A Dog's Life

For the past week, I've been a dog owner.  It's a temporary title, but I'm gladly serving as caretaker and servant to Bailey while her Mommy and Daddy are vacationing on the West coast.  In no time at all she has settled in and is keeping me on my toes with her every need.  I'll let you be the judge from these pictures, but I think she has a pretty fantastic life.

Evening playtime - the more toys the better!

It's a beautiful Sunday morning to spend on the deck soaking up the sun.

The first day that Bailey was here she disappeared while I was making dinner.  I went on the hunt and found her curled up on the guest bedroom bed.  I wonder if she smelled the scent of her Mom and Dad?

Taking one for the team and enjoying some lazy time so that "sissy" can recover
from her half-ironman

Somebody might just have looked far too comfortable on the bed to make her sleep in her crate.   

Mission "Lazy Weekend Morning".  Toasty warm underneath her blanket!

"Does Bailey want to go for a run?"
We covered 21 miles of squirrel-filled streets over 5 days.  

Striking a model-like pose during a walk through Freedom Park.
It takes some serious maintenance and hard work to be so picture perfect.

There are two lounge chairs on the deck, yet someone had to be right in the middle of my studying and presentation preparation. 

Run hard, play hard, sleep hard.
It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.

It's the best day of my life!

So far I'd say doggy summer camp has been a complete success and I have one very happy puppy!

It's now just 7 weeks until Ironman Chattanooga and training has been going well.  I was nervous about how my legs would respond to the increasing running mileage, but I've been feeling good for each of my runs and recovering much faster than I anticipated.  My left glute has still been sore, but persistent foam rolling, stretching, and icing has kept it manageable.

Week 29 - Light training leading up to Lake Logan Half Ironman
Swim: 7100 yards
Bike: 5 hours, 47 minutes
Run: 18.7 miles
Total: 11 hours, 7 minutes

Week 30 - A couple of post-race recovery days, then back to the grind
Swim: 11000 yards (including 2x2000 for time - 31:01, 31:06)
Bike: 7 hours (weekend rain forced me onto the trainer for 4 hours)
Run: 34 miles (including a 17 mile long run - a new PDR!)
Total: 15 hours

Next weekend I'll be in Chattanooga to ride and run the Ironman course.  It should be a great test of fitness as well as an opportunity to mentally prepare for race day.