8 +

I ran 8.5 miles (14 km) this morning.  But, I did the first 7.5 as usual, and then I came and got my dog and took her for a mile run as well.  She used to run with me very frequently.... except in the Winter when I did not run outside.  Normally what I have done in the past is each Spring when I resume running outside, I take her initially on short distance runs for a few days and eventually work her back up to being able to run the full length with me. 

Unfortunately, when I was required to start running outside around March 15th due to Covid-19, I was too keyed up and stressed about damn near everything, so I did not actually think about getting my dog back into running again.  I started to think about this about the second week in June, feeling guilty I hadn't gotten her out on the trail with me. 

I may be overly cautious in working my dog slowly back up to running.  But, I feel safer with this to ensure that she will not get hurt.  She did wonderfully today with her mile.  She will be able to build back up pretty quickly. 

I am carrying around a pipe with me again, as a sort of pacifier, I guess.  I haven't mentioned it in a while, but I am still in that difficult mindset where the desire for having a pipe is so much more surprisingly strong that it was even a month ago.  It is a real struggle to resist, even though I know that sounds awfully damn dumb. 

PipeTobacco