Training for 8/30/18

Clark and I were out late last night and I slept in again this morning. I knew I should’ve put my running clothes on and headed right out the door, like yesterday, but… I didn’t. Well, I put the running clothes on, but I’ve been sitting around the house in them instead of running in them, as it’s gotten stupid hot outside again.

I don’t have any evening assignments though, so there’s a chance I will still get done the run on the schedule later.

Last night, Clark told me his brother signed up for the Baltimore Marathon, his first full! He just started running this year, and ran his first 5K and half marathon in the spring. So that’s pretty exciting.

And that’s all I’ve got as of now.

Training for 8/29/18

Good lord it is HOT out there! The last couple of days, I slept in and let it get too hot — the heat index is back up in the triple digits for whatever reason — and then had evening assignments for work, so Monday and Tuesday both became rest days.

Last night, I checked the weather app on my phone, and it said it still felt like 92 degrees outside at 9 p.m. That is stupid.

So this morning, as soon as I got up, I put on my running clothes and went out for an easy lap around the 5.5-mile loop.

It was pretty miserable. I was drenched in sweat before the end of the first mile. It’s just so freaking humid.

I trudged along. About a mile and a half from home, I saw up ahead someone else walking. I thought it was this guy, Al, who I used to see out there walking all the time, but it’d been a while since I’d seen him and this person looked much thinner.

Well, it WAS Al — just 90 lbs. lighter! He’s still walking three days a week; I just don’t see him because he always walks in the morning and I’m so all over the place with my own running schedule. Oh, and he also beat throat cancer last year. So yeah, he’s doing pretty well!

Now I’m home and it’s nice to have that out of the way, as it continues to get hotter out there.

Training for 8/27/18

Guess who actually ran ALL of her scheduled training miles this weekend? They weren’t very fast, but I’m pretty happy to report I got in a long run again!

Friday evening, Clark, Pepper and I went to Mispillion River Brewing for a local radio station’s 5F (5-ft.) “race” to raise money for a children’s hospital. For $20, we each got a bib, a plastic pint, one free beer and tickets for a bunch of raffle prizes.

Around 6, they told everyone to line up for the race, one of the brewery owners shot-gunned a beer, someone else blew an air horn and we were off!

Pepper and I met my goals of not tripping anyone and being the last ones across the finish line.

Clark, Pepper and me on the start line. Those kegs behind us were the finish line.

There was also free pizza and wings. This one woman was going around gathering pizza crusts from everyone when she found out Pepper would do tricks for it haha.

Speaking of Pepper, he got a lot of attention, as he usually does now, for being so pointy. I don’t know if it was because everyone was drinking, but a lot of people really got emotional when they found out he’s sick. One woman started crying because she’d just had to put down her 16-year-old dog and started thinking about what we’re going to go through when we have to say goodbye to Pep. Another guy got all teary-eyed thinking about some day when his girlfriend’s perfectly healthy schnauzer gets old and dies. And another guy said he’d had a weimaraner too, but that poor dog only made it two years before he died suddenly from bloat (a big risk in dogs with a barrel chest and narrow waist.)

So that was a little sad, but I much prefer the criers to the jerks!

Saturday morning, I should’ve gone out early for my run, when it was still kinda chilly out, but I didn’t. Instead, I waited until after 10 a.m. It wasn’t terribly hot, but it was a lot warmer than it’d been at 7. Oh well.

I didn’t even wear my Garmin. I just made my way around the 8.4-mile loop with no idea of how slow I was moving. It wasn’t a bad run, but I don’t think it was much faster than the day before.

That afternoon, we went to Fenwick, and in the evening, we celebrated Clark’s grandmother’s birthday with crabs, turkey burgers and an ice cream cake.

Sunday morning, Clark and his dad left early to do a biathlon in Rehoboth, a half-mile swim followed by a 5K run. There was a run-only option, but I knew I needed long slow distance, not a short race, so I stayed in Fenwick.

As soon as they left, I got dressed to start my own run, but then I realized I could see the sun come up over the ocean first — something I’d not yet seen this summer — so I took Pepper over to the beach. He was miserable, of course, but the sunrise was really pretty.

Not pictured: The dog shaking uncontrollably because we were too close to the water for his liking.

From the dunes, as we were leaving.

I took him back to the house and fed him his breakfast. Clark’s mom was up by then, so I left Pepper with her and went out to run.

My plan was to run five miles into Bethany, come back, stop at the house for a GU and a water bottle refill at mile 10, then run three miles toward Selbyville and back for a total of 16.

