I’ve found the perfect training partner. She’s faster than I am, can run longer than I can, she has the extra energy to hunt for food while I’m huffing and puffing, and she has four legs. I adopted Lucy, my Siberian Husky, from the Boulder Valley Humane Society last October. It’s great timing because my former training partner, Andy, has up and moved to California.
You know how we humans have to gradually build up mileage to avoid injury? Not Lucy. She was ready to run 60 mile weeks from the word go. From the looks of it, I think she could run 60 miles a day and not be worn down. She’s a born runner. And she has a 5K personal best of 18:19. I might start taking her to the track.
On many cold, dark mornings, I’ve smacked the snooze button a few times, thinking there was no way I would get out in the ten degree weather to do the run I had planned. But then that furry face nudges me in the arm. And then she whines and whimpers. And then she rolls around on the floor and wags her tail. Sure enough, I put on my shoes and head to the door. I’m a sucker every time.
Lucy is a great training partner because she never has a bad day. She never complains that it’s too cold or too windy or too gray. She never has a headache, a stitch in her side, or an injury to keep her on the sidelines. Like clockwork, she’s ready to run every morning. And if my wife wants to run later that same day, Lucy is never tired and always ready to go again.
Lucy and I may not share the laughs, the jokes and the beers that Andy and I once did – I’ll definitely miss that. But I can say this… she is a lot more reliable. And that counts for something.
Happy trails!
Derek