Change of routine

So it's been a month (give or take) since I started my new job and switched to a morning exercise routine. And even despite the holidays it only took me about 2 weeks to get used to it.

Now I have to change it again

I'll still be getting up early and exercising in the morning. I just have to change some of the details.


Why? We got a puppy!

This is Westwood (or West for short) and we just got him on friday. He's a 6 week old 1/2 Lab, 1/4 German Shepherd, 1/8 Rottweiler, 1/8 Chow. My husband has been wanting a dog for a really long time, so he is really enjoying having this little guy around. And now our little zoo is complete - 2 cats and a dog. And no kids. Life is good! I will say that puppy training is a challenge, but we just have to keep doing it and he'll catch on eventually.

Here he decided to snooze on my purse. We took him to the 5k I ran yesterday because we didn't want to leave him alone on his first day with us. He was definitely the star of the show because he got SO much attention!!! Also he is very popular with the ladies. This outing completely wore him out. Alot of other dogs and attention from people. Plus he can't really walk too well yet, he still kind of waddles around. It took a bit of walking up/down hill to get from the parking lot to the starting line, so we ended up carrying him for most of the time. Still, we think it's important to take him places with us for 2 reasons - so he is not alone and gets used to spending time with us, and to socialize him. And I'm actually running another 5k next weekend, which is a dog race! We can't run with him just yet, but at least he can come with us and get used to other dogs - and melt people's hearts again!

So as a result of having a tiny wiggly 6 week old puppy, I have to change things up once again. I've been leaving the house around 5:30 on my running or swimming days and my husband leaves shortly after I do. The earliest one of us gets home is 3:30. That's too long for West to be in his crate at this point. So we talked about it and I've decided to do all of my weekday workouts at home. That way I can leave at 7:15. I think I've figured out my new plan

• 2-3 mile runs on weekdays. Running the entire neighborhood back and forth is 1 mile.I don't want to do any long runs here because it would just mean running back and forth a million times. But this will be good in case I want to do any interval or speed training.
• Long run on saturdays. This is kind of what I've fallen into doing anyway. This will be 4-6 miles.
• Strength training at home on weekdays. I have been a slacker in this department. With the Spartan Race coming up soon I really need to get more serious about it. It's so hard to do in the mornings - but I gotta make myself do it!
• Yoga in the morning. This might suck. I don't see myself being very flexible at 6am. But I need to do yoga, it's very good for the body.
• Sunday - off! This will give me a day to relax/do housework/do stuff with my husband and the puppy. As the weather gets nicer we'll probably be out doing stuff. I can always switch this day with saturday too.

I was reluctant to agree to staying home and running in the neighborhood. I just feel like an idiot running around it 4+ times. But I need to get over it - it's still activity, it's still a chance to get better at running. Unfortunately this does mean I can't swim. The pool isn't open on weekends and I don't have time at night. Oh well. This is all about what's best for the puppy. We want to minimize his crate time as much as possible.

We're really looking forward to be going on walks and park trips with the puppy. It'll reinforce our active lifestyle and get us outside alot more.