The run to Bethany went fine. But when the Garmin beeped five miles and I should’ve turned around, I was close enough to the boardwalk that I just kept going. Then after I ran the boardwalk, I only had less than two miles to halfway… why not keep going and just do one big out-and-back? Then I wouldn’t have to worry about being able to make myself leave the house for a second time.

So that’s what I did. I continued past Bethany toward Dewey until my Garmin hit eight miles.

By the time I was back on the boardwalk in Bethany, around 10 miles, I realized why I should’ve turned around when I meant to. My bottle was empty and I didn’t have even one GU, and I still had six miles to go.

I found a public water fountain and refilled the bottle at least, but those last few miles, I was really missing that GU! I was starving and my legs were really getting tired of moving.

The last four miles were particularly tough, but I didn’t have a choice other than to keep trudging back toward the house. I hit stop on my Garmin as soon as it hit 16 miles, which I’d finished in 2:36:44, a 9:47/mile average.

So I made a fueling mistake like a newb, but I still got in 16 miles, my first long run in more than a month! Overall it was very encouraging.

Not long after I got back to the house, Clark and his dad returned from their race in Rehoboth. Clark’s mom made a big breakfast for everyone. There was some napping after that.

In the afternoon, I went back to the beach for a little bit, and then Clark, his dad and I took our bikes out for a ride, nine miles toward Dewey and back, a total of 18.

The wind had really picked up by then. The ride toward Dewey, it was at our backs, and I was easily maintaining 22 and 23 mph without having to push. I knew it was going to be hell when I turned around and had to pedal into it though.

We turned around just before the Indian River Inlet bridge and just as expected, it was five times harder going back. There were times it felt like a gust would push me to a total standstill, and a couple times I glanced down at the Garmin and saw current speeds of 11 and 12 mph. I was so glad to get back! By the time I got done, my average speed was down to 16.3 mph.

Clark got home right before I did, but it was a while before we saw his dad again. Apparently he hadn’t seen Clark turn around, and he rode over the bridge and almost to Dewey before he finally turned around himself. He wound up riding 27 miles.

After we got cleaned up and loaded up the truck, Clark and I took Pepper first to Gary’s Beach Grill in Dewey for dinner, and then Dogfish Head in Rehoboth, which had a lot of brewpub exclusives on tap. You know what else is on tap there, and has been for at least a couple weeks already? PUNKIN ALE. As in, the fall seasonal beer. It’s my all-time favorite beer, period, but I refuse to drink one until Labor Day weekend. It’s still summer, dammit!

Training continues today with strength training and a short easy run.

Training for 8/24/18

Another day, another crappy run. I did a very slow lap around the 8.4-mile loop, this week’s middle distance run. It might have gone better if I’d done it this morning, when it was actually kinda cool, instead of waiting until the middle of the afternoon, when it was a lot warmer. Oh well, it got done.

This evening, Clark and I have a “race” that’s so short, Pepper can even do it with us. There’s a radio station hosting a 5F — as in 5 feet haha — at Mispillion River Brewing. We haven’t been there in months anyway, and the registration fee goes to a children’s hospital and gets us beer.

At some point this weekend, we’re going to the beach to celebrate Clark’s grandmother’s birthday. I’m also supposed to do another 8-miler and a 16-miler. Hopefully I can get this marathon training back on track and get some decent miles in for the first time in a while.

Training for 8/23/18

I wound up taking a rest day yesterday. I put off running too long, it got hot and humid and I didn’t feel like messing with it.

Today, I put off my run again, but it didn’t matter, because a little “cool front” came through and it actually felt pretty nice out at 4 p.m. I had this week’s speed workout on the schedule, five hill repeats. I went out to the Sharptown bridge.

I don’t know why, since that front lowered the humidity, but I just felt out of breath from the first step. It was weird, and frustrating. I did my warm up mile on the flat road and ran the entire first repeat, but I kept having to slow to a walk to catch my breath the rest of the way. I mean, I was gasping for air.

I didn’t let myself cut short the workout like I really wanted to though, and I did all five climbs, plus another slow mile to cool down. All in all, I finished 4.7 miles at a 9:30/mile pace.

I really hope I get a good run pretty soon. I’m getting tired of all these crappy runs here lately, even when the weather is cooperating.

