October Travels: Kripalu and Lake Placid

It has been a very busy month for me and Scooter. A few weeks ago I assisted one of the master ChiRunning instructors for a 4 day session at Kripalu. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, as there have been many changes in the instructor manual. I also passed my re-certification with flying colors!!! So I don't have to worry about that for another 2-3 years. Kathy, the instructor, and I had a great time yapping and hot tubbing and going to dancing and drumming demonstrations, etc, each day after class was over. We had a great time and I really enjoyed getting to know her better.

Also, I was in Lake Placid recently with Scooter for an event called "Run Dawg Run Festival." It is dryland training and racing for skijorers and sledders (the dog sledders were in little carts being pulled by their dogs). Skijoring is XC skiing with the dog hauling you. The skier really puts out a lot of effort too and you have to be a good skier. The dryland event that people train for this with is called Canicross, a combination of the words canine and cross country. In this, the dog hauls you while you are running. You can see why this is right up our alley, both the doing and teaching LOL.

Anyway, I set up a booth and gave a short ChiRunning demo/lesson during the only sunny time we had all day. Canicrossis very hard on the legs, especially the knees, as most dogs run and pull much harder than the person would run normally, and so the runner is braking all the time. ChiRunning would allow these runners to just go with the flow. And even more exciting is that ChiRunning is a perfect complement to XC skiing. So my presentation was well received. I was, however, blown away, literally. We had torrential rains and 50 mile an hour winds for much of the day. And yes, they held the event anyway . After having to catch the booth the third time, I packed up.

When we got to the place, we were on the site of the 1980 Olympics. I saw some bobsleds doing dry runs. We were at the XC ski area. There were tons of dogs. And as sled dogs are known for their baying and howling and barking and general carrying on, it was very noisy. Scooter was in hog heaven. Oops, I mean dog heaven. When we first got there, he was barking and jumping and butt sniffing and oh man!! I had run him on the treadmill before I left the house, so he was fabulous in the car for 3 hours. Then I took him for a run on the course to calm him down before I set up. I let him have his head and ran him like it was canicross, harness and all. For the rest of the time, I had him on a hands-free leash, so he was with me in the restrooms and registering and setting up and during the demo, and he was quite well-behaved in spite of the distractions.

We met so many wonderful dogs. Scooter's favorite buddies were the Aussies run by the winning woman. They shared peanut butter treats (I spent a few days baking Scooter's world famous organic peanut butter biscuits again. They were a great hit.) The sled dogs were all so different. There were Alaskan Huskies and Malamutes, Siberian Huskies, and a breed that looked not too far removed from western Coyotes. They were very leggy and rangy and yappy LOL. Very nice dogs. Lots of German short-haired pointers (excellent skijorers). There were a few Goldens (a very large one who was 3rd with his runner reminded me of our friend Ronan, except this one was very dark red. But he didn't pull, just ran next to his guy). There were also a few well, not Cocker Spaniels, but similar. A couple of Newfies and Samoyeds and even a Jack Russell Terrier.

If you have never seen sled dogs, or wondered if it is cruel to have them run and haul a sled, you have no idea of the commotion they cause when they know they are going to run. They carry on something fierce. In the starting gate, the four dog teams pulling the carts were so gung-ho, they need to be held by anywhere from 4-8 people to restrain them. And when they finished, the same 4-8 people would try to catch them to stop them LOL. Even some of the canicross/skijoring dogs were so excited about running that they had to be held at the starting line by 1-2 people and caught at the end. Some of these dogs would run all day, given the chance. One or two of the people too LOL. They say that you have to hide the harness from some dogs because once they see it, they go nuts. Kind of like when Scooter and I make the turn to go up where we ski LOL.

Before I left, I signed us up for a 3 day camp at New Years. We get 7 1/2 hours of skijoring instruction, and I get 9 hours of skate skiing instruction (which I have only done once) for a very reasonable price. I have reserved dog-friendly lodging, so we are all set. I really love it in that area and want to expand my business there.

So, anyway, that's it for this month. See you on the trails! AnnMargaret

Cool Runnings: Autumn Comes to the North Country

Autumn is on its way to the North Country. Trees at lower altitudes are starting their yearly chameleon ways, with a few vibrant reds and oranges popping up. The higher altitudes have few trees turning colors, but that will start changing later this week, as we are in for our first killing freeze tomorrow night.

