Live Life To Its Tri-est

       Eight years ago we lost our dog Chester. He was the love of my husband Mark's life. Chester was a brown and white Springer Spaniel that my husband trained as a hunting dog. Beyond hunting, Chester was a best friend to my husband,  myself and later to my first born son. Time passed and my family finally convinced me it was time for another dog. I wasn't sure I was ready but then I found a website to adopt Golden Retrievers. I had always dreamed of having a Golden and I had read in Runner's World Magazine that they made great running partners. I primarily run by myself but I thought that could be a cool prospect; a dog to hang with while I run.

       We adopted Buddy(Cruiser) shortly after I visited the website. The rescue had named him so we kept Buddy as his name. It never occurred to me that Cruiser was a hint to this dog's mannerisms. He was a saint for the first two weeks that we had him. The rescue said we could give him back within a two week window. As if Buddy(Cruiser) knew the stipulation from the rescue, he was a model dog; until day fifteen.

      Buddy, aka," Cruiser," decided his yard was not quite big enough and so on day fifteen, and every day thereafter, stretched his legs beyond our neighborhood. No matter, I only had a toddler at the time and a pre-schooler. What else could I possibly have to do but to run after my new beloved Golden each day?
       After many tears and phone calls to my husband at work we discovered a beautiful thing called an Invisible Fence. Once we got that quirk worked out he did become my running partner, but not like one would think. I envisioned my Golden running beside me without a leash, stride for stride, in harmony. Running with Buddy was more like torture than the movie image that I had conjured. He pulled and ran too fast; sometimes he stopped altogether to get a sniff at something.
        No worries though, as time went on, I adjusted to the non-conventional way I had to run with Buddy. He loves to be out front of me in single line fashion, so to this day that is how we run together. I get all sorts of comments like, "who is running who?, " and ,"glad to see who's in charge," but after a while it became second nature to both of us and now I like following behind Buddy, it gives me something to focus on.
      Now he is nine or ten years old, we're not sure because he is a rescue. We went for a short run the other day and I could tell he was out of practice. He is getting older and I haven't been taking him as much. He was out of breath well before he normally is. We made it back to my truck and I gave him a bowl of water. In the old days he would have slurped it down and immediately jumped into my truck. That day he layed down and gave me a look like, "lady what are you do'in to me? Can't you see the white around my eyes?"
       I got down close to Buddy and gave him a pat. I could hear the, thump, thump sound his tail made on the hot pavement. I looked at his eyes and saw that the once golden fur was now white. I sat on the ground beside him and realized that although I fight my age everyday, I too am getting older. I try not to go down the road of thinking about death or my own mortality but for some reason there it was.
      I have more fine lines around my eyes and more aches and pains than I used to. I started wondering how long it would be until my body gives out. Thankfully things like swimming and running in the HydroWorx pool are low impact and definitely help.The reality is, aging  is a part of life, and no matter how we fight it, it is inevitable.
       I triathlon to stay fit and young but I know I am going to slow down and that is okay. I realized that day that I would continue to swim, bike and run as long as I can. I realized that while I am so driven to beat the clock at each of my events the important clock that ticks is life and why rush it? What difference does it really make if I don't win my age group at each race? PR's are great, but it is the journey that gets me to the finish line; like life if we don't enjoy the ride then what is the point?
      I gave Buddy a nudge and he slowly climbed into the back of my truck. I looked at him and said, "Thanks old boy for the lesson." He tilted his head and gave me one of his doggy grins with his tongue hanging out. "Thanks for making me realize it is okay to slow down and enjoy the journey."
       Buddy and my kids helped me finish the last one hundred yards at my last event and although they weren't with me the whole way, they certainly were in spirit.

Tri on Friends,

Kelly