Training for 8/21/18

Geez, it’s been almost a week since I updated this thing. I haven’t been QUITE as lazy about running as I have been about blogging about it. This is what I’ve been up to since last time:

• Thursday, Aug. 16 — Another hot, humid day. Figured it’d be another short run with multiple bathroom breaks if I ran at all, like the day before, so I just didn’t.
• Friday, Aug. 17 — Maybe the hottest day of the year; definitely close to it. Waited until the late morning to go up in the uninsulated attic to do strength training. Decided to cool off in the AC before my run — for about seven hours ha. Finally went out and ran a slow 3-miler just before sunset. Vowed to get up first thing the next day and run when it was “cool” out.
• Saturday, Aug. 18 — Actually went out for my run after I fed Pepper his breakfast! But it was just as hot and humid as the evening before, plus the added bonus of sunlight. Absolutely miserable slog around the 7.3-mile loop at a 10:37/mile pace. At least I got it done early. Went to Fenwick in the afternoon and got the Jeep stuck in the dunes for the first time haha — lesson learned, definitely have to deflate the tires! Took the paddleboard out in the ocean once we got the Jeep unstuck. Stayed at the beach house that night.
• Sunday, Aug. 19 — Went out a little later than the morning before, but still early-ish. Ran to a park in Ocean City, did a lap around the 1-mile perimeter track and then ran back to Fenwick. Still hot and humid, but I managed 4.5 miles at a much more typical easy run pace of 8:59/mile. Took the Jeep to the beach again in the afternoon, went home that night.
• Monday, Aug. 20 — Put off my run until the absolute last minute. Not as hot but every bit as humid as it’s been. Wound up getting a little dark on me — the days are getting noticeably shorter. Also, something was tearing up my digestive system. I had to stop about two miles in, and then I really had to go again when I got home. Managed some faster-ish miles in the middle and finished the 4.5-mile loop with an overall average pace of 8:32/mile.
• Tuesday, Aug. 21 — Had an early assignment so I got up and knocked out today’s run early. Did another lap around the 4.5-mile loop. Digestive system still had its knickers in a bunch; had to go just after the first AND second miles, and again when I got home! Had to walk a bit to settle my stomach in between bathroom stops too. Ran about a 9:15/mile average in the end.

And that brings this blog up to speed. Noticeably absent from my marathon training over the last week is any long runs! I intended to run 10 this past Sunday, but I didn’t even do half of it.

It’s felt like the past week or so since we got back from Detroit has been the worst stretch of weather we’ve had this summer, and it’s late enough in the season I am too sick of it to push through it like I should.

The awesome news is that if this year is anything like last year, we’ve got at least another two months of heat and humidity to look forward to! Fall might start on the calendar in a month, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to feel like it.

Training for 8/15/18

Boy, today’s run sucked!

First, I waited until 4:30 p.m. to go outside. It wasn’t terribly hot and humid today, but it was still in the low 90s.

Second and much more distressing, I guess my digestive system still hadn’t worked out all the crap I ate on vacation, because even though I ran a shorter distance than yesterday, only the 4.5-mile loop, I had to run for a makeshift bathroom the same number of times — two — and within a half-mile of each other.

Hopefully that was the last of it and I’m feeling back to normal tomorrow! Mid-run pooping isn’t exactly out of the ordinary for me, but that was excessive.

That time we went to Michigan!

I have a lot to write about since the last time I posted, so grab a snack and settle in.

Let’s see… going back to last Wednesday. The plumber finally got here about 15 minutes before the end of the 5.5-hour arrival window and figured out it was just a burnt out switch on the water pump that had to be replaced, which was better than the entire pump. He also figured out the switch had gone bad because it’d been turning off and on way more than normal due to leaking in the expansion tank, which is rusting through in several places. The tank replacement could wait until Clark gets time to do it, but the switch had to be replaced immediately if I wanted any water in the house before we left for vacation.

So, $312 later, I had running water again. Clark later said he could’ve replaced that switch himself for a lot cheaper, but I pointed out it would’ve been several days before he got a chance to do it, so I had to handle it my way — by writing a check haha.

I still had some errands to run in town, and then I cut our grass. I really didn’t want to but I couldn’t let it go another week. It was so freaking thick due to, No. 1, all the rain we’ve gotten over the last month, and No. 2, the fact it’d already been two weeks since it’d been cut. That was the closest I’ve heard the lawnmower come to conking out, it was getting so bogged down.

And then I met my brother, his wife, my mom and my younger sister at the Sharptown carnival so we could watch Kaylee enjoy all the rides.

I think she was getting tired of smiling at everyone’s stupid phones!

