Biker Girl
3 Thu, 2011 § 8 Comments
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!
I am a 2% convert. The fat is the good stuff, vitamins a, k, e, and d, medium-chain triglycerides, and omega-3’s. Plus it’s more satisfying so you are likely to eat less overall. Get over the guilt and eat the fat!
I agree completely! No need for guilt.
Oh, I should clarify. My guilt is not over the full fat but supporting the dairy industry…
I usually buy the fat free, not because I am worried about the fat, but because Costco only carries the big (and less expensive) containers in fat free. And I think the big Oikos only comes in fat free also.
Hearing about Marathon Dogs makes me want to drop out of law school and become a dog walker/runner. I’m glad Eisley is doing well with it!
I bet you are great with animals! You could do it part-time ??
I’ve heard [from Natalie] Oikos/Stonyfield is a good brand — the owner only supports small dairies.
I only buy Oikos plain in the big tubs and I think it just comes in fat-free. I’m sure the 2% is a lot creamer 🙂 Your potatoes look so good! I used to always eat potatoes with cottage cheese.
Zoey is not a runner. I think I took her when she was too little because now if you start to run with her she sits her buns down and won’t budge. It’s pretty cute!
Ooh, I used to love cottage cheese on things instead of sour cream too! I love cottage cheese when in the mood…haven’t been in the mood for awhile though. 😦 Guess I’m losing taste for it.
HA, that’s funny Zoey!! Too bad — we could all go running when you visit. 😉
[…] Serve with yogurt, chives & lavender salt. […]