Yesterday I let Bandit out. I don’t always watch him, but usually I do because I like to know when he’s done something. Good thing I did — he stopped to sniff this little guy, but obediently left him alone when I told him to.
I went outside to check him out. He seemed to be breathing very fast, even though I know birds do breathe fast. He wasn’t moving, but I know birds can also play possum, having had cats bring them in the house in the past.
I closed the door to the kennel (Bandit can still get at some grass that way), hoping that he would recover from whatever and fly away. I checked on him later, but not up close — his breathing seemed to have slowed down, but he was still there. Eventually . . . no breathing.
We don’t know what happened to the poor little guy; he didn’t seem hurt and was nowhere near any possible decks. My guess is he was just sick. I was so sad though. Mr. Judy buried him.
I’m joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and pondering my options.
Workouts update
- Monday: Yoga AM (60 min), Dogwalk (rest day)
- Tuesday: Yoga AM (40 min), 7 mile LSD, Yoga PM (20 min)
- Wednesday: Yoga AM (30 min), PB Walking with Weights (25 minutes)
- Thursday: Yoga (20 minutes), 3 miles with 7 x 100m hill repeats, Dogwalk, PM Yoga (20 minutes)
- Friday: Yoga (30 min), Dogwalk (usually I’d call this a rest day, but it was busy with many chores, including giving Bandit a bath)
- Saturday: Yoga (40 min), 3 miles easy, Dogwalk, PB ST
- Sunday: Yoga (60 min), Drive to moms, maybe a short hike?
Running Mileage: 13 (NC)
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
Running Update
Tuesday Intention: go long
I know a lot of readers will not think 7 miles is very long. I also have plenty of runner friends who do wonder how I can run that far! Normally I wouldn’t have my long runs separated by just one day, but I wanted to make sure to get in that long run this week and the day looked good, being cloudy, cooler, and not much wind.
A long run is supposedly anything 90 minutes or longer — I just squeaked in there. Yes, I took it slow, except for one middle mile where I did a fartlek. Otherwise it was pretty consistent with the last mile being the slowest mile. My Garmin wasn’t super happy with me, pointing out I didn’t get enough rest on Tuesday — I thought I did, but my Garmin disagreed.
Very happy to wake up the next morning feeling pretty normal.
Thursay Intention: get strong
It was actually a beautiful morning, if a bit windy — but not the insane wind we’ve been having. I set out for 3 easy miles, with hill repeats in the middle mile. This time I walked down after the first repeat, then ran up & ran slowly down, then ran up and walked down, and so forth. I don’t know why but the first mile was very slow — it didn’t feel hard, so I was surprised when I saw that afterwards. The last mile was the fastest. Weird run!
Saturday Intention: take it easy
I felt kind of meh on Friday. Originally I thought I’d do strides this run — and go 4 miles, but I decided it was time for a true easy run. It was cool and the wind was picking back up again, but not too bad. My Garmin liked this run (negative splits) and added a point to my V02 Max. It also dropped the time back one hour — and then about an hour later it was the correct time again. So weird!
Favorites of the week
Not a whole lot going on this week either. We alternated between nice weather and rain, but at least I collected a lot of rainwater for the indoor plants — actually, that’s all used up already!
Happy mother’s day to all the mamas out there!
ICYMI: Release the hips and low back deeply while exploring one of the Niyamas. Join me here. I’m also sharing a quick tutorial on fish pose, which is the perfect counter posture to all the forward bends in the previous practice. Watch the tutorial here.
Coming up on Tuesday & Friday: Tuesday I’m sharing a few of my favorite ways to explore new places. On Friday I share some tips about how to choose my favorite ways to explore new places.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Well, I guess dogs will be dogs. We don’t let Scooby run free much because he tears up our yard. I know he’s chased down of few chipmunks, but I don’t think he’s caught any — well, maybe once.
I hadn’t heard that long run “definition” before. I think mine would be anything longer than an hour. 😉
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Bandit didn’t catch the bird, he was just there — & he listened when I told him to leave it.
