Running in the Rain

Without fail, any time I have run in the rain, I feel like a total badass. I imagine people driving past me, looking at my lithe and amazing form as I run down the street splashing through puddles, and say to themselves, “Wow, she’s totally dedicated. I bet she’s training for a triathlon or something!”

There are a number of problems here, one of which is summed up in this meme:

So let’s be honest – they most likely when they see me, think, “damn, she looks a little damp.” Or even more likely: “What a dumbass.”

Today I wanted desperately to beat the rain because I am absolutely certain that Straxi does not feel badass in the rain; she feels utterly miserable in the rain. We ran out the door around 12:30 or 1, and we were back in about 20 minutes – did a warmup, then a mile, and Strax said, “Imma tap out, thanks.”

So I hit the rower when we got back, and she hit the towel, the bed, and any other cloth surface to wipe herself off. I dried her with a big beach towel, but apparently not sufficiently for her taste. She rolled and snuffled and wiggled until she just sort of dozed off.

I can tell SUCH a difference in her since we got her started on the thyroid medicine. I love our vet SO MUCH – he’s been warning us about her weight creeping up, and I knew she looked bigger, but didn’t realize just how much weight she had actually put on. So we really buckled down on the diet, double checked our measuring cup we use in her kibble, and cut out all treats. And let me tell you – getting her off the treats was NOT PLEASANT. She loved both the treats as well as the routine, I think – once she gets into a rut, she’s happy to stay there and actually objects when she’s pulled out.

So taking the treats out of her daily routine met with a great deal of objection in the form of nagging, more nagging, and yes, all the nagging. But we upped her walks, cut back her intake, and when she was headed to the vet for her regular checkup, we both agreed that she HAD to have lost weight.

She put on ten pounds. Since JUNE.

So they checked her blood and lo and behold – low thyroid. So she’s on the pills now, and there are so many things she had stopped doing and I didn’t even realize they were gone until she started doing them again.

She was sleeping SO MUCH. And yes, she’s a dog, so…sleep is what she does. But she was sleeping like it was her job, and I was having to drag her when we were out running – and later on, right before we started the meds, even when we went for walks.

She plays, she frolics, she chases squirrels. She’s not acting like a puppy, but she’s running in front of me again now, and that makes me so happy.

But she still hates running in the rain.