Taking summer off means I can do a little more running. Especially with friends, it beats running on your own.
Summer track season has started and I've run a 5000 metres and a 1500 metres and also done three walks - 2 x 2000 metres and one 3000. Crazy event but someone has to do it.
Numbers competing have dropped off a little, some find it a bit daunting running on the track, compared to running cross country. Understandable I guess. Especially in the heat.
Early yesterday morning, I had a beach run with a couple of guys from the running group. They're training for some Special Operations Group trial which involves army-style running in difficult conditions. So we're running down the beach - but not on the hard sand, on the soft sand. Man that is difficult.
The regular group's Thursday night session was hills - eight sprints up a medium hill of about 300 metres. I was dead beat last night but I certainly enjoyed my dinner.
11/26/2004
11/25/2004
The Christmas Party.
Seymour on a deceptively hot day.
Blue went back to the kennels awaiting his new owner. Melanie said she had been unable to contact her in the last few days. I hope she hasn't had a change of heart. I'd be worried about Blue. Bit worried about him anyway. Couldn't get him near shops and he still shied at just about everything. He'll need the right kind of home and the right kind of owners.
Blue went into the kennel and out bounced Clyde. Melanie told me Clyde already had an adoptive family but still needs to go through the program. He's a bouncy blue-fawn boy, very big, too big to be a champion as they can't get round the turns. Good in a straight line though.
We ate our picnic under the gumtrees, there was a parade of greyhounds in fancy dress, a prize draw in which we won a silvery grey greyhound coat - very nice - and in the off-leash paddock, the 'hounds all tore around like mad.
Clyde enjoyed the trip home. With his new friend Goldie. She's thinking 'What's with all these greyhounds?' no doubt.
Blue went back to the kennels awaiting his new owner. Melanie said she had been unable to contact her in the last few days. I hope she hasn't had a change of heart. I'd be worried about Blue. Bit worried about him anyway. Couldn't get him near shops and he still shied at just about everything. He'll need the right kind of home and the right kind of owners.
Blue went into the kennel and out bounced Clyde. Melanie told me Clyde already had an adoptive family but still needs to go through the program. He's a bouncy blue-fawn boy, very big, too big to be a champion as they can't get round the turns. Good in a straight line though.
We ate our picnic under the gumtrees, there was a parade of greyhounds in fancy dress, a prize draw in which we won a silvery grey greyhound coat - very nice - and in the off-leash paddock, the 'hounds all tore around like mad.
Clyde enjoyed the trip home. With his new friend Goldie. She's thinking 'What's with all these greyhounds?' no doubt.
11/18/2004
Blue's new home.
Melanie called to tell me that they (Greyhound Adoption Program) have found a forever home for Blueboy. Great news.
We'll be handing him over at the premier greyhound adoption event for the year - the Greyhound Christmas Party at Seymour on Sunday. We'll pack a picnic and hope for fine weather.
Ever wondered what it is like to be among a hundred or so greyhounds and assorted other dogs, all tearing around off leash? Come to the Greyhound Christmas Party and you'll find out.
I think it was the highlight of my year last year. Our Billy enjoyed it immensely, even though we think he was already starting to suffer, as he just didn't want to run, God rest his doggie soul.
We'll be handing him over at the premier greyhound adoption event for the year - the Greyhound Christmas Party at Seymour on Sunday. We'll pack a picnic and hope for fine weather.
Ever wondered what it is like to be among a hundred or so greyhounds and assorted other dogs, all tearing around off leash? Come to the Greyhound Christmas Party and you'll find out.
I think it was the highlight of my year last year. Our Billy enjoyed it immensely, even though we think he was already starting to suffer, as he just didn't want to run, God rest his doggie soul.
11/09/2004
Blueboy stops in his tracks.
I've been fostering Blue, the greyhound, for two weeks and he was extremely timid to start with.
He would stop dead if he saw someone ahead, even walking away from us.
Gradually he got better, but today he seems to have regressed. Yesterday he saw some people crossing the road ahead of us, then someone flashed by on a bike and then the garbage truck came around the corner.
He dug his heels in and wouldn't move. I had to pat him and reassure him everything was OK and that garbage trucks don't hurt you, they just stink a bit!
Coaxed him home like that (Goldie the Brittany was with me as well, nothing fazes her). Then he forgot how to climb steps. I had to place his feet on them in turn, slowly up the five steps, just like the first day I had him.
He was actually at his best last weekend at the beach, where we went for a six kilometre walk - six humans and four dogs. He loved it and didn't shy at anything. Must be safety in numbers or something.
He's a good dog. Just a bit frightened. He'll improve.
He would stop dead if he saw someone ahead, even walking away from us.
Gradually he got better, but today he seems to have regressed. Yesterday he saw some people crossing the road ahead of us, then someone flashed by on a bike and then the garbage truck came around the corner.
He dug his heels in and wouldn't move. I had to pat him and reassure him everything was OK and that garbage trucks don't hurt you, they just stink a bit!
Coaxed him home like that (Goldie the Brittany was with me as well, nothing fazes her). Then he forgot how to climb steps. I had to place his feet on them in turn, slowly up the five steps, just like the first day I had him.
He was actually at his best last weekend at the beach, where we went for a six kilometre walk - six humans and four dogs. He loved it and didn't shy at anything. Must be safety in numbers or something.
He's a good dog. Just a bit frightened. He'll improve.
11/08/2004
Tragedy at Merri Creek.
I regularly run along Merri Creek, a pleasant meandering waterway through country-like surroundings to the north of Melbourne. I also walk the dogs, they go crazy with all the rabbits. We took a walk on Thursday in between the incessant showers.
By Friday the rain was even heavier, the creek had risen, and an elderly woman from my parish was tragically drowned trying to cross it. There is a low footbridge - which has no handrail - connecting Fawkner on one side of the creek to Reservoir on the other. There's no way she would have drowned had there been a handrail. The water wasn't deep enough to sweep her away if she'd been holding onto something, she probably just took off her shoes in order not to get them wet and then lost her balance on the slippery wood.
By Friday the rain was even heavier, the creek had risen, and an elderly woman from my parish was tragically drowned trying to cross it. There is a low footbridge - which has no handrail - connecting Fawkner on one side of the creek to Reservoir on the other. There's no way she would have drowned had there been a handrail. The water wasn't deep enough to sweep her away if she'd been holding onto something, she probably just took off her shoes in order not to get them wet and then lost her balance on the slippery wood.
11/05/2004
Here's to you, Charlie Brown.
Australia's top dog is Charlie Brown, a beagle who was once an unruly family dog. Now he's a quarantine specialist who sniffs out prohibited imports.
Now there's a job I'd like (the handler, not the dog). I might call the quarantine service and see if they need any handlers. Time for a career change!
Now there's a job I'd like (the handler, not the dog). I might call the quarantine service and see if they need any handlers. Time for a career change!
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