Biker Girl

Eisley was having such a difficult time adjusting to me working full time, I decided I needed to find someone to check in on her during the days she is alone.  Rather than having someone simply let her out & give her a little attention, we thought a run a couple times a week would do her good.  She’s big energy in a little package after all.   After taking her for a short evaluation run, our guy from Marathon Dogs said a short run might not be enough & suggested we let him try biking with her.  She has been on a few trails with us while mountain biking, but had never run on leash next to the bike.  After promising he would be very careful & patient with her, I consented.

Yesterday was her first run!  She did great & one of the wonderful things about Marathon Dogs is he sends a follow up email immediately following the run to let us know how it went.  I love this.  He started her off slowly, just walking next to the bike until she was really comfortable with it.  She took to it right away; soon he was pedaling, & she was running!  He was even able to tell me her mileage & preferred & top pace.

She was still as excited & energetic as ever when we got home…so much for an exhausted puppy. 😉  He will be increasing her run time throughout their following sessions.  I hope she is having fun.

[She was not nearly this tuckered out; this old photo makes me anxious for summer & miss climbing in American Fork Canyon in Utah.]

[photo by David Finch]

Because her skin is thin, the harness has a tendency to chafe when she runs.  I need to find an Iggy-specific harness, fully padded on the straps.  Any recommendations?

Eisley got her workout in, so Dave & I decided to do something short before dinner — it was my turn to make it up.  I was not going to share this because I was not thrilled with it, but I am hoping you can help me.  I really like the concept of no rests, alternating between the lower body wall sits & an upper body or core exercise.  However, this was not challenging enough.  Don’t get me wrong — 8 minutes worth of wall sits seriously burned toward the end; the in-between exercises were not hard enough though.

We did 2 sets:

• Wall Sit – 60 seconds
• Pike Press – 30 seconds
• Wall Sit – 60 seconds
• Seated Bicycle – 30 seconds
• Wall Sit – 60 seconds
• Hanging Knee Raises – 30 seconds
• Wall Sit – 60 seconds
• Tricep exercise – 30 seconds [Dave did Dips; I did Tricep Push Ups]

I like the tricep push ups & hanging knee raises, though I could have gone for 1 minute.  30 seconds just didn’t seem long enough for any of the workouts, so I could increase the time or do a set # of reps rather than a specific time.  I am actually thinking doing each to fatigue would be the way to go.  Thoughts?  Oh, & how can I make the pike press/push ups more challenging?  I switched to one-leg which seemed pretty good.  I realize I could just do a more standard push up, but I like rotating pike presses into my workouts because they work a different aspect of the shoulder.

Since we did not feel worked enough, we finished up with extra sets of these workouts & played around with some others.  Dave likes to make up challenges — & he invented the best tricep partner exercise!  We may have to find a way to record it on video though, rather than try to explain.

Finally it was time for dinner.

Deconstructed Baked Potatoes

I love trying to deconstruct dishes recently — breaking down components to develop & rethink the flavor of each ingredient, like enhancing these simple potatoes with fancy lavender salt.  We also topped the roasted, red potatoes with tempeh [me], real [Dave] bacon, chives & added a big dollop of Greek yogurt.  I was never a huge fan of sour cream on my potatoes, but the yogurt was extremely satisfying & cooling with the potatoes & herbs.

p.s. The first time I tried Fage Greek Yogurt, I accidentally bought 2% rather than non-fat & never looked back.  I already feel guilty having dairy, & since the craving usually only hits every three weeks or so, I make sure it’s worth it. 😉

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Your yogurt: is it full fat or fat free?

Do you run or bike with your dog?  Do you have a great, padded harness you can recommend?

Please, help me with this workout!