Kiwi

I have some fabulous training partners that really inspire me and make training fun. They're very motivated and dedicated athletes. But, like all of us, they're real people with real commitments. Life can get pretty crazy and sometimes running has to take a back seat to more pressing issues. I know that's sometimes the case for me. Basically what I'm getting at is that people have complicated lives and running can't always be the primary focus. However, my dog Kiwi has no such outside distractions. She is always ready to go at the drop of a hat. I was thinking about this very thing today as I was chasing Kiwi up the side of Squak Mountain. She, ever the playful one, would dash up the trail 50 yards or so, spin 180 degrees, and then rocket back toward me, repeating again and again. Kiwi, clearly in her element, had no idea that I was cursing my decision to get a little later start on my run. The plan was to run one and half times up the 3.5 mile trail to the top of Squak Central. As I parked and pulled out my gear, the skies opened up and beginning dumping rain. This on top of the already strong winds that had been gusting all morning. Basically the rain/snow mix was blasting me horizontally as I left the car, and gazing up at Squak, I thought twice about scrapping the whole thing. However, there was Kiwi, with boundless energy, ready to get things going. How could I say no? So we did it just as planned. Had I been running with another person, it would have been easy to scrap the run and grab a cup of coffee. To Kiwi a run's a run. Nothing else matters. Sometimes I think I'd like the simplicity of a dog's life.