Running with Watson (Week 6 - 25 to go)

Watson with his medal

 What a week, after a poor showing last week things got off to a much better start on Sunday as I had entered into a Canicross race with Watson.  If you've never heard of Canicross, it’s a spin off from husky sledding, but with the runner and dog attached to each other with harnesses and a bungee line.

Queue to start - fast runners first

All shapes and sizes of dogs (and people) participate, and there are great junior classes and short courses for the youngsters, male and female, single and two dog categories. Races have staggered starts, usually with 10 – 15 seconds between each runner, to reduce the amount of overtaking and hopefully stop dog lines getting tangled.  So the fastest runners start first and I'm way at the back! All the routes are cross country, often very muddy and some have water obstacles to negotiate and often small hills.  This weekend’s route was just very slippy mud with lovely woodland trails and a couple of very minor undulations!

Staggered starts

The aim is for the dog to pull and take commands which way to go – which often isn't the most obvious path -  a challenge as dogs work mostly from visual cues and as the runner is behind they have to really listen.

Some dogs are just bigger than others!

But let me say, it doesn't always work quite like it should.  Watson likes to have a sniff along the way, and sometimes a poo (this has to be collected and left with the next marshal).  But he is quite smart, he loves to pull on the twisty trails, downhill and for the last 200m when everyone is watching.  Watson did great and for a change we didn't have the slowest time – maybe that was the new trainers – and it set us up for a good week.

Running with two dogs

Tuesday was the usual training night, dark cold and lashing with rain there was some discussion about using the sports hall, however we stuck with outside.  A good warm up, some agility and a different set of intervals – this time 1 minute fast / 1 minute recovery – soon racked up the heart rate.

Watson getting a fuss after the race

Thursday, I stuck with my plan of a longer run, again in lashing rain interspersed with hail, we set off around the Brodick Castle forest trails.  We negotiated a couple of trees that had fallen across the path and had to give what is usually a small burn a little more respect as it had turned into a raging torrent.  Long jump was never my strong point so landing knee deep in freezing water kept me moving. But a respectable 11.5 k later and a good bit of height gain (steeper sections walked) I was happy to go home for a hot shower.

New trainers - before the race

Trainers after the race

And today was a recovery run that felt great until I stopped, so I've now got an ice pack on my leg and contemplating a glass of wine.  Oh well it's a rest day tomorrow.

Thursday's very wet run

Weeks activity 14^th – 20th  November:

Saturday – No training

Sunday –  5.5km Canicross race

Monday – No training

Tuesday –Coaching session, 5.84km more intervals / agility.

Wednesday – No training

Thursday – Hilly trails 11.43km, 440m height gain.

Friday -  5.19km, recovery run.

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)