minute loop. Perfect little lunch break run. Knowing how well traversed this park is with dog walkers, I was expecting MANY distractions. So many things to smell.  Game face on. No distractions dog!

So I continued through the parking lot and straight to the trail as the dog began to linger behind me, until I could feel that resistance. Yup, here it is. Focus Sarah, he will snap out and come along. Remember, this is good core conditioning too!

After probably a dozen strides with the drag behind me, I turned to look and there he was… skiing along behind me in a squat with a trail of poop you could use as a passing lane marker on the highway.

Oops!

So lesson learned… some distractions ARE worth stopping for.

-Sarah

PS. The rest of the run went well and while I seemed to last longer than the dog, we very well may make this a regular part of our training.