Spring 2017 Dog Walking Challenge

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Replies

  • Katagara
    Katagara Posts: 183 Member
    @jenilla1 Your story about your doggy's tantrum left me laughing out loud, adorable!

    @WickAndArtoo The mosquitoes are awful some days makes the urge to breakout of my walk and into a run easier...
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    Katagara wrote: »
    @jenilla1 Your story about your doggy's tantrum left me laughing out loud, adorable!

    @WickAndArtoo The mosquitoes are awful some days makes the urge to breakout of my walk and into a run easier...

    That is so true!!!!
  • W0rldWarME
    W0rldWarME Posts: 12 Member
    Hello Everyone! It's been three weeks since I last posted and it was my joining post.
    Unfortantly These past weeks have been hectic,computer crashing and lack of internet from my provider, I haven't been able to keep track with all of you :disappointed: Keesh and I kept walking even though we didn't track. Here's hoping you'll accept us back :smiley:
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    W0rldWarME wrote: »
    Hello Everyone! It's been three weeks since I last posted and it was my joining post.
    Unfortantly These past weeks have been hectic,computer crashing and lack of internet from my provider, I haven't been able to keep track with all of you :disappointed: Keesh and I kept walking even though we didn't track. Here's hoping you'll accept us back :smiley:

    You kept up with the most important part, nice work!!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Well, it's been a blast furnace where I live lately, and I haven't managed to get myself up early enough to go out for hikes before it's too hot for my old dog to bear. So we've been going over to my sister's house a few times a week and swimming in the pool instead. I guess that counts for something. We will be heading north to visit family in a couple of weeks, and there will be plenty of outdoor adventures to be had then! But in the meantime, it's been a bit of a fail for us in terms of our hiking. But we'll get there again when it cools off a bit. B)
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @jenilla1 that is SO lucky you guys can use a pool, that must be so fun for the pup!! The heat struggle is so frustrating, but it is so worth waking up extra early to walk! My husband has to leave for for by 4 am, and I get up with him, so I have been just taking them for a 2 mile walk the second he leaves and then going back to bed for a "nap" after the walk lol!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    @jenilla1 that is SO lucky you guys can use a pool, that must be so fun for the pup!!
    She wouldn't get in the pool if it weren't for my sister's dog leading her in. She hesitates at first, but then she sees him having fun, swimming around like an otter, chasing everyone around and she can't help herself. She has to join in. LOL.
    The heat struggle is so frustrating, but it is so worth waking up extra early to walk! My husband has to leave for for by 4 am, and I get up with him, so I have been just taking them for a 2 mile walk the second he leaves and then going back to bed for a "nap" after the walk lol!
    That's so brilliant. My husband leaves for work at 4 am, too! I always just sleep right through it. I guess I could get my lazy self up, too. Not sure if I have the discipline. I'll try it out. It IS really nice in the early mornings in summertime.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @jenilla1 I used to sleep through it too, but then one day about four months ago I just decided to do it. I make him a smoothie and lunches in the morning so after a week it helped that I didn't want to stop because I would feel horrible if he didn't have something to eat for the day lol. I just don't think about it and get up, on days I feel tired I just remind my self that I can go back to sleep as soon as he leaves if I want, and sometimes I do! It's really awesome though because I usually walk the dogs, clean the house and then go back to sleep, then when I wake up at 8/9 am after my nap I feed the dogs and have the whole rest of the day to do whatever I need/want to do and it's like a free couple of hours haha. Now that it is so stinking hot out it comes in really handy.
  • Katagara
    Katagara Posts: 183 Member
    Challenge: 5km/day, 35km/week
    Success: 32.2km and tons of landscaping
    I'm ready for another week!
    But first... dancing!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    This week we went 10 miles, and for us that's just about perfect right now!

    Successes: 4am walks mean no one else is around and we have a nice relaxing walk.

    Challenges: I have been sore from my other workouts, so two days this week I went back to bed instead of doing our walk in the morning, and had to do it in the afternoon (hot) or not at all.

    Goal this week: Walk first thing in am even when/if I'm sore.

  • Katagara
    Katagara Posts: 183 Member
    Goal: 35km/week, 5km/day
    Success: 28.7 km
    Challenges: I didn't manage to get Friday or Saturday's walk in. I also went over my calorie intake on Friday...BBQs and parties are making it very challenging.

