Tomorrow is my first run over 10 miles but I feel very prepared. Every piece of running gear is moisture whisking. My MP3 player is holding 100 songs and I have orange GU. I have my route mapped out and can actually take the dog for the last 2 miles of the run. I figure by that point I will be doing 12 minute miles (look at that optimistic thinking) and I know the dog can handle going that slow for 2 miles.

It's funny how up and down this training is. I ran outside on Monday and struggled through three 11 minute miles however last night, I easily ran 4.5 miles at the gym in 45 minutes.... and 6 of those minutes were spent walking for my warm up and cool down, then, last Sunday, I breezed throuh a 7 mile run in 70 minutes, which is very good for me. I am curious to see how this one goes. I probably average out to 10 minute miles but I can feel the mid week speed work really helping.

Zippy has had zits on his belly and in the creases of his armpits and thighs and he is scratching a lot more then usual so we have a vet appt. At first we thought the poor little guy was going through puberty and he would never find a girl but it appears his zits have not crushed his appeal. Sabrina (neighborhood 10 year old cutie pie) was in the front yard with Rob and Zippy when I got home from the gym yesterday. Zippy was on his best behavior and did all the tricks we can't get him to. She got him to 'drop it' and 'roll over' without having to ask a second time. What a jackass Zippy is! He pretends not to understand us but he really knows what we are saying to him and he is choosing not to roll over or drop it. Now I know his game.

Another thing I noticed, when we meet a child or baby down town, we make him sit before we let them pet him. He always sits there while they scratch his noggin and pull on his ears. When Sabrina comes over he automatically sits. Our training is actually working. What good parents we are.

Anyway, Sabrina is trying to start a dog walking business so we are going to let her walk the dog in the afternoons when we are home for $5 a shot. They love each other so much it's a crime not to do it. My only worry is when he sees a squirrel and takes off like a bat out of hell or when he gets on a stubborn streak.

I took Zippy to the dog park for being such a good boy and we ran into a bunch of old friends.

The pressa was there, Dhalia, but she didn't give Zippy too much attention.

The puppy he tried to drown was there and I could not keep the 2 of them away from each other! They love frolicking but Zippy kept playing rough. At one point he had her on her back, was straddling her and chewing on her neck and ears. Then she got up and pounced on Zippy and he replied by grabbing on to the skin behind the puppies neck and just walking along behind her. I would separate them and they would go right back at it. She has grown and is closer to his size but he still puts her down every time the tousle.

I would have let them frolic, but the puppy's mommy was a little offended by Zippy. I found out she has not been fixed yet, so maybe Zippy is drawn in by her sexy female dog smell. Additionally when I recognized the Boxer pup I told her I met her and the dog a few weeks ago when Zippy tried to drown her dog and I apologized. She feigned forgetting the incident but I have a feeling when I was not looking she was giving Zippy the hairy eyeball.

Wow, it's amazing how your whole body can hurt from wearing shoes that are not right. I ran 3 miles on a treadmill with the new Gel Nimbus VI and my entire body hurts. That is not right, treadmill are easier then running on cement and I should not feel this banged up. Last night as I lay in bed I was surprised at how the balls of my feet hurt and it extended to my heels, ankles, knees, hips and back. I almost expected my elbows to hurt since everything else felt like it had been hit with a ball peen hammer.

Today I am returning the Nimbus-es and will get a heavily cushioned shoe. Something with little foot shaped feather pillows that gently lowers your foot to the ground and feels like angels wings springing you back up. I don't care how much they cost, I am so sore I can't even CONSIDER doing a 5 mile tonight.

A large color tv arrived in the house last night. Unfortunately we don't have anything big enough or sturdy enough to put the thing on so it's in a holding pattern. It was sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the living room..... but when it looked like it would be a few days before it found a spot to live, moving it seemed neccessary. For some reason he didn't understand how having a 3 foot wide TV sitting in the middle of the living room, on the coffee table, was an inconveneince and needed to be moved but it got moved anyway. Football is going to be very exciting with this machine in the house!

Zippy was such a little shit last night I almost gave him a swat. Afer they moved the tv stuff into the house they played with the dog and left. He missed his daddy and whined for about 15 minutes so I decided a walk would distract him and calm him down so we went for a walk. He pulled the entire time. Not only did he pull on the leash he would stubbornly stop and frantically sniff and totally ignore me when I shook the leash and gave him the "come on" command. He would actually pull further away from me. It is very unlike him to act like that on his walk. I suppose we will have to put him down. ;-)

I got home on Friday and took Zippy out to frolic. He was so cute, he walked into the front yard and laid down on his back. Of course I had to scratch the belly and while he was laying there with his eyes closed he did a quick stretch and accidentally punched me in the eye. It hurt pretty badly and I had a big red scratch under my eye for the whole weekend.

Saturday was my 10 mile training run. Since Uncle Jay was in town I asked him if he would like to run with me. He was planning on doing a 10 mile also so it worked out great.

He totally kicked my ass. I was suffering from the heat and just couldn't get myself moving very well but he was like the energizer bunny. It was so hot and humid I sweated off all my sunscreen just walking out the door and the temperature hit 90 with 8?% humidity. I shouldn't beat myself up for that run. The weather was definitely a factor that day.

Rob decided Zippy should be on the organic dog food and that he should no longer be eating large breed puppy food so we got regular puppy food and organic food. Unfortunately it really upset his tummy and he has been pretty subdued for the past couple of days. I should have known better then to switch both foods instead of gradually adding the organic stuff to his regular dog food. Poor little guy, he is paying for our mistake. I think I'm going to reward him with a trip to the dog park tonight.