Month: October 2014

You, Me & a Dog Named Boo

/ Marcy / Leave a comment

We all survived Boo’s first vacation. It was a little stressful, very busy and a lot of fun.

Family Selfie!

Family Selfie!

We hit the road around 8:30 a.m. after a stop at Einstein’s for breakfast (they have puppy bagels!) Boo broke hers into several pieces and then tried to bury them in the blanket we had for her. :-/  The dog that we (I) assumed would sit and even nap in the back after we got on the highway stood there for 3.5 hours. She eventually got so tired that she put her head on Brian’s arm but continued to stand and would not close her eyes. When she slammed herself into the door we decided maybe we should try a potty break. That, apparently, wasn’t the issue. I decided to try sitting in the back the rest of the way to get her to relax.

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She did lay down but only after I took her harness off. We spent the last 2 hours watching from the back seat.

 

When we got to our room she made herself right at home and was already thoroughly exhausted from being up ALL day, something this pup does not do. We put the harness back on and headed to the Island Dog for lunch, unfortunately a few tables down from a standard poodle that Boo had a hard time keeping her eyes off of.

Boo is a great dog. She is sweet and fun and loving but she’s also high energy, and one thing we learned about Boo on vacation is that if she sees a dog that she can’t say “hello” too, she barks and causes a scene, and generally looks like a rabid maniac. This can startle people who are not used to her bizarre ways, which is everyone in Key West.

After a bacon-wrapped hot dog and a few Dark & Stormy’s we headed to the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon, another dog friendly bar. We grabbed a cocktail and she laid on the cool stones and watched the band set up. When they started playing she perked up, then started barking. Check please! Next stop Captain Tony’s.

Our intention was to take her to dinner that first night since it was a new place and we worried she would be nervous and bark at strange noises but it became very clear that she had no desire to go out, bed was calling her name. I dragged Brian out for a fancy dinner at Bagatelle while she crashed.

The change in schedule and environment left Boo barely eating or pooping, which was slightly concerning. I knew she’d eat if she was hungry, and of course I was giving her snacks along the way. We had breakfast at Schooner’s Wharf and I ordered her some scrambled eggs and the server accidentally dropped a basket of bacon on Boo’s head so she had a great breakfast! Who wants kibble? My biggest fear was that she would stop and take a dump in the middle of Duval. Every time we hit a patch of grass I would pace there asking her if she had to go. Nope.

We spent most of the weekend at places we knew she could go. Cocktails at Captain Tony’s, lunch at Smokin’ Tuna, more cocktails at Island Dog, happy hour at Schooner’s Wharf (where they gave her more bacon) and a relaxing lunch at the Hog’s Breath.

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Boo post-bacon at Schooner’s Wharf

Relaxing at the Hog's Breath watching the chicken's, which she could care less about.

Relaxing at the Hog’s Breath watching the chickens.

It was definitely a different trip than we usually take but it was really nice to have her there. She was so happy to be with us and she made a lot of friends. A lot of people were happy to see a pup out and about, including a bachelorette party in town on a cruise ship. There were so happy (and drunk) that they sat in the street with her while others were showing us pictures of there dogs on their phones. I wish I was able to get a pic of that.

I would take her again but for a shorter amount of time or place not as busy. We were ALL exhausted when we got home.

Holy Humidity

/ Marcy / Leave a comment

Well, it didn’t go as planned. I knew the humidity would throw me off but I didn’t know that I would freak myself out to the point that I didn’t know if I could do it all.

We got to Key West Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a day of drinks in the sun with the dog. Despite every effort to hydrate between cocktails I woke up Friday with a killer headache and cramped calves from walking around in flip flops all day. It was bad: blurred vision, nausea, the works. I forced down some breakfast, some ibuprofen and a nap and woke up felling 100% better. But as the day went on I started to panic. I was still dehydrated. My heart was racing, a combo of nerves, which were getting worse, dehydration, and heat. It was supposed to be in the mid to high 80s but the “feels like” temp was 95-100. We were sweating. And the humidity was at least 90%.  I spent the rest of the day guzzling water and hydration drinks. Thank you Nuun for pulling me through! I was ready. We went to dinner, had a glass of sangria and called it an early night.

I went to bed feeling calm, relaxed, and ready to take on this race. I then proceeded to wake up every 2 hours until 5 a.m., heart racing, sweating, stomach cramps and a dream that we were so late to the race and were running so hard to get there that we ended up crawling to the start line. I remember thinking, how am I even going to run the race if I’m crawling to get there?! I woke up out of breath and nearly sick to my stomach.

I forced down some coffee, water, and half a Clif bar and walked to the race. I nearly cried leaving Brian and Boo behind to get in line. For the first mile I wasn’t sure if I would cry, throw up or both. By 1.5 my right calf was in knots going over a “hill” (more like a mound but felt like a hill!) and I thought about walking it or just calling it quits.

Mile 3, I passed the Southernmost Point. People were stopping to take pictures and I wish I did. It was the first time there wasn’t a line. It was the symbol for the race but I just wasn’t having fun and that makes me sad.

Mile 4 and I was more than halfway there. Walking a bit more than my scheduled intervals but it was just so hot, so much sweating. My calf cramps were finally gone but now the sun was coming up. Shit.

I got to mile 6 and sprinted the last .2, of course stuck behind two guys who stopped when they hit the finish line and I thought I was going to barrel into them. I made it. A few minutes slower than I had hoped. I definitely could have pushed myself a little harder at the end I regret that. I was so negative this race and it messed me up. Lessons for the next one. 4 weeks till the St. Augustine Half. Ugh.

10609700_10205279732661391_3756196355593957720_nThings to change for St. Augustine:

  • I need a new breakfast. The Clif bar that worked for the first half isn’t working now. It was like peanut butter lead and I couldn’t get it down. I think I’ll bring a peanut butter sandwich with me.
  • Be positive! This is sooooo important. I am my own worst critic and it nearly killed me.
  • Get hydration bottles. I need to have my own to keep me going. I found some clip on bottles to fit my new belt.
  • Caffeine. I need to find the Clif bloks with caffeine and get the nuun with caffeine. Every little boost helps.

 

Coming Soon….Key West with Boo