    I'm just going to keep trying. I might go for a little longer walk to start off the new week.
  • W0rldWarME
    W0rldWarME Posts: 12 Member
    Our Goal : 20 Km a week,
    Sucess: 15 Km and a haircut for future walks!
    Challenges : It's still super rainy in my tiny town even on Canada Day we had to hold back the walks :disappointed:
    ulorg0x2kssa.jpg
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    edited July 2017
    @W0rldWarME speckled dogs are so cute! <3 Mine just recently had a trim for the warm weather.

    Success: We got in 6 miles together this week, since the heat wave ended.

    Challenge: Fitting in dog walks AND getting in my running mileage. For example, I did almost 14 miles running on trails in the hills on Thursday. For two days afterwards I really didn't feel like doing long hikes with Apes. So it was just short walks (15 minutes) in the neighborhood. It's hard to balance my own training goals with my dog's needs. I can't take her with me on my runs because it would kill her - she's elderly. And I don't want to short-change her, but I need rest days, too.

    giplf0jfaubv.jpg

    Look at that face! She's so happy to go. Makes me feel terrible when I leave her to go running...
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @jenilla1 she is so cute!!!! One of my favorite dogs growing up was a standard poodle, they always hold a special spot in my heart. I love her big smile, I love that dogs are just happy to go, regardless of where or for how long. So appreciative :smile:
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @W0rldWarME love the summer cut! Great mileage this week :smile: we hope you have a great holiday weekend.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    Success: For the first time we managed 3 miles a day 5 days in a week!! This was so fun and exciting, we had great luck with weather and scheduling, we had a blast.

    Challenge: Unfortunately dumb old mom (me) stepped in a fire ant hill (I am seriously allergic) so not only was that walk cut short with a trip to the ER, but we are taking a few days off until the bites heal up to get back out there. Thank gosh for Benadryl!! So in the mean time lots of fetching for the dogs.

    Here are the pups on one of our big hikes.

  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Success: For the first time we managed 3 miles a day 5 days in a week!! This was so fun and exciting, we had great luck with weather and scheduling, we had a blast.

    Challenge: Unfortunately dumb old mom (me) stepped in a fire ant hill (I am seriously allergic) so not only was that walk cut short with a trip to the ER, but we are taking a few days off until the bites heal up to get back out there. Thank gosh for Benadryl!! So in the mean time lots of fetching for the dogs.

    Here are the pups on one of our big hikes.

    Great mileage this past week!

    But the fire ants - ugh. That's bad news! My husband was attacked by fire ants a few months ago and he broke out in a full rash all over his body. (They only bit his feet but he had hive-like bumps all over the place.) And he doesn't complain about things, but he was complaining that night for sure. So we know how miserable that can be. Hope you heal quickly and get back out there!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    jenilla1 wrote: »
    Success: For the first time we managed 3 miles a day 5 days in a week!! This was so fun and exciting, we had great luck with weather and scheduling, we had a blast.

    Challenge: Unfortunately dumb old mom (me) stepped in a fire ant hill (I am seriously allergic) so not only was that walk cut short with a trip to the ER, but we are taking a few days off until the bites heal up to get back out there. Thank gosh for Benadryl!! So in the mean time lots of fetching for the dogs.

    Here are the pups on one of our big hikes.

    Great mileage this past week!

    But the fire ants - ugh. That's bad news! My husband was attacked by fire ants a few months ago and he broke out in a full rash all over his body. (They only bit his feet but he had hive-like bumps all over the place.) And he doesn't complain about things, but he was complaining that night for sure. So we know how miserable that can be. Hope you heal quickly and get back out there!

    Oh my gosh!!!!! I completely know how he feels. I am not sure if you know this or not (I only found out after the first time I had a reaction) but if you drink liquid Benadryl and swish it around your mouth before swallowing a couple gulps immediately after it happens you can head off the reaction!! I was told this by the dr after my first ER visit, so I keep the children's Benadryl in every car and purse (the first time my throat/face/and foot swelled up from only two bites and I got a rash on arms/legs) anyways, when I stepped in the ant hill this time it was nine bites but thankfully I did what she said before heading to the ER (I seriously thought I was going to die I was so scared) and the Benadryl kicked in before the bites had swollen to a quarter and by the time I was at the ER they had gone completely down to what normal people's bites look like, I continued with regular doses of Benadryl after that and the severe reaction never came. The liquid Benadryl absorbs much faster, so it starts working quicker than the tablets, hopefully he never steps in a anthill or needs it, but I am pretty certain that tip saved my life this week.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    jenilla1 wrote: »
    Success: For the first time we managed 3 miles a day 5 days in a week!! This was so fun and exciting, we had great luck with weather and scheduling, we had a blast.

