Getting back in shape. With a new running partner. A stranger in a car pulls over to talk to me.

Intrigued by my titles? You have to read this entire post to get it. :)

Yesterday it was time to face what I'd let myself become. Out of shape.

There's several reasons excuses as to why I've stopped running the last nine months or so.

1) It's been really cold, and I don't like cold
2) I don't want to slip on ice or maneuver around snow banks
3) Running on a treadmill is so much harder than running outside
4) I haven't had a good running partner

Let's face it, Dave's in much better shape these days and I don't want to deal with the hard time he'll give me when discovers I can't run more than two miles. And I've parted ways with other running partners. Several of whom switched jobs (including myself), so we don't have the great running paths steps from our office). One of whom I don't even talk to anymore.

And then there's Otis. I tried being running partners with him before we had Cooper, but it just didn't work out. He poops way too many times (gets too excited about running w/ me) which end up bouncing around in the bags that I have to carry the bags around, which is a gross enough reason for me to leave him at home. But there's also the fact that he doesn't have a good sense of endurance. It takes him a mile to calm down enough to actual run next to me, and then by the third mile he's too tired and falls way behind. I don't want to torture him, so we end up walking back home.

After we got Cooper, I knew that it'd be impossible to try and get a run completed with two dogs. But this week, I had an epiphany. Cooper just might be my perfect running partner. He always poops before we start walks and usually always its just the one time. He doesn't pull like Otis and is generally happy just healing on my side. He's a little husky, so he could use a little extra exercise.

So yesterday, when it was warm and sunny and I had no more excuses for not running, I grabbed Cooper and we headed outside.

And he ran on my side just like that's what he was born to do.

The one time I stopped to fix his leash (surprisingly I didn't have to stop for shortness of breath!), he looks at me with his bright blue eyes as if saying, "Come on , Mom. We're not done yet!"

As we were rounding back into our neighborhood, a stranger in the car at the stop sign pulls down her window (shouldn't that have scared me off to run home faster?!). She says to me, "Your dog is so beautiful. He looks so happy."

And that pretty much solidified the fact that Cooper is my new running partner. Anything that makes my little guy happy makes me happy!

And don't worry. I took Otis on a walk when we got home from the run.