Ok, so this has nothing to do with my 1/2 marathon training, but...

it is a funny story!

So most of you know I have a pack of dogs, well I have 2 chichi's (Samson and Maebelle) and my parents have 3 mixed breeds (Teddy and Bubbles, 1/2 jack russell, 1/2 fiest, and Molly, a chiweenie).

Well, Samson is allergic to everything under the sun, including himself, so he's a steroid junky, and on the chunky side to be a chihuahua. (We won't talk about that!) Now, Samson has two types of food that he likes and everything else be dam*ed! He LOVES table food and Beneful (incredi-bites, the tiny version of the regular Beneful), oh and he will eat little Cezar in a can (at 70cents per can, I can't afford that for him and Bella, so he doesn't get it.)

Well, he's still chewing his feet and licking his knees/elbows, whatever you call it, his legs?! I go see our vet, Dr. Chip, yesterday after work and tell him the steroid treatment isn't working and we have to do something different 'cause Sam is blowing up and hassling like he's going to have a heart attack.

Dr. Chip tells me, it's his food, you have to change his food. Inside I'm thinking yea right, he'll starve to death before he eats that canned food you want him on. He's 10 years old and he ain't changing for no body or nothing! Period!

I listen as he explains this and that and we decide Sam is probably allergic to either the beef, chicken, or even the lamb they make the dog food with, but he assures me the venison should do the trick. Ok for you country folks, venison is deer meat. I'm thinking, heck if I can buy my dog deer meat why can't it be legal to buy me deer meat?! Anyway, back to the topic, Samson.

Dr. Chip gives me a can on the house, and tells me to try it, so I get home and show Sam the can and I can see the look of doubt in his eyes. I talk it up and tell him how good it is and then I set it in a chair beside my purse, and I eat dinner. The entire time he's looking, and I can see the wheels a-turning. The entire time I'm praying, Dear God plz let this work.

I open the can and dang it smells good, and all 5 dogs find me in a flash. Where they all came from I'll never know, their noses smelled it son!

I take a spoonful out and give it to Sam, he scarves it down, without even tasting it. Ok, so I put some in a saucer, and warm it up just a tad, and he eats it like he's on death row and it was his last meal. BINGO! I found something he liked. So I pass a spoonful around to all the other dogs - dang, they love it, too.

I'm just glad I didn't bet my paycheck that Samson wouldn't eat it; otherwise, Dr. Chip would be getting my paycheck come tomorrow.

So I called the vet this morning, and told Rebecca, the receptionist, HE LOVED IT!

Therefore, afterwork, I'm off to the vet again to get some deer meat in a can and some dry food, too. I'm sure this is going to set me back a few bucks, I may need to get a second job to feed my Samson.

If he's lucky, he has 4, maybe 6 more years with me, so I'll do what I have to do to make him comfortable, so he doesn't itch all the time.

I'm crossing my finger and praying this is the missing link.

I'll let you know how it goes....

Two-week follow-up...

Ok,it's been exactly two-weeks that I've been training and last Saturday (18 June) I took a spill in the chicken yard on the right side, landed on my bad knee. Now for those of you who know me, know on Mother's Day, I was going to mow my mother's yard for her so it would be nice and pretty when she returned from the motorcycle ride with my daddy. And well the lawnmower treated me like a horse and rider and threw me off backwards on my left side. So now I think I'm even injured! LOL!

So I'm running with an even bummeder (yes I know it's not a word, I have my degree in English, but I can make up knew words, it's called creative writing, consider this a creative piece, grin). My whole right side is in major pain, and my neck is killing me and I have a headache to prove it. But Sunday after Sunday school I put on my big girl panties (sorry guys!) and off the the track I went. It would've been ok, except the track in Sumrall, has an elevation from h*ll! And I had to pull HARD to climb it, but I did my 1.5 miles as scheduled (per my runkeeper training instructions) and the knee complained the entire time, but I persevered.

Yesterday, I get to the gym, because it's run day again, and realized I didn't have my ITB. Geez, am I trying to continue to injure myself?! So I dress out anyway, and run the low elevation 'track' so I don't have to pull the small hills that would've put my knee out of commission for good. It's sore today, but nothing I can't handle.

Oh, btw, I took some meds for the pain, so maybe it will help the knee!

I'm going to run the 1/2 marathon, even if it kills me. I have to now. I told my dad about it on Father's Day and asked him to come (I never ask him to come to my races). He said he wouldn't miss it, we'll see, I may hold him to it.

Oh, and for those who read this, if you could say a prayer for John Caleb who is doing a great work in Haiti, he would greatly appreciate it, I'm sure. God is teaching him to be a great follow of Him! God bless you JC!

Until next time....

1/2 marathon training

Ok, so as Saturday was my birthday, and my last year in my 30s, I decided a few months ago to train for a 1/2 marathon.

Training starts today! I'll report once a week or so, and let everyone know how this goes. I'm doing the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run because I've learned with this fibromyalgia, I can not do day after day of running, it breaks down my body too fast and I can't recover properly, so I'll run-walk-run, every other day and train my way to that 1/2 marathon finish line.

My ultimate goal though, ia a full marathon on my 40th! I may have to have Coach Becky for that one though, we'll see.

If I can get my body to hold up and let me re-train it to exercise, I'll be a happy camper. Cross your fingers (and toes if you can), and say a few prayers.

Until next time....