Well, yesterday’s run went a wee bit differently than expected.

Normally when someone runs, it involves just themselves in the activity. When I run, it’s just me. Also my shoes and running clothes (don’t worry). Most of the time, running is a solo activity done by oneself. Sometimes we may run with others. Maybe we run with a friend or a group running group. Maybe we run from an axe-wielding madman. Maybe we run away from our problems in terror for what is to come. Okay, maybe that last part is just me.

For some runners though, running by oneself isn’t sufficient. There are the few, the proud, the runners with dogs. These runners know that being able to run in a straight line isn’t enough of a challenge. These runners need to be able to yank a leash to get in a forearm workout while running. These runners Need to be able to test their VO2 Max by screaming “STOP” when a squirrel runs in front of their running companion. These runners NEED…probably nothing else in life. You got a dog, life must be good!

Today, I joined the ranks.

I was drafted – in a way. Did I get a choice in the matter? Kinda yes, kinda no. What’s the back story here? Well…

Austin, Texas was seeing its recent new tradition of having a snow/ice storm each winter. This was a previous novelty in Texas which has now turned into a yearly routine. Being from the Midwest, I needed to go run in the snow. Not because I wanted too, but because my ancestry required it. How could I face my family if I was too scared to run in the snow after bragging to Texans that it wasn’t too bad? I’ll make you proud Mom.

With my fate out of my hands, it was time for the first snow run of the year. I was going out for a 5k run and my primary goal was to not slip and to not get hurt. The secondary goal was to enjoy the run only after not falling down. The third goal was to still feel my toes if I had layered correctly.

As I left my house, I slid from my front doorstep all the way down the driveway. Our neighbors have these awesome giant oak trees which means we had an ice skating rink right outside our door. I slipped a little but not too much. Goal number one still intack.

With the driveway behind me, I gingerly got into the road because the sidewalk was pretty slick too. I stuck mostly to the middle of the road where the amount of ice was the least. The worst of the ice was under all the trees which we have a plenty of in our neighborhood. I slowly got going and soon after, happily hit a mile without falling, success!

Shortly after hitting the 1.5 mile mark, I came upon a neighbor trying to catch a dog in the middle of the road. The dog was a Husky and we pretty quickly noticed that it had gotten out on accident. After knocking on several doors and looking for a collar, we were stumped. This friendly girl was happy to run around us but not get into my neighbor’s car. After calling animal control, the department said we could leave the dog there or bring it in. Oof. Having the dog run around the roads with the weather didn’t seem like the most successful idea. To be fair to animal control, they didn’t want to risk crashing with driving in this weather. The neighbor had her car idling so we decided that I would run with the Husky back to our place and go from there. Hello to my newest running buddy!

Queenie and I took off quick and she had no problem handling the ice and snow. Unfortunately for me, I was slipping and sliding like crazy trying to redirect the wild lady to follow me. Did I fall on my butt? Not yet. Did I have faith I would make it out in one piece? No. Pretty quickly, we ran into a couple issues right off the bat. Our first problem…

No leash.

Oof-da. This dog was fast. Florence Griffith Joyner level speed. Since I did not have a leash, I would need to avoid all the other dogs out and about. Although Queenie was friendly with me, I had no idea how she would interact with others. I determined that we would be taking lots of different routes on the way back to my place as well as stopping at a lot of intersections. Pretty much every time we came upon a four-way stop, I called her over for pets until we could determine there were no cars. Once we were in the clear, it was off to a fast pace again for Queenie. I silently moaned about the pain in my calves as I huffed after her at sub 7 minute pace.

She and I continued running together the mile plus distance back to the house. She definitely was the Alpha in our relationship and enjoyed leading the way. Fortunately, she wanted to keep checking on me and staying somewhat close. She probably felt the pain I was in with that fast pace. We were an unofficial pack. Unfortunately, she had no idea the way to the house. I’d have to call her back to me at each intersection to check for cars and then point the new way. It seemed that as long as she got to keep running, she wasn’t complaining.

After about 10 minutes of stop-start sprinting, we made it back to our house! Wooohoooo for that victory. Janel opened the fence to our backyard and Queenie followed me quickly in. We rapidly shut the gate then tried to determine the game plan. Queenie explored the yard while we got some water out and began taking more photos. She seemed pretty happy to pose as long as I stayed near her. I suppose I was pack.

Our run concluded, we covered about 1.4 miles together which was just below 7:30 minute per mile pace. Pretty good! Made sense that I got tired out and she was happy to chug some water after too. Our pack did well on the day.

Long story short, we were able to find her owner after a social media blast. We didn’t use my blog because I think all of the readers are either from the UK, Ireland, or different states. The owner reported that Queenie had gotten out through under the fence and after a few hours with us, it was time to go back. She made it almost a mile from her house before I initially found her and another 1.4 miles with me so it was a pretty big running day for her. She probably got in a sub 15 minute 5k with running back and forth between me and bushes. Janel and I gave her a couple good scratches as a goodbye and we went back to being solely cat owners. From our two cats’ experiences, Figgy, the little one, enjoyed Queenie’s presence. Let’s just say our other cat, Cowboy, did not have a fun time. Some people are dog people, and Cowboy is not. Luckily, it was short lived for the cats to share their space.

Overall, it was a fun little run and it certainly made me think of a few things to have prepared if one was to run with a dog. So here are a few tips of advice from a non-dog-owner runner on how to run with a dog.

1. Use a leash
   • I may have gotten a dirty look from one neighbor with Queenie running around pretty willy nilly. It definitely would have improved our risk exposure during our run together.
2. Bring treats
   • Treats are certainly a good way to reward the good behavior. Stopping at intersections, running around other dogs, etc. Many good things to teach rather than just yanking on a leash and hoping that works by itself.
3. Plan water breaks
   • Just like us, dogs get thirsty. We have a better chance of monitoring our fluids through our sweat but dogs do not. Make sure to have water after the run and it’s not a bad idea to stop by some water sources during it.

If you are looking for more tips, best to find an actual dog owner who runs! Or at least a local expert on what tips may actually help rather than the ones that come from a cat owner…

Anyways, hope you had a great week of running and for those who have a running companion, I’d love to hear about your furry friend. Happy running!