Back home, I got my stuff packed and was in bed around midnight. Clark got home from his business trip right about then.

Thursday started off on a bad foot before the sun even came up. It hadn’t been 15 minutes since Pepper had made Clark let him out to go pee when Pepper started making that gross lip-smacking sound that means he’s about to puke, which he did, first on our bedroom floor and then in the living room. It wasn’t even 5 a.m. yet and I was cleaning up dog vomit.

Clark had to get up about then anyway, to pack his own stuff and then go into his office for a bit to catch up on some work before we had to leave for the airport.

I went out for a short run after I got back from dropping him off at work. It was just a 3-miler. I wasn’t even gone a half-hour, but when I got home, Pepper had pooped in the floor. He was really making it easy to leave — I was looking forward to not having to clean up anything that had spewed out of a dog for a few days!

I managed to get everything pulled together, picked up Clark, picked up my sister and got us to the airport, where we met Mike, with plenty of time to spare to catch our flight to Detroit.

And then we were on VACATION.

The flight was really short, which was awesome. We got our rental car, a Kia Sorrento (full-size SUV, which worked out great), drove into the city and were checked into our hotel near the riverfront by 5 p.m.

Thursday night, we took a short walk to Corktown, a neighborhood near downtown, and started at Batch Brewing, on the recommendation of my friend Angie, who lives in Detroit.

While we were there, I texted her to see if she was around, and she not only met us at Batch, she chauffeured us around to a few other bars we’d have probably not found otherwise. The Detroit Shipping Co. was the most hipster bar I’ve ever been in — it was inside a bunch of old cargo shipping containers, and had a DJ playing house music haha. On the other end of the spectrum was a dive bar called The Bronx, decorated with vinyl bar stools and wood paneling so old you could practically still smell the cigarettes from when you used to be able to smoke in bars.

It was fun getting to see Angie too. She’s come out to the East Coast a bunch, but that was my first time hanging out with her on her home turf. She’s also about to move to Florida.

Friday morning, I went for a run along Detroit’s waterfront, and partly along the Dequindre Cut, a two-mile greenway developed along a former rail line. I wound up covering 5.3 miles.

The Spirit of Detroit, in front of a municipal building/courthouse at the end of Woodward Avenue.

Underground Railroad monument depicting former slaves looking across the Detroit River to Canada.

Looking up the river toward the GM Renaissance Building on the right.

Graffiti under an overpass on the Dequindre Cut.

Race car graffiti under another overpass.

Later that morning, Clark and Mike both had work to do, so Julie and I spent the next several hours on our own.

First we got a late breakfast at The Dime Store.

Another great variation on eggs Benedict — smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives in place of Canadian bacon.

Then we rented bikes and rode to Belle Isle, an island in the river. On the way, we found this bar:

We did a lap around the island too. Julie really wanted to see this marble fountain:

On the way back, we rode the entire Dequindre Cut both ways.

By the time we racked the bikes, Clark was done working and had gone to the Detroit Brewing Co., so we met him there. On the way, we saw some more graffiti I really liked.

Yes, there were plenty of abandoned buildings in Detroit, but a lot of spots are coming back to life. Clark said he got weird looks from coworkers when he told them he was going to Detroit on vacation, but I have to say, I enjoyed exploring the parts I got to see.

Anyway, our next stop was the Grand Trunk Pub, in a former ticket office for a railroad.

Looking down at the bar from a second floor balcony.

Our last stop Friday night was The Grey Ghost for dinner. Clark thought I picked it because it reminded me of Pepper (weimaraners are nicknamed Gray Ghosts) but I swear it was just on a list of recommended restaurants. Except for one weird roasted cabbage appetizer, everything we tried was delicious, and I was absolutely stuffed when we left. I was also more than ready to hit the hay. So we called it a relatively early night and went back to the hotel.

Saturday morning, I slept in. I intended to run, but it was one of those days where I woke up and I just knew it would do me more good to stay in bed. So I did.

Later that morning, Julie and I walked back down to Corktown for breakfast at Bobcat Bonnie’s, and then all four of us got in the car and did some more touristy stuff.

First up was the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant.

I read about this place in Autoweek several months ago and immediately put it on the list of things I wanted to see.

It was built in 1904, the first factory the Ford Motor Co. owned. (The company had previously operated out of a rented space.) Several of Ford’s “letter cars” were built here, most notably the Model T, which was also designed here and introduced in 1908 as a 1909 model.