He goes out sometimes by himself. I usually watch him but sometimes I don’t. Glad I did this time!
He did get those baby rabbits a few years back. 😦
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I got used to dead animals since I own cats but our cats now do not seem interested. weird.
Congrats on successfully increasing your mileage.
Agreed on the rainy week but I was able to time my runs just right. And yesterday was prefect racing weather again!
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We had so many dead — and alive animals in the house with cats. You’ve been very lucky with your race weather so far! But next weekend might be different if you’re racing. Although I guess you’ll be in FL? Then definitely different.
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I’ll be in Florida. It’s way too early to predict. But I know it will be hot and humid. Looking forward to beach time and the ocean.
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I know that around here at least, the bird flu is killing a lot of birds. So much so that they’ve put out advisories not to put seed in the bird feeders. So maybe that’s what that poor little guy had?
It looks like you’ve had some nice runs lately!
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That occurred to me, the bird flu. Which is why I didn’t want Bandit going near him & warned Mr. Judy to put on gloves before handling the poor little guy.
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Yeah, I know that feeling- “is seven miles a long run?” It all depends on your perspective. I’m keeping my regular weekdays runs short right now, so seven feels long to me!
That poor little bird. Things like that make me really sad. Nice of Mr. Judy to bury him.
I’ve been disagreeing with my Garmin a lot lately too! I would love to know who programs these things.
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The bird made me very sad. I felt badly I couldn’t just sit with him but I think that would have just scared him more. 😦
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So sad about the little bird.
I’ve always felt like anything over an hour is a long run but I guess it can be subjective. Now that I”m not training for multiple half marathons in a year I’ve cut back my long runs and haven’t gone more than 5 miles in a while. It’s all good.
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I’m not training for anything either & don’t know that I plan to go over 7 miles, but I’m also only running 3 X week so I wanted to get a bit more mileage in. The weather’s been conducive to running longer — probably not so much for you!
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Long is all relative! And personal. Be proud of the 7 miles!
Oh, that poor bird. Those things affect me, even though they shouldn’t….glad your husband buried him.
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I think it’s ok to be effected by the wildlife deaths — it may be the circle of life, but it’s still sad.
I was just happy to feel good the day after 7 miles. 🙂
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Could the bird have flown into a window and landed on the deck? We have that happen occasionally – sometimes they make it and sometimes they don’t. 😦 The woodpecker in your other photo looks like a really big guy!
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My husband suggested that maybe the bird flew into a window — and that does happen, since we have sliding glass doors & a large bay window — but there’s just no way, he was too far away from any window. My guess is he was sick, but we’ll never know.
I think the woodpecker was about normal size — at least of the ones I’ve seen in the neighborhood. He kept playing peek-a-boo, LOL!
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I’d say 7 miles is a long run especially if it is longer than your normal run. Nice job sounds like it went well. Poor little bird. That was really nice of you all to bury him. Hope your mom had a nice mother’s day
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We have a lot of little birds/chipmunks/moles buried around here . . ..
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I would be very sad to discover a little bird like that, too. Heck, I hate seeing road kill, no matter the animal. For me, I consider anything over eight miles a long run…because nine miles is almost double digits, LOL
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I always try to say a little pray for roadkill. That’s even sadder!
It has literally been years since I’ve run double digits & I have no intention of doing so any time soon!
We’ll see whether or not we decide to add another state this year.
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Awwe, I feel so bad for the bird – poor little fella 😦
I would say 7 miles is a long run – heck at this point 5 miles would be a long run for me, lol.
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It was just a few weeks ago that my long runs were 5 miles too. Heck, at the beginning of the year they were 3. 🙂
Running is running!
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7 miles is plenty long to me! Nice work. Like Wendy said, there’s bird flu around here and it’s very sad. Poor little guy. I hate to see them struggle.
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I was sad I couldn’t just be there with him but I think it would’ve scared him more.
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