CaniX

Nethy and I went to our 2nd CaniX session at Vogrie country park today. Honestly I didn't think we'd make it as Ruby was sick last night and I ended up sleeping in her bed so I woke up feeling a bit stiff!
When I peeked out the curtains to see what the weather was doing I knew I had to go. The sun was shining and there was a glittery covering of frost :)

I'd set my gear out last night so after a quick breakfast we set off. It only takes 25 minutes to get to Vogrie and I was the first to arrive. I was worried no-one would turn up, despite there being messages to the contrary on FB. Soon Ali arrived with the lovely Jasper and then a steady flow of other CaniXers appeared. At least we'd have some company.

It takes a wee while for everyone to say hello and for gear to be handed out, but that's part of the fun of running with a group like this. It was damn cold though so I was pretty happy when we headed off onto the trails. I ended up behind the 3 fastest runners and Nethy was really pulling so things got off to a much faster start than I'm used to. I had to pull Neth back eventually as I though something was going to pop in my legs! I decided that as it's only a short circuit of around 5 or 6k I'd just work as hard as I could. No point in getting up early, driving for half an hour and then running that distance at my usual slow pace. This session is more about getting Nethy used to running in a pack, something she was born to do, and getting me used to running out of my comfort zone. It certainly did that!

I was feeling fine, and staying behind the front runners until the hills started. Nethy was a trooper and really pulled me up them but I'm very conscious that her back end is full of metal from her accident and I don't want her to get hurt because of my fat ass, so I made sure I took some of the strain off her line and let her know it was ok to slow down. I did manage to run up all the hills except the last one, so I was pretty pleased.

By the time we got near the car park at the end of the run I felt exhausted and my legs were full of lactic acid! That's good I told myself, it means I worked hard. There's a lot of hanging about at the finish, some people were talking about another lap but to be honest I had tired myself out and obvioulsy everyone else felt the same as no-one headed out for a second go. Instead we stood and chatted in the glorious winter sunshine while the dogs got to know each other. A great way to start the weekend....