Inside, examples of every car built here between 1904 and 1911, when Ford moved to a much larger complex and the building was sold to Studebaker, were lined up on the second floor.

A 1909 Model T Touring.

In the driver’s seat of the only car in the museum we were allowed to touch, a 1915 Model T.

I didn’t take any pictures on the third floor, which had more antique vehicles, because they were setting up a wedding reception for later that afternoon. Congrats, Kelsey and Bryan!

We then drove past the Motown museum, which was in the same part of town, but it looked pretty packed, so we didn’t stop, and instead went to The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in nearby Dearborn.

I went in here thinking it was going to be JUST a Ford history museum, which would be fine, but it was a LOT more.

The museum was full of exhibits exploring innovation in all kinds of different fields — railroads, cars, aviation, agriculture, furniture and even civil rights.

It took hours to get through all the different exhibits. There was a lot to see!

One of several presidential cars on display, this was John. F. Kennedy’s car. The plaque said it was retrofitted after he was fatally shot, to add the roof for more protection, and was used by the next two presidents.

THE 1987 Thunderbird Bill Elliott was driving when he set what is still the fastest qualifying lap in NASCAR history — 212 mph — at Talladega Superspeedway. (They could go faster today if they didn’t have restrictor plates, but they’d be too dangerous to drive without them.)

Neon fast food signs from the 1950s and 1960s.

The actual Montgomery, Ala., bus Rosa Parks was on when she refused to move because a white person sat down near her, sparking a year-plus bus boycott. This museum outbid several other institutions, including The Smithsonian, to get it.

Amongst all this significant stuff was something I never thought I’d see in a museum:

MY FIRST CAR!

OK, so this is a 1989 Honda Accord DX, while I had an ’87 LX, but close enough. It’s parked near a ’91 Ford Explorer, a ’94 Dodge Ram and a first-generation Prius, all part of an exhibit showing the progression of U.S. automotive innovation.

We were at the museum almost until closing. There’s even more there we could’ve done if we’d gotten there earlier. I’d never even heard of this place before, but I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Detroit.

Next, we took a short drive to Fair Lane, Henry and Clara Ford’s estate. The inside was closed for renovation but we could walk all around the grounds outside.

Then we drove to GM’s Tech Center in Warren, dedicated in 1956, but it was closed for the day.

So we drove back into Detroit, parked the rental car and took an Uber to Selden Standard. It was clearly a very popular dinner spot, as we had to wait 90 minutes for a table. But it was also another delicious one, and we all had a great dinner.

Sunday was RACE DAY, the whole reason we were in Detroit in the first place.

Clark and I went for a little run together first. We did another three miles along the river. He kept sprinting away from me to try to trick me into doing some speedwork.

We left the hotel a little after 9 a.m. The track was about a 90-minute drive away.

First stop was a Tim Horton’s, a.k.a. Canadian Dunkin’ Donuts, for breakfast. We also hit up a Kroger for beer and tailgating snacks.

The drive to the track was very smooth, and we sat in minimal traffic before we were parked, always a huge plus.

We got there about three hours before the 2:30 p.m. green flag and drank some beers in the field where we’d parked.

Michigan International Speedway is a big, sprawling place, and we were parked about as far away from our seats on the front stretch as we could’ve gotten. Luckily, they are aware of that, and had free trams running all over the place. We got to our seats in plenty of time for all the pre-race ceremony stuff.

Then they got the green flag and they were off!

Coming across the start line.

Going through Turns 1 and 2 for the first time.

Sometimes Michigan can be a pretty boring race — the field gets spread out on the 2-mile track and there’s not much racing going on — but there were a lot of cautions Sunday, which kept re-bunching the field.

In spite of that though, it was all Kevin Harvick, all day. He won both stages and then the race. I’ve now gotten to see him win at Homestead-Miami, Dover, Sonoma and Michigan. I only got to see Bobby win once!

Victory lap!

After the race, a lady sitting behind us took a group picture.

Julie, Mike, Clark and me.

Getting back to our car and then out of the parking lot was also a breeze. Michigan was by far one of the best tracks I’ve been to as far as overall experience went. And not just because my favorite (active) driver won.

So that was track No. 15 of 23, done. We haven’t decided on next year’s yet, but we’ve got Las Vegas, Fontana (southern California), Texas, Kentucky, Kansas, Loudon (New Hampshire), Watkins Glen (New York) and Daytona remaining.

Sunday night, we stayed at a hotel closer to the airport, outside the city, and just got some dinner at a restaurant within walking distance.