Scooter and I are hurriedly picking the last of the blackberries. The blackberry harvest is one for which I can take no credit: the bushes are wild. They naturally line the edge of my woods. The profusion of pinky-white roselike blooms in early spring is simply breathtaking, while the juicy fruits of fall are absolutely yummy. I am eating some and freezing some for mid-winter protein shakes with a touch of summer sunshine.

I have discovered that Scooter is also an afficiando. I took him out with me last week to “help me.” He was attached to me by the hands-free leash we use for PooChi. As I was picking, I looked down and noticed that he was snagging berries that had fallen on the ground. He has had blackberries before, but not so many, and as far as he knew, they came from the fridge . All of a sudden, the bushes started jerking and crashing and swaying. I wondered what in the world was going on. Could it be that a fisher cat or bear cub was intruding on our interlude with nature? Was a raccoon claiming the berries as his own?

Nope. I looked down to find Scooter Hoovering the berries off the bushes. He was sucking them down so fast I couldn’t keep up. And it wasn’t the green ones or the red ones he was getting, it was the black ones. I was laughing so hard I almost turned over my berry bowl. Now on nights I know we are going to pick, I don’t add fruit to his dinner, as I am assured that he will get more than his fair share outside.

The mornings have been getting cooler, and this is a delight to me as I really dislike hot humid weather. It makes it easier for me to run. I have my neon long-sleeved running shirt waiting for the first morning I need both warmth and a way to be seen by drivers. I love long-sleeved t-shirts and picked up this beauty when I ran the Army 10 miler last year with my friend Heather in DC. My shorts I will stick with for quite a while.

An addition to my wardrobe are my brandy-new New Balance 800’s, the shoe designed by Danny Dreyer and the New Balance people especially for ChiRunners and other mid-foot strikers. I love mine! They are incredibly light and cushy and the mid-foot strike technology is a help for me as I have a tendency to run on the outside of my feet. The only problem with them is that they are a bit tight on my bunion, but if I don’t wear them for hours, they are okay. I am hoping they stretch a bit so I can keep wearing them.

I am getting ready for a long weekend ChiRunning class at Kripalu in Western Massachusetts in early October. I will be assisting Master Instructor Kathy Griest. I will also be recertifying with her, so I am brushing up on my presentation. I am also preparing for the White Mountains Half Marathon in late October and the Philly Half Marathon in late November. Both of these races will serve as tune-ups for the Disney Marathon in January. I am running the Philly and the Disney races with my good friend and oft-times racing partner Heather.

Well, that’s all the news for this month. Happy running! And remember to get out there and claim your joy!! Ann Margaret

A New Season: On the Road to Movement Recovery

Summer's here and Scooter and I are on the move. I love going out on all my different routes and seeing what's blooming in my neighbors' gardens or on the roadside. I use a hands-free leash to walk Scooter, and it has this lovely little pouch meant for storing keys. Of course, mine is stuffed to the gills with seed pods that I am collecting as I walk: columbine, lupine, whatever looks good. I am careful that I leave enough pods to reseed the wildflowers I encounter.

It has been very rainy this year and we have gotten caught in the rain a few times. But it reminds me of playing in the rain and stomping through puddles when I was a kid. Unless, there's lightning in the area, I do not rush home and Scooter is just fine with that.

We are training for a marathon, The Disney Marathon in January, that I will run with a friend. But before we can really get moving, I have some work to do.

I sustained a hip injury a few months ago that had nothing to do with movement. Actually, it had to do with lack of movement. So now I have an IT band issue (I had one a few years back--it is what got me into ChiRunning in the first place). You do not mess around with this injury. So I went to my Egoscue person (yes, even we certified Egsocue providers visit each other for help) and got a great new menu of e-cises. I have been diligent about doing them and am now able to ChiRun every other day without pain. I am not running every day as I want to give the hip time to settle down completely--not all the inflammation is gone. But it is so much better than it was and it does not hurt when I run. I am more likely to have a twinge mowing the lawn or rolling over in bed. HA!

In the between time, I am ChiWalking with the boy. What's really nice about being able to ChiWalk and ChiRun is that there are so many similarities that practicing one helps with the other. So while my hip continues to heal, I can focus on my core, relax my ankles and rotate my hips. In fact, I find that practicing the hip rotation when I am walking makes it easier for when I am running. Additionally, I practice diaphrammatic breathing, which will support me nicely in the running.

I'll check in again soon. Hope you are reclaiming your joy this summer!