Running With Our Obese Poodle Named Aunt Jackie

There is a fever spreading at our house. And the only prescription is more cowbell. (Name that reference.) Actually it's a running fever. Family members are getting dirty and heading out on the trail with me. It's catching on! (And by "catching on" I mean that it's happened once. But I think it's going to happen more.)

Last week Mel and Jackson joined me for a fun jaunt around the Gould's Rim Trail.

The conversation started the same as many others. "I'm going to go out for a little run." Then I said to Mel "Do you want to come?" Then hesitation. She was thinking about it! So then I started my political lobbying. "Come on, it will be fun! I'll sing you Neil Diamond songs while we run! Because seriously, who doesn't love some 'Forever In Blue Jeans'?" But the convincing statement was "We can bring Aunt Jackie." Mel will do anything as long as it involves our over sized black cotton ball dog Aunt Jackie. And Aunt Jackie will do anything that involves being outside.

Next on the agenda: ask Jackson if he wanted to come. Again, a little hesitation. But then he agreed.

And so off we ran. Me. My wife. My kid. And a big, over sized black cotton ball.

I actually planned to take them to a different trail but it was closed for a bike race. Gould's Rim was nearby and the trail is pretty runable so it was a perfect alternative.

It didn't hurt that Gould's Rim is beautiful.

Here is the really crazy thing - 98% of runners in my area have no idea that awesome trails like this are about six minutes away from home. That six minute drive is just about the best thing you could do all day.

It's unfortunate that Aunt Jackie clearly wasn't having any fun.

We had a lot of fun together. I tried to make sure the pace wasn't crazy and that a large amount of fun would happen in hopes of getting them back out on the trail with me again soon.

At the end there is a little ramp you have to cross over to get back to the parking area. Aunt Jackie wants nothing to do with that nonsense and I eventually have to give in and pick him up to carry him across. That dog is notorious for stealing food off our counters so he is really heavy. Aunt Jackie needs to lay off the cupcakes.