Roxy training diary month 57
February 2008

Feb 23.  Drove down to SLC for a run at the Saltair Pavilion, which is an experience in itself.  It's normally a head-banging music venue, so there's a big sign that says I can't bring my chains into the place.  That gives me the idea that I might win a lot more races if I slung my chains at someone's ankles as they were passing me.

Today was a 15K, or 9.3 miles, which is a distance I haven't run in some time.  I had 12 miles on my calendar.  While I was driving down to the Saltair, I decided it would be better to run the extra 2.7 before the race, because I'm always wiped out after.  That way, I could use the 2.7 miles as a warmup.  I should've decided that earlier, because there wasn't quite enough time, and I was just chugging my way back to the finish line when I saw the group start out ahead of me. 

In a way, it was motivational to catch up and pass the slower runners in the back of the pack.  I eventually found my spot, and although I wanted to hit about 1:15, ended up at 1:25:28, which was still not half-bad.  Still, I was beat by Davy Crockett, who has been dead 172 years and ran it in 1:08.

This makes the first week this month that I've actually hit my training goal, but I've been sick.

I know you're all wondering how I'm doing at Guitar Hero since we bought our new PlayStation 3 Wednesday night.  (I bought an HD-DVD player just three days before they drove the final nail in the coffin of the format.  Ecch.)  This allows us to play BluRay DVD movies, plus I bought a guitar to play Guitar Hero as well.  I'm up to 69% on "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", but the bridge is killin' me.

Feb 21.  Found this on my run today.

So, if you're thinking about loading up your old, worn-out Anykind in the back of a pickup, taking it to the 1700 block of Monroe, and shoving it out the back of the truck bed, just think again, Mister.  We don't want your Anykind here cluttering up the beautiful view.

Anykind Not Welcome Here.

Roxy Goes to School

Sky Rides Home

Feb 20.  With the help of the audiovisual staff, I've been putting together a new project at work that I think explains the function of the immune system pretty well.  Take a look and tell me what you think.  You will need to have the latest version of the Flash player installed or it won't work.

Roxy had a big day today.  We enrolled her in PetSmart training classes.  As you know, we're perfectly capable of doing everything in the class — after all, we used to teach pet training classes — but what's different is that Roxy needs to be around other dogs, especially unruly and untrained ones, and build up her self-confidence.  So it's off to school we went.

Today is the one-month anniversary of Sky's plane ride and arrival in Utah.  As I was downloading the phone pix of Roxy's First Day at School, I found this one as well, so I'm posting it in honor of his anniversary.

We have our wedding anniversary coming up, as well.  Friday Feb 22 makes 23 years that we have been married, and a quarter-century as a couple.  Tempus fugit, or, to put it another way:

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. — Groucho Marx

That's a zeugma, folks.  Or maybe syllepsis.

Feb 17.  Sky discovers the Joys of Toilet Paper.  It unspools, it makes nice streamers, and you can chew on it and play tug with it and carry it around in your mouth like a trophy.

He also had his first nail trim with the grinder tonight.  He didn't much like being restrained, but the rest of it was okay.  Annie and Roxy watched in horror.

Partners in Crime

Rebecca Fights Off Sky-Guy

Feb 14.  Rosemary started doing clicker training with Sky this evening, and sends along these pictures.

It looks like his training is coming along just fine.

We are continuing to have problems with the bitches fighting.  Roxy has been confined to her crate several times in the last few weeks because she loses her temper when both

Sky and Annie are out.  Oftentimes, she jumps Annie.  Even though she hasn't caused any harm (yet), she has scared Annie and scared us. 

Everyone is suffering from cabin fever.  There's still at least two feet of snow everywhere.  It will be better when we get a yard back.

Today, we went to pick up the snowblower we bought from Rich and Shelley Conroy.  We're all pretty sure they won't be needing it in Savannah, Georgia.  They closed on their house today, so it was available.  It's huge!  It's a 26" Craftsman model which should make short work of clearing our driveway.

We went out to dinner with our friend Rebecca last night and she came over to see the Sky Guy.  Gerard, who has been featured in our blog before, has been doing well and it's always nice to visit with Rebecca.

Sky Pilot

Blue Sky, Looking Up

Feb 10.  I have been sick with a bad cold all week, so I didn't get my usual running in, which just makes me more stressed about the upcoming marathon — five weeks to go.

I did feel well enough to get in the 12 miles on my calendar by running a 10K race I had scheduled, then running the same course again.  That was my long run for the week.  The weather looks to be releasing its grip on us, so I'm hoping for some better weather over the next few days.

Roxy and I may even get out to run.  I've been looking into another set of obedience classes for her.  It's mostly to socialize her and get her to work her obedience around other dogs; she knows what to do, she just gets nervous and doesn't do it.  I was not particularly happy with the group I trained with, so I am looking at going another direction by signing her up for PetSmart classes.

Sky was 11 weeks old Saturday.

Rosemary took some movies of Annie, who will play with Sky a little bit, with a resigned air:

Movie of Annie "playing" with Sky

Also, Sky demonstrates his inchoate sheepherding skills:

Movies of Sky Herding Sheep

Today, we went to socialize Sky at the ASCA agility trial in Farmington.  Lots of people came up to Sky and made a big deal over him, which he of course loved. 

Feb 2.  Sky started doing something today we find especially cute.  (Everything he does is cute, but this is extra-special.)

For some time, he has been able to go up stairs but not down; he gets scared. 

Today, he got up one step, then started flinging himself from it, flying-squirrel style.

So, being proud parents, we made a movie.

We took the van up to Shauna, who bought it from us, and signed over the title.  So, it's officially not ours anymore.  We are back down to two cars.

Then, we spent some time volunteering for Barack Obama, making "Get Out the Vote" phone calls.  I haven't felt like a telemarketer since my college job with Walker Research, but the way people feel about unsolicited phone calls hasn't changed much, I'm afraid.

Finally, I owed my calendar 14 miles, and this was the only day this week with decent weather, so I snuck in almost-14, getting in 13.4 miles.  Most of the roads were pretty clear, but it's better when the sun is up high. 

It's only six weeks to the Catalina Marathon, and I'm still scared of it.  In five weeks, I'm running the Canyonlands Half, with Holly and Babak.  Recall that Babak and I ran the St. George Marathon together, but we only know Holly from the Internets (a series of tubes™).

The weather has not made it possible to run as often as I'd like.  I even was forced to run 48 laps around the indoor track in the gym on Thursday.  That was boring as bat guano.

Pretty Little Blue Sky

Jaw Wrestling

Feb 1.  Jaw Wrestling.   It's like thumb wrestling, but with your canines showing.

We received a Mystery Box today from our Canadian friend, Liz Sykes.  Liz is a longtime Norwegian Elkhound breeder.

Inside, was a nice card (with Sky's picture on it!) and toys for all three dogs.