Yesterday, our flight out was at noon. When I went through security and stood in the body-scanning machine, I set off the metal detector — with my groin. A female TSA agent stepped up and said she’d have to search me. Have you ever been searched after your groin set off a metal detector? It’s… uncomfortable haha. But she didn’t find any weapons stashed in my waistband or in the inseam of my shorts (!!!), so I was released.

When I went to collect my carry-on stuff, another TSA agent was firing up my laptop, “because it was just sitting there by itself.” Sorry, I was too busy getting felt up by your colleague over there to grab my stuff the moment it came out of the scanner! Also, it was in a bin right next to my backpack, since they make you take out large electronics and send them through separate, and my flip-flops… not sure how he didn’t make the connection.

Anyway, after that weird experience with security, the rest of the trip home was fine. Clark and I were back at our house by 5 p.m., and not long after, Clark’s dad dropped off Pepper, who’d spent the day with Clark’s grandmother. I was so happy to see him! I’d really missed him, in spite of all the puking and pooping the morning we left.

Today was back to normal life. It’s still hot and humid here, so I got up early to do this week’s middle distance run, a lap around the 7.3-mile loop. It wasn’t a bad run, other than the two bathroom stops I had to make, first in a corn field and then in the woods. I ran an easy average pace of 9:14/mile.

Training for 8/8/18

Today, we have no water at our house! This is awesome!

Something seems to have gone wrong with the water pump. I was doing laundry this morning when the washer made a weird noise and displayed an error message. I thought the washer was the problem until I tried to turn on the bathroom sink, which had worked fine earlier, and got nothing. Neither of the other faucets in the house worked either. I called Clark and we got it narrowed down to the water pump under the house. So now I’m waiting on an “emergency” plumber to get here, several hours after I called, to tell me how much it’s going to cost to get the water running again here.

The whole reason I was doing laundry on a weekday morning was because we’re leaving for vacation tomorrow. Our destination NASCAR race this year is in Michigan this coming Sunday.

On the bright side, Pepper seems to be feeling like himself again! He’s eating normally and has resumed his regular schedule of flopping down in random places and sleeping 22 hours a day. I’m pretty relieved. I prefer when he’s not feeling like shit anyway, but like I said, we’re leaving tomorrow and I didn’t want Clark’s parents, who are watching him for us, to have to deal with a miserable dog who won’t stop walking in slow circles.

See ya next week!

Training for 8/7/18

It’s been a weird couple of days with Pepper here. I’ve gotten my miles in, but between worrying about him and the sudden ridiculously hot weather, they’ve all been pretty slow and crappy.

Pepper has been slinking around the house, refusing to lie down, while looking like he’s about to fall asleep on his feet and topple over. Yesterday, I got him to lie down finally in the afternoon, but then when Clark got home, he got up again and paced for a solid three hours, just doing slow laps around the kitchen island. He hasn’t been puking or anything; he just doesn’t seem to feel very good anymore.

Clark basically shoved me out the door to do the easy 3-miler on my schedule after he got home and could stay with Pepper, hoping it would cheer me up a little after being at home with the poor dog all day. I never run well if I’m stressed or upset about something, and yesterday was no exception. It didn’t help that it was super hot and humid. I clunked along for 3 miles at just under a 9:00/mile pace.

Today, Clark had to leave really early, like 5 a.m., for a flight out for work, so there was no way to get my run in without having to leave Pepper alone. I was really tempted to just forget it and take a rest day, but I had an appointment later in the morning to donate blood, so I already had tomorrow scheduled for a day off running.

I reluctantly left Pepper in the back room and went out to do this week’s middle distance run, which increased to seven miles. Good God was it HOT. I was not into any of it. Not gonna lie, I walked a LOT. I might as well have put it off until after I’d donated! It took me freaking forever to drag myself around the 7.3-mile loop at what wound up being a 10:37/mile average pace. One of the worst runs I’ve had in a while.

When I got home, I was relieved to see Pepper seemed fine, like he’d survived being alone. But I had to get right in the shower, get dressed and then leave again immediately for my appointment, which meant another round of feeling awful for abandoning him.

The donation went fine and I got home to find him OK again. He’s done a little pacing around since then, but right now he’s curled up next to me with his head in my lap, sleeping.

I know all dogs get old, and even die, and Pepper has been surviving with this kidney disease way longer than his vet expected, but this still sucks if he’s on his way out. Fingers crossed this is just a speed bump and he’s feeling better again soon though.