April 2011

[Sweder]

Two micro-runs so far this week, on Monday and Tuesday, each just over a mile and a half at around 15 minutes or so. The pups can't manage much more and who's to say that I could on a daily basis?

This morning I was due in Southampton at 08:00 so I waived the right to plod, settling instead for a sedate meander under the morning cloud. My companions honed their rabbit-chasing skills, playing a loud and somewhat vicious game of tag where the tagger nips the taggee on the hind quarters and belts off in the other direction. It was hugely entertaining, eerily reminiscent of Tess and Gypsy at play. Ripley's ploy of plunging into the long wet grass paid dividends as Murphy, like Gypsy before him, has an aversion to overt dampness. He waited, sat posture-perfect, antenna-like ears scanning the brush until, bored, his sister scampered out onto the racecourse and the game continued.

I'll keep up the daily outing routine, extending each session as the pups's fitness permits. I'm loading my youngest child onto a school bus bound for Greece (via the airport) for a Classics trip (which I would dearly love to go on) before sun-up on Sunday. Then I'll haul my weary frame to the Brighton prom to cheer on MarathonDan, Stillwaddler, Tom Roper and any number of Brighton & Hove runners not to mention twenty-five or so generous souls running for JDRF. I'll save my long plod for the evening when I hope the inspiration of seeing a giant bobbing rock-phallus fly past will lead me into the hills with fresh purpose.