September 12athon: Happy Birthday to me! (AA)

So, today's my birthday; my thir--er, my twenty-ninth birthday. Yeah. Twenty-nine. Twenty-nine and two halves, I guess. Anyway, not that I really needed help after the Hoofin' & Woofin', but to maximize my points today, I did both the Birthday Party and Sunrise/Sunset. (Also it helped that I didn't have to do 12 miles at once.)

Yesterday evening I went to the Party Store, and got three balloons (teal, purple, and silver, and really, they mean nothing except I like those colors). It was only three because the mylar Avengers balloon was about $4 and I thought that was an inefficient allocation of resources. Also, they had a giant section of Iron Man party stuff, but Iron Man party hats don't exist--apparently you're supposed to wear a mask instead. I was not okay with that. They also didn't have Iron Man blowout party favor things, so I ended up with Batman. Oh well. I got a hat and a pin that says, "30 Rocks!"

Then this morning I got up at moderately-stupid o'clock, being that sunrise was 6:48:

You may not be able to read it, but the stove clock behind me says 6:42. So does the time-stamp on the picture. I didn't bother to wake Mr. Angle up--he had today off--and off I went! 6 miles in about 1:16:

Then I came home, showered, and did most of nothing all day. I'm okay with that.

Sunset was 7:31 P.M., and I got a picture before I left. Well, multiple pictures: One with me in all of my getup, and then one of the 'cake.' It's a cupcake. I scarfed it down while I was waiting for my watch to pick up the satellites, which was obviously at mile 6 (and therefore between 4 and 8):

And, uh, here's everything, including a 12athon shirt:

And here's my time: two minutes faster!

I can't really prove it's my birthday except via Facebook, but it really is. My mother will swear to it.

Anyway! Now I am enjoying a beer. It's great. I hope your birthday is just as awesome.

3^2=12?

Happy 12th, everyone! (And happy birthday to the Avenging Angle!) Three square runs (well, okay; a run, a walk, and one that was a bit of both) for me, with the 'lunch' and 'dinner' bits as my commute to teaching at the School of Fine Arts. (Adjunct Music Faculty = I only have to be there for an hour or two a week.)

(No RUI as I'm fairly certain carrying a beer around a high school is frowned upon, but I'm making up for that now. If you live in the southeast, you should go find an Atlanta Brewing Company porter. Mmm, beer.)

Hoofin' & Woofin', Part 2 (AA)

Ho boy. Long day. But I got in my last six miles of dog-walking!

Again, these were all from Homeward Bound Dog Rescue, based in the Twin Cities Metro Area. Once a week, on Saturday afternoons, they have an Adoption Event at a local pet store, usually a Petco or a Petsmart, in various suburbs. They're nice enough to let me borrow the dogs and walk them. Next week's event is in Maplewood, and based on the fact that five out of the seven dogs from last time were still there, I'd bet that a lot of these lovely individuals will still be available next week.

Here's who we had today:

1. Gaborik: A yellow lab, he's still a puppy (although the website says he's 3), and occasionally makes noise, but he has a lot of energy and does pretty well on a run. Here's a picture of him with Titan:

2. Brucella: HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE THAT FACE. She's about a year old, a boxer mix, brindle coat, and absolutely adorable. She's not great on the leash, but someone with a bit of patience could ABSOLUTELY train her to be the perfect running companion. Brucella may pop up with a video in a couple days that will have my legs in it, hah.

3. Angel (no profile): I have no idea what Angel is, other than 'a dog.' She's smallish, maybe knee-high to me (I'm five-three/160cm), but honestly, she was an EXCELLENT running companion. She's also about four, so she's old enough to have settled down, and I'd recommend her to anyone. She apparently also loves being on people's laps.

4. Lilly: Oh, Lilly. She's four months old, half lab, half Great Dane (I think), and the only thing that could possibly be putting people off of adopting her is the fact that she's probably (with those parents) going to turn into a horse. She's very sweet, very good on the leash. She was happy to trot with me but I couldn't get her to run flat-out; she was probably tired, but a full-sized Lilly-trot would probably be fast enough for anyone.

5. Peanut: Same guy as last time, but I have a slightly better picture. He's kind of getting thin. I think he needs a forever home, people. He's an Italian Greyhound mix, very good at running, very cute. Not great at staying quiet, but I'm sure that could be worked on.

6. Sysko: Oh, Sysko. You're still an Aussie, you're still possessed of a ton of energy, and you're still extremely furry. But I love you anyway.

And, as a bonus, although I didn't get to walk him, Lochte, the Great Pyrenees puppy:

He's gonna get big, too.

Oh, and mileage:

OK, I'm going to eat and sleep now.

Hoofin' & Woofin': AA, Part 1

So, I'm halfway through a Hoofin' and Woofin' challenge--12 miles of walking shelter dogs--and I'm going to finish this afternoon at another adoption event, so I thought I'd post pictures of the previous event, such that anyone who wanted to see the dogs would actually be able to do so in a useful timeframe. Here are the seven I walked last time (actually, I walked Peanut twice but he only gets one picture) and links to their profiles on Homeward Bound Minnesota's page. I apologize for some terrible pictures; I'm an awful photographer. But they're all adorable! I promise! 1. Peanut (no profile): A tiny Italian greyhound mix, he's about 2, has a LOT of energy, is more than willing to talk to you, and would be a GREAT running companion, even on longer runs. A mile and a half was no big deal for him.

2. Hunter: A Chihuahua-Italian greyhound mix, in a lot of ways he was just like Peanut, but quieter. Also great for runs.

3. Boone (no profile): A mix of Australian cattle dog and something small, I really only have a crappy picture of him, but he was smart, VERY smart, and for someone who wanted to train a dog for agility courses, I'd recommend him. He was in the 3-4-year-old range and liked to run, too.

4. Titan: An older dog, mix of Lhasa Apso and Shih Tsu, I'm not going to lie: he wore me out. It was probably that I'd walked four dogs by this point (Peanut twice), but he still definitely wanted to run, despite his age. I don't think he'd be a fan of daily 20-milers but he was very sweet and certainly enjoyed being active, at least briefly.

5. Soda Pop (no profile): A beagle mix, Soda Pop is about five, and don't let the stubby little legs fool you: buddy wanted to go faster than I did. Super sweet, super cute, and I think he was one of the few who had actually been leash-trained.

6. Chloe: Chloe's about six but acts like she's about one. She's a big retriever mix (someone was a black lab in there) and she loves tennis balls like they're her job. She really, really likes to run and play catch, but she's a heck of an investment for someone my size. If, however, you love being walked by your dog (as opposed to the opposite), I recommend her whole-heartedly because she's very, very sweet! I didn't get a picture of her because my phone was not having a good day but if I see her today (I hope I don't, but still), I'll get one. 7. Sysko: An Aussie mix, and about seven, Sysko was also the kind of dog who walks you. He probably was a tad stronger than Chloe, and VERY happy about getting to go for a run. He didn't do the usual Aussie herding thing, though, which, I'm not going to lie, actually made me happy because it's difficult to walk a dog who wants to herd you.

Here's my distance walked/run thingy:

I'll post the second-half dogs to FB and then update with a post here!