Training A New Runner

I am not the only dog that has been running along our dirt road these days. Gladys turned one earlier this month, and she has been slowly ramping up her mileage. Usually you wait till a dog turns one before running with them, and Mark and Ali were true to that. Sure, they took her for a mile a few times before she hit the 365-day marker, but now she has been jogging right alongside me.

Let's get something straight. A dog doesn't just jump into the sorts of mileage that you have been seeing on my running log. For example, on Thursday, Gladys ran her longest distance to date -- 6 miles. On the same day, we left her at home while Mark and I took off on a "big dog" run -- 11 miles. Just too much for a rookie. But don't worry, Gladys. Keep training, and someday we'll let you join the big dogs.

For now, though, sometimes you're just going to have to sit at home.

Note: on my running log, I have been inserting the letters WG (with Gladys). Any number to the right of these letters indicates her mileage for the day if it was different from mine. On a day like Thursday, her mileage is not included because we ran at separate times. What, don't like that I don't include her? Well, then, she can get her own running log on her own blog. Sheesh!