Rookie Sensation

In the first 5K of his running career, Berkeley the beagle-lab mix pulled off an unbelievable 4th-place finish. The race was Phoebe's Phabulous Phive K in Williston, benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Nobody was sure how the Berk-meister was going to do, but he just trotted right along next to me! He stopped to inspect three or four culverts along the way (even I stopped at the last one, in which we both took brief but refreshing dips -- at which point the eventual second-place finisher passed us) and he also took a water at the one water station on the course.

We most certainly would have tied for third place had Berkeley not decided to stop down the stretch to sniff a spectating dachsund. All the same, it was an amazing race with an incredible performance by a first-time finisher. (photo: the 1980 NBA Rookie of the Year)

Dear Oscar, Who is the dog I always see you playing with these days? Regards, Dog-Watcher

Dear Watcher, Good times are here in Richmond. That's right -- I have a friend over! Berkeley, the lab/beagle mix is here for two weeks! As far as I'm concerned, he can stay as long as he wants (I haven't run this by my humans, but when do I ever run anything past them?)

Berkeley comes with me on all walks to the river (although he didn't join me swimming all the way across yesterday -- see photo below), he's available to romp and generally create dog-ruckus anytime, and I even slept on his dog-bed for awhile last night! One thing I noticed about Berkeley when he first arrived was that he is sort of a finicky eater; unlike me, he takes his time with his food. While he has gotten much more decisive about his eating habits since then, he still isn't as fast as me. I think it's unfair that, after I eat my almost-2 cups of food, I have to watch him while he finishes his 1 cup. Also, he hasn't had as much extensive running experience as me, but he still has stamina! Yesterday, we took him on our 5-miler. We went back and forth on our road so that we could bring him home if he showed any signs of exhaustion or lameness. But he kept right up no problem, and then we romped some more when we got home!

This is the best addition to our household since Waffle the cat!
Oscar

The Case of the Empty

There is a mystery here in Richmond. The empty beer can in the accompanying photo was found on the living room floor. Study the photo closely and tell me what seems odd. That's right, folks; it is unopened. How, then, were its contents removed? Well, study closer. That's right; there is a small puncture just under the rim of the can.

Here in Richmond, sleuths working on the case have determined that whoever removed the contents of this beer can was highly intelligent -- or at least had a strong understanding of physics. That's because of what you can't see in the photo: there is another puncture hole identical to the one in the photo, but on the opposite side of the can. Clearly, whoever removed the contents knew that beer pours more smoothly and quickly with an air release.

Who could have done it? The full beer was apparently left on the table in the living room. Who has an opener that small? And what became of the beer? There was no sign of it anywhere.

If anyone has any information on the beer that was removed from this can, please (burp) let me know.

Oscar

Can Go Fast

I have heard Mark say he doesn't like to run with me when he is in serious marathon-training mode. Something about my running style being too inconsistent, too stop-and-go, too slow. Well, first off, let me say that if he wants to "seriously" train for anything, he may want to lay off the Mountain Dew and heavy snacking. There, I said it.

However, I will also admit that there's some truth to what he says. But if he is honest, I'm sure he would have to admit that a run with me is far more interesting than a run without me. Am I inconsistent? Do I stop and go? Do I run all the time at his marathon pace? Yes, yes, and sometimes, respectively! I mean, seriously, why would I want to just go and go without stopping? Booorrring!

However, let the record show, that I can be a marathon-training dog. Today, for example, I went on a 6-miler with Mark. Let me take you through the run mile-by-mile.

Mile 1 -- 8:57 pace. Warm-up. Stopped to pee once, poop once, and sniff grass once.

Mile 2 -- 9:40 pace. Huge hill. Was a bit distracted. Mark muttered something about should have left dog at home.

Mile 3 -- 7:37 pace. Got focused. Still hilly. Kind of liked going fast.

Mile 4 -- 7:27 pace. Still hilly. Went even faster. No stops.

Mile 5 -- My favorite mile, because Mark took me off the leash so I could run in the Johnny Brook fields! Mark ran a 7:11 pace this mile, but I left him in the dust. If I had to guess, I would say I ran a 5:15 pace to the brook, swam a little, jumped out, sprinted around (probably an extra half-mile), and stood there waiting for him at the bridge over the brook. That's right; I was waiting for him.

Mile 6 -- 8:07 pace. Hills. And I thought he needed a cool-down.

So... can I run fast enough? I think yes.

Crazy Runners

There I was, running on the Burlington Bike Path, right next to Lake Champlain. It was raining, snowing, and blowing like crazy -- what Winnie the Pooh would have called extremely blustery. Suddenly, there was no protection; we were right on the water. Waves were crashing into the seawall below us, spray was everywhere (see photo by Jan Leja). It was like being inside an automatic carwash... and I was the car!

Readers of this blog know how I feel about baths. That's right; I'm not a fan. So I am still confused as to how exactly I found myself in that situation.

Here's what I do know. A few weeks ago, it was 70 degrees and clear. Slightly warm by April standards, but we'll take it. Since then, we have had two significant snowfalls. That first one caught me a little off-guard; you see, a yellow dog like me lives completely in the here-and-now. A few weeks of springtime, and I pretty much forget what snow is! So, during that first April snowfall, I jumped out the front door and stopped short. I stood there all confused for a moment, before jumping around, rolling, and playing like a puppy! Because snow rules! I was, I must say, a little surprised that Mark and I didn't hike and ski at Stowe. But he's in full marathon-cramming mode right now. So did we ski? No. Did we go for a 4-mile run in snow that was blowing sideways? Yes.

But the warm weather returned... until today which, as I said, is snowy again. It's May 9th! And every year three Sundays before the Vermont City Marathon, the entire Run with Jan group gets together in Burlington and runs 20 miles of the 26.2-mile VCM course. Usually I get left behind because both my owners, avid marathoners usually run all 20 and I generally am not invited on runs of over 13 miles. Well, Ali just ran a marathon last weekend (amazing job, by the way, and I will take partial credit as her training partner) and only ran 10 today. So who got to come along? That's right, yours truly!

So that, I suppose, is how I found myself in the dogwash that is the Burlington Bike Path. I will mention that, otherwise, it was a great group run; super people, all running together, all bundled up, most doing high mileage... very unique to have this many people all deranged enough to go running in conditions like this!

Running along that stretch of the Bike Path was scary. I hugged the fence away from the waves as close as I could, put my tail and head down, and sort of jogged through. I am going to guess that Alison got more soaked than she would have if I hadn't been slowing her down, but I didn't know what to do! What are these crazy runners thinking? Most normal people were home watching movies. But we were out running in all sorts of weather! Who are these people?