Vernon the German Shorthair wonder-dog amazes me. Today I set out to do a solo 19-mile run in the trails near Park City. No headphones, no music, no friends ~ just me & Vern. I decided to bring Vern along because, let's face it: the dog loves to run. I feel so bad for him when we are doing leash-runs through the neighborhood. I see the sadness in his deep brown eyes, "Please, can you just let me off the leash for a bit? I really gotta just run!"
He is such a little buddy and I am so proud of him. We were out for over 4 hours. He got caught up in sniffing and chasing bugs a couple of times and I had to call him to catch up, but he found me again no problem. He found all the watering holes along the way and actually went swimming in the pond at mile 15. (It was 73 degrees, but full-sun, no shade and felt a little hotter than that.) He stayed on "heel" at the road crossings, and didn't get in the way (much) of the mountain bikers. At mile 10 I just had to smile, as I was grinding up the trail and he was frolicking through a field of wildflowers, splashing in and out of a creek, and chasing butterflies.
We reached the top of the big climb at mile 13, and I poured him a dish of water. He gulped the whole thing, then looked up at me with his watery eyes, "Thank you. I was a bit parched." We ran out of water with a couple of miles to go, but we both took a seat in the creek at the end (mile 19).
He is resting comfortably now, and will probably be ready to go again in the morning. He did get up for dinner, and then went straight back to bed. Such a great running partner this boy is!
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| Mile 2.5 ~ first watering hole. |
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| A break at mile 15. |
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| Splashing at mile 15. |
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| 19 miles ~ done. |
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| Pooped. |
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