    Challenge: Unfortunately dumb old mom (me) stepped in a fire ant hill (I am seriously allergic) so not only was that walk cut short with a trip to the ER, but we are taking a few days off until the bites heal up to get back out there. Thank gosh for Benadryl!! So in the mean time lots of fetching for the dogs.

    Here are the pups on one of our big hikes.

    Great mileage this past week!

    But the fire ants - ugh. That's bad news! My husband was attacked by fire ants a few months ago and he broke out in a full rash all over his body. (They only bit his feet but he had hive-like bumps all over the place.) And he doesn't complain about things, but he was complaining that night for sure. So we know how miserable that can be. Hope you heal quickly and get back out there!

    Oh my gosh!!!!! I completely know how he feels. I am not sure if you know this or not (I only found out after the first time I had a reaction) but if you drink liquid Benadryl and swish it around your mouth before swallowing a couple gulps immediately after it happens you can head off the reaction!! I was told this by the dr after my first ER visit, so I keep the children's Benadryl in every car and purse (the first time my throat/face/and foot swelled up from only two bites and I got a rash on arms/legs) anyways, when I stepped in the ant hill this time it was nine bites but thankfully I did what she said before heading to the ER (I seriously thought I was going to die I was so scared) and the Benadryl kicked in before the bites had swollen to a quarter and by the time I was at the ER they had gone completely down to what normal people's bites look like, I continued with regular doses of Benadryl after that and the severe reaction never came. The liquid Benadryl absorbs much faster, so it starts working quicker than the tablets, hopefully he never steps in a anthill or needs it, but I am pretty certain that tip saved my life this week.

    Cool! That's awesome. Thanks for the tip! :D
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    Walking buddies: Wick, Artoo, Rose
    Goals: 7.5 miles a week per dog
    Challenges: heat and humidity
    Successes: graduated to running

    Hey everyone! Any updates?!

    We took all of last week off for a bunch of reasons so no mileage, but we are off to a great start this week.

    We have switched to running instead of walking for our morning walk, so far this week 1.5 miles per dog per day (so I'm getting 3). Only weekdays.

    I am hoping that as they get more accustomed to running I can start taking them further, but due to the heat and humidity (the "coldest" it's getting here in FL atm is 80 degrees Fahrenheit) it's a safety thing and I will definitely be making sure I don't push them at all. One thing that's nice about running is that the same mileage takes half the time, so it's easier to fit it into the schedule.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    @WickAndArtoo I agree on the running thing saving time. I just ran 9 miles this morning. It would have taken a lot longer if I'd hiked it! I like to run so I can be out of there before it starts heating up. I feel bad for people in humid places, though. It probably never really cools down for you guys. It's super hot here in the daytime, but in the evening, the sea breeze rolls in and cools everything down. I love Summer nights on the West Coast.

    Summer is a tough time to be doing dog walking challenges for a lot of us with the heat and vacations, etc. I predict this thread will slow WAY down for awhile. B)

    We're about to be MIA ourselves for a couple of weeks, but we'll be doing a ton of outdoor adventuring while we're gone. I'll report back later!

    Peace out.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    jenilla1 wrote: »
    @WickAndArtoo I agree on the running thing saving time. I just ran 9 miles this morning. It would have taken a lot longer if I'd hiked it! I like to run so I can be out of there before it starts heating up. I feel bad for people in humid places, though. It probably never really cools down for you guys. It's super hot here in the daytime, but in the evening, the sea breeze rolls in and cools everything down. I love Summer nights on the West Coast.

    Summer is a tough time to be doing dog walking challenges for a lot of us with the heat and vacations, etc. I predict this thread will slow WAY down for awhile. B)

    We're about to be MIA ourselves for a couple of weeks, but we'll be doing a ton of outdoor adventuring while we're gone. I'll report back later!

    Peace out.

    Wow! Thats a great run :smile: I did five yesterday and that's the farthest I've ever "ran" (in quotes because there was a lot of walking intervals involved lol!!).

    ahhh yes we miss the west coast, we have lived in California for my husband's job a few times! I miss the dry air haha. It really does not cool down here, even with a sea breeze, I can't believe I complained about the pacific being cold!

    Have fun in your adventures!