Our Favorite Spot

Brooklyn turned a year-and-a-half on Friday. If you’ve been following Brooklyn’s running journey, then you know that a year-and-a-half is a big milestone! This is when her growth plates supposedly close, making it safe to run her longer distances without injuring her bones or stunting her growth. In short, that's when she formally becomes my running partner. (I know, I know, I've cheated with short distances the last two months.)

Friday we went all out. We went back to our favorite running spot, White Rock Lake Trail! It is 9-11 miles (depending on if you take the cycling roads or running trail) around the lake. I decided we would do a mixture of walking and running and tackle the whole thing. This would have been a challenge in and of itself, but 1.35 miles in I discovered that my car key had detached from my keyless entry (which I was still holding tightly). Retracing our steps led to us adding about two miles to our route. But I found it! Instead of panicking, I decided just to enjoy the gorgeous scenery and go back over our steps.

After the slight detour, we continued our route around the lake. There are plenty of water stations, so we were sure to stay hydrated. Since dogs can’t sweat to cool off their bodies, I sprayed Brooklyn with a spicket more than once. I also found a fishing spot that had easy lake access, so I let her cool down in the water.

I can’t tell you our exact mileage, though I believe it to be around twelve miles. I do know for a fact that Brooklyn and I ran our first 10K together! I was afraid to push her past that, so we walked the remainder of the trail.

Here are some snapshots from our time!