Cinnabar’s speed versus what he sees…
Certain things inspire my dog, and certain things don’t. Can you guess what he likes?
Pooch to 5k
Running with dogs
Running after Cruciate Repair Surgery
This is a guest post by Jon who runs with his Labrador. Lars is back to gentle runs after injuring his cruciate ligament, an important ligament in the knee, or stifle, joint.
My name is Jon and I have a beautiful Black Lab named Lars who back in July of 2011, underwent a TPLO on his rear left leg. TPLO stands for tibia plateau leveling osteotomy, and is the newest surgery to be developed for dogs who present with a torn cruciate ligament. Lars tore his cruciate when sprinting around our dog park in January of 2011, but unfortunately for him, and myself it took more than five months before he was properly diagnosed.
Biskotouli – Our April Running Buddy of the Month
Biskotouli lives in Greece with his owner Lloyd Godson and his family. His most recent claim to fame is that he ran the Athens Marathon under 4 hours! This is his story.
My wife, Carolina, and I moved to Greece about 4 years ago and immediately started looking for a house and dog. On the morning that we were due to move in, Carolina spotted an advertisement for a gorgeous little puppy that needed a home. She rang the number immediately and arranged for us to meet him. It was truly love at first sight. Biskotouli was found in the mountains near Athens along with his mother who unfortunately was very sick and had to be euthanized. But her son immediately became a cherished member of our family.
I was running most days and started taking Bisko with me for company. In the beginning I was only covering short distances with him but on returning home could see he was still full of energy. We discovered he was obsessed with rocks, so we started draining his excess energy by throwing them up and down rocky cliffs, which he fetched with the agility of a mountain goat! Over time I increased the distance until eventually he was joining me on all of my training sessions, including my long runs of up to 40km. I just carried a collapsible water container and some snacks with me.
Do Dogs Get a Runner’s High?
Endorphin Rush. Runner’s High. If you’ve ever done any intensive exercise, you’d be familiar with the feeling of relaxation and well being that follows a good workout.
I’ve often thought that my dog seems to feel just as good as I do after a run, but I’ve been unable to find any scientific proof, until now.
Researchers at the University of Arizona put dogs, humans and ferrets on a treadmill, and measured the amount of endocannabinoids that were produced after exercise. Endo – produced inside the body, cannabinoids – chemicals that activate cannabinoid receptors in the brain that cause a euphoric feeling.
Ferrets aren’t a species that evolved to run, so it’s not too surprising that they didn’t show any response to running. However, both dogs and humans showed much higher levels of endocannabinoids after a session on the treadmill. This means that our dogs do indeed get that runner’s high.
Wildhorse Criterium – Race Report
This was written by Melissa Kelly, after her first trail race with her dog. Melissa is pictured on the right of this photo, with Chris.
When you think of Easter Sunday, you think of chocolate for breakfast and late sleep ins. This year, this was not to be for a large group of runners who had joined me in participating in the Wild Horse Criterium of 2012.
As I am a beginner, I took part in the 12km race, whereas others had braved 36 and even 60km, yet still had a smile on their faces as they crossed the finish line. It didn’t matter though, there was a large sense of community, and a sense of belonging, even when I had chosen my faithful four legged friend to accompany me through the trails of the Glasshouse Mountains.
Understandably, there were murmurs of doubt that this was in fact, a good idea. Would she obstruct other runners coming the opposite direction to us, would she decide to leave a few presents along the way, all these questions, I already had the answer to in my head, but I still needed to prove that she was an athlete too, and was there for the same reason.
Easy, cheap, and cold.
No, I’m not talking about my past life as a contract killer…
If you get injured, the acronym you use to remember the treatment regime is R.I.C.E.R. This stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation, and Refer. They’re all pretty obvious, maybe except for refer – it means to see a doctor if it is serious, debilitating, or fails to resolve within a day or so. Anyway, ice is sometimes inconvenient to use – it gets wet as it melts, you have to remember to fill the ice cube tray, and your children steal all of the ice cubes to make slushies when you’re not looking. Well, not any more! I’ve created the perfect ice pack to treat injuries. This ice pack doesn’t make a puddle, it doesn’t have lumps of ice, and no-one is going to steal it to make cold drinks.
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