Tales of Oreo, a Tripawd Dog

So, I stopped blogging back in September when a man passed me while I was running and said, “Good morning, Lee Ann,” and I had never seen him before. I changed training routes and took it offline. I ended up not finishing the training and not doing the marathon due to a number of things, but I’d really like to try again.

Meanwhile, Oreo and I have been busy resisting the current regime. After we helped get Evan McMullin on the ballot in Kentucky and Virginia, we took to social media to help spread the word. Unfortunately, Evan didn’t win. Since then, we’ve gone to the state house in Nashville to urge the electors not to vote for DJT. We went to our senators’ offices and urged them to reject DJTs cabinet nominees (we took the picture so she’s not in it). We did the Women’s March in our home city (in the rain) with 5,000 others. And today we did the #NoBanNoWall walk. It’s been a whirlwind, that’s for sure! She’s been a trooper though, and if we don’t move to Canada or Mexico, we’ll keep at it here until peace and sanity are restored.

Everyone loves Oreo, so when they come over to ask if they can pet her, what happened to her leg, oh she’s so beautiful, etc., I ask them, “So, are you registered to vote in Kentucky? Would you sign my petition to get a third-party candidate added to the ballot?” Most grab the pen right away, horrified by the current top two choices. If they hesitate I say, “Sign the petition, pet the dog…” and they usually sign, ha ha! When I tell them it’s Evan McMullin they nod and say, “Oh, the CIA guy…” Glad he’s getting some name recognition.

On the way home my GPS went a little wacky and brought us on a Kentucky scenic by-way instead of the main highway. It was so beautiful! We stopped at the Cumberland Falls picnic area and Oreo went for a swim. Click the link to view.

Oreo swimming at Cumberland Falls in Kentucky

Quite a gap between Day 19 and Day 33. I had a bleeding blister caused by my new sneaker (they’ll take it back for a refund, bloody and everything; love Brooks). I had shin splints. I had work deadlines. I started campaigning for Evan McMullin, which takes a lot of time. I had visiting dogs. All through that time though I kept walking and running every few days. So today and two days ago the training went really, really well. Oreo did great two days ago, ran with me for about 10 minutes before getting tired, but today she was tired after the warm-up so she got to ride the whole way.

I can’t post the video because I can’t believe how Southie I sounded. “Haahtbreak Hill.” I’ll have to watch that, so here’s an oldie but goodie.

Oreo on a snow day 12.17.13

 

Finally a cool day to run! I’m really pushing past my current fitness level now, the last few minutes of jogging were actually walking. It was uphill, in my own defense.

Oreo wanted to stand up in her DoggyRide when we got near the pond, which made it nearly impossible to steer with its front wheel locked in the jog position. That’s the first time she’s ever done that. I didn’t realize how much her sitting near the back of the carriage helps with pushing and steering it.

We pass the same people most every day, and they all smile and say things like, “She’s got it made in the shade,” or, “Now there’s a lucky dog.” Now that they see us all the time some of them are actually asking what the deal is. Today a guy asked if she has a bad hip or something. I said she’s missing a back leg, which I don’t usually say because she doesn’t actually miss it at all, she gets along just fine without it. Usually I just say she’s an amputee.

A little slower today because I was pushing myself.

We got a late start (I guess I needed those ten hours of sleep!) so it was quite hot. The rest day yesterday really made a difference, I was feeling strong. It was over 80 degrees, so Oreo got to ride most of the way. There was a 5K going on as we started our walk, so hearing all the music and seeing all the runners was really exciting. Some of them were just heading toward the finish line as we got started so we gave them encouragement like, “Woo hoooo! Almost there! You can do it! You can do it!” Most of them looked at me like I was some kind of hatchet murderer. Sheesh! At least the Jehovah’s Witnesses passing out pamphlets at the end of the race were nice to me.

P.S. We started after and finished before a good amount of runners. 🙂

And the stats. I think I pressed something when I was loading Oreo into her carriage so after walking for what seemed like a very long time I re-did a jog segment. I think the GPS actually worked today. I got the halfway prompt at about the halfway point and the “Whew! Nice work, you made it!” prompt at about the same place I’d started the loop.

We did the Wooftrax Walk for a Dog app today. I can’t seem to get it to work when the Couch to 5K is running, must be operator error (or my new downgraded phone and service, I’m not sure). Oreo had fun, stopping and sniffing along the greenway. Our mayor just announced a huge upgrade to the city’s greenways, they’ll all be connected which will be great, maybe I can run the whole thing to train for marathons. Again video below is sideways; one of these days I’ll figure it out.

Today was the first day I didn’t really want to train but I did it anyway. And look at that happy face after it was over.

It was warm, I think about 80 degrees.  Oreo got to ride after the 5-minute warm-up, too hot for my furry girl.

And here are the lying stats. I know I went farther than this, because I went farther than last time, which was 1.96 miles.

We walked for about six minutes before Oreo laid down in the grass. Too hot, Mama! The only thing that got her going again were two squirrels racing up and down around a tree. She was on her 30′ leash, working on our recall. It worked about twice, then she got to five feet away from me and dropped to the ground like, “You come to me, human.” Nuh-uh, no treats for that, missy! 😉

I’m still trying to work out my new phone, the GPS worked yesterday but not today. I’m sure it’s operator error.

Oreo helped me TNR two stray cats today, both turned out to be pregnant females, so now they’re spayed, ear tipped, and my neighborhood is saved from possibly 10 homeless kittens. Sad reality of animal rescue. Fix your pets, people! Please!

On a happier note, I think I figured out how to embed video. Below is Day 10.  Below that is Oreo resting.

Quite hot, but I used some tip money from a DogVacay client and bought an a-DORABLE skort and sports bra and yes, I JOGGED IN IT! That’s the new rule, over 50, you can wear whatever the heck you want. Those shirtless guys are just lucky I wasn’t THAT hot… 😉

Video link at the bottom (of Oreo, not me). 🙂

Oreo rides when it’s hot

So I woke up with a headache, and I have a guest dog here through DogVacay, and I have a lot of editing to do today, and blah blah blah. I did a free run to the park and back, essentially walked a 22-minute mile. I’m a bit concerned that my new phone didn’t track my distance and I had to put it in manually. Hopefully it will work tomorrow when I do an actual training day. Video link is at the bottom of this post.

https://www.facebook.com/weddingdance/videos/10210271011558565/