The Best Running Buddy

Running Buddy

I had been running for several years and had convinced my husband to run with me a few times. I even got him and my sister to run my first marathon with me. It was an exciting start to my running, but then something happened. We all slowly stopped running together. Every now and then I was able to have one of them join me, but it was few and far in between. It really was okay because I was starting to not like running with others. My husband was faster than me and my sister was slower than me at the time. Mostly because I just ran more than her and let’s face it, guys tend to be way faster than women. It is just biology.

I was finding my running rhythm and was enjoying my alone time. However I was still yearning for some company along my routes especially during the long runs. I started to get back into running with others, but I wasn’t always reliable at the early hours or during the evenings and neither were they. We had lives and liked sleep. I needed a runny buddy that always wanted to head out the door. One that wouldn’t care what time it was, if it was cold out, snowy or rainy. I started researching the best running dogs for long distance and had narrowed the list down to three breeds. The problem was we were in an apartment that didn’t allow dogs, so we would have to wait.

GSP

We ended up buying a house not too long after we had decided on our top three dog breeds. In order of our first to last pick, our list included german short haired pointer (gsp), vizsla, and a weinheimer. These were said to be great family dogs and great distance runners. Being beyond excited to finally have the option of a dog, we started to research breeders and prices. We quickly decided that it was out of our reach for the moment and put the process on hold till we saved up the money to buy everything a puppy would need. Weeks after we made this decision, we heard from some friends that a 16 month old gsp was available and they wanted him to go to a good home. This was Saturday. The dog lived in Arizona and we were in Montana. We were in. We wouldn’t have to do the initial training and he would be able to run. You really have to be careful starting off a dog too early. Starting too early can cause major hip damage, because the dog isn’t finished growing. (Make sure to ask a vet before you start taking your dog for long runs, hikes or even long walks).

We got the word and our fuzzy friend was headed our way and we’d get him Tuesday. I was a super nervous first time dog mom, but was beyond excited for our new family member to arrive. He took to us quickly. The vet gave us the okay to run him and we were off running around town together. He was and is my most reliable running buddy. In fact, he wants to go running so bad it is almost annoying. I can take him for a 20 mile run and he will be ready to go again after just one hour of rest. He is my best running buddy. My encouragement to get out otherwise he will go crazy not getting the exercise. It is great motivation to get out the door. I highly recommend getting this type of consistent buddy to be by your side.

Tell me Tell me

Who is your reliable running buddy? Why can you count on them? Do you have a furry friend that keeps you company? I want to know who keeps you motivated to keep getting out that door. Tell me about your running buddy.