Cody's earliest picture

While I was cleaning out my email Inbox, I found a bunch of pictures that my breeder had sent to us before we picked out our puppies. After I picked out Cody, I never went back to look at the pictures to match him up since I had the real thing.

Here's the black-collar puppy that would be named "Cody" a couple of weeks later (He's about 7 weeks in this picture). What a cutie-pie!

What a Pig!

Last Sunday, a friend and I took Cody on an off-leash hiking trail to Mission Peak in Fremont. I had his backpack on so he can carry his own water. To make a long story short, Cody decided to emulate how pigs cool down - can you guess what he did? Yup, he rolled around in cow dung. With his backpack. His head, collar, and backpack was covered with a thick layer of manure about an hour into a 3.5 hour long hike (round trip).

I know what you're thinking, and yes, "ugh" doesn't quite capture it.

I had a pack of Kleenex, and we had used grass to wipe some of the stuff off from him and his backpack. Luckily, by the time we completed the hike, Cody and his backpack dried off (and we placed an old bed sheet in the car to let him lie on it.)

Even though our hike was not ideal, Cody had a blast (until he realized he had to take a bath two days in a row. According to Murphy's Law, since Cody bathed on Saturday and I had applied his topical tick prevention medicine, that on Sunday he was bound to do something that would require me to bathe him again).

Anyways, the lesson learned is that I may want to check for bovine presence if I ever take Cody off leash :P

Long Day

Today was a super long day for Cody and I. As I am writing this, Cody is conked out on the carpet in front of me.

This morning, we had to meet at 7am with the Team in Training group to run 8 miles. With Cody, I did 8 miles in an hour and a half, which is slightly over 11 minute miles. Considering that I always went slower than that, I think it was a good accomplishment. What also felt really nice is that I was not last in the pack. Although I started as one of the last people, my endurance outlasted at least most of the other women that were running (I stopped to walk for 3 minutes total, and only after running over 6 miles straight).

We had a person who specialized in sports injury prevention speak to us after our run. He showed us different stretches and sold some Styrofoam rollers to help us stretch some areas (like the IT band!). I've been wanting to get a roller for awhile, so it's helpful. Also, there were some stretching techniques he showed us that I hadn't heard about before.

After a couple of other errands, Cody and I had our 4th agility class. I know I haven't spoken about the agility class yet, but I plan on writing a long, very detailed (and very negative) review of the agility class. Considering we waited 8 months to finally attend this class, well, words don't really quite describe how poor the class is given my expectations.

Anyways, we had agility class for an hour. Cody had fun as he was able to go on tunnels and up seesaws and tables and go on surfaces he hadn't tried before. Since I had been training him on playgrounds and on the treadmill and other things, he was able to pick it up pretty well. The only problem was telling him to go to a certain location since he was more interested in greeting other dogs than coming for a treat or toy (unless it was another dog's toy).

That's it. This is probably an abrupt ending to a post, but I'm just plain tired and Cody napping is giving me some good ideas (after a good shower - unfortunately, it'll have to be cold because they recommend cold showers after workouts to help the muscles recover).

Well, there's 3 months to the marathon.

Last Sunday, I was able to run 8 miles with Cody even with the torrential rain that came down in the middle of the run. I think the rain was to teach me a lesson and to make sure I wear quick-dry fabrics rather than cotton.

Through the week, I've been running between 2-5 miles each day, as well as meeting with my personal trainer on Tuesdays and Fridays to do weight training. Tomorrow, we'll be doing a "long run" of 5-8 miles in San Mateo. The trail should be dog-friendly so I should be able to get a good time with Cody helping me out :)

Here are a couple of pictures of Cody and me running on one of our Team in Training group runs:






Thanks for all who've sponsored me so far. If you'd like to sponsor me, please visit http://www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/phoebeho

I have $2000 more to go!