Happy Feet, Happy Paws

My tendency, when shopping for running shoes, is to go for the cute, on sale, stylish pair.  I recently started training for my first 1/2 marathon and very quickly came to realize, the wrong kickers were hugging my tootsies!   My knees were killing me from the 10 mile run I did on Friday, I knew I couldn't do that again.  The cuteness of my shoes no longer mattered.  

Yesterday after church I went to Runners Roost and got a running analysis done.  I ran on a treadmill for 30 sec while they took a video of me running.  He then showed me the video and pointed out how my inside ankle pronated over the heel of my foot, when I landed.  He brought out three different pairs of shoes and decision was easy, after I tried them all on.  These shoes were made for my feet!  I put them on, he showed me a fancy way to lace them and then he watched me run in them again, to be sure they were the right fit!  

I never would have picked Saucony's, but now, I am in love!  In case you were wondering, that little black tab, holds my nike + chip, to track my mileage!

I broke them in last night and at the end of my run, my feet were smiling instead of cursing at me!  I had some happy feet!

So the way I think is if the bill is already going to be large then why not throw something else in the total.  It will just blend in and you won't even notice.  So I also added a new pair of running shorts to the pile! Yeah, it's a twisted way of thinking, but it works for me!!

So, you might be a little confused with title to this post.  What does that mean?  If you have been following my blog, you will remember this post, point #6 to be exact!  Well, here is how the story goes.

While training and running long distances in wooded areas, I get a little scared.  Wild animals, weird creepy people, falling and twisting my ankle and know one hearing me.  I have been borrowing a friends dog, Gracie has been so great, love her!  I seriously wanted to clone her!  So I guess selfishly, I caved a little and decided it would be good to get a dog.  

I didn't want to wait until winter to get one, not fun to train a dog in the cold.  I also didn't want to do it as a Christmas present.  I know this might sound weird but I didn't want a member of our family to be considered a gift that we opened from santa.   I wanted the dog we got to be viewed as a special new addition to our family, not a present with a bow on top of it's head.  Does that makes sense?  I guess I'm not explaining that very well, but hopefully you get the point somewhat!  Plus, it would be very hard to keep a dog a secret until Christmas morning. 

So after Runners Roost yesterday, I said something along the lines of, "we should stop by the dog rescue place... just to look!"  Erik must of thought I was crazy, but he just responded, "today?" He knew better than to start talking to much about it, I might reconsider!  So he just agreed and I called 411 to find out were one was. 

Yesterday they were having this huge dog day at the park, in town.  I mean, like hundreds of people all gathered, with their dogs.  Face painting, dog shows, doggie obstacle courses, clowns, balloons, little doggie pools, dog vendors, and all kinds of dogs up for adoption.  The lady on the phone said we had picked the right day!  

We get to the park and I am laughing, what are we doing here?  What did I say I wanted?  We had to park a good distance away, because of all the people and the whole time I am walking up to this event, shaking my head, laughing, "what are we doing!" I knew it was going to happen someday, but wow, it's all happening so fast. 

In the car, on the way, we discussed what kind of dog we might be interested in.  I said I didn't want a puppy (thinking of having a running partner for Friday's run), and I wanted a Border collie mix.  I didn't want a pure bread, but a mix with some Border collie in it!  We walked up to the first rescue adoption van we saw.  There were about five cute little puppies, in a fenced off area.  Not sure what they were, they were cute, but not the dogs for us.  I started chatting with the ladies there, while the kids oohed and ahed over the puppies in the cage.  She then said, "and we also have this little guy over here, he is a Border collie mix, and is just the sweetest thing."

I thought the little puppy she was referring to, belonged to the three teenage girls that were hovering over it.  At first glance of that little guy, I knew we would not be going home with empty arms.  He immediately stole all our hearts and we were locked in, there was no way we could leave without him!  He fit perfectly!  We did the paperwork and now, we are officially owners of the cutest little puppy ever!  We will train together, for next years 1/2 marathon!

Erik gets to pick him up today after work, he had to stay and get fixed before we could bring him home.  It's going to be one exciting night at the Wilt house!

El Cominos in our driveway and a dog by our side, we can truly say, we are mountain people and we are here to stay!

So, we had to come up with a name!  We tossed around a ton, but nothing fit.  Then I said, "I've got it, Luke!" Erik, looked at me and said, "yeah, that's it!"  We fell in love with Border Collies, because of some friends, we hold very dear to our hearts.  Luke, was the perfect name!  

Look at that cute little face!

He will not get a lack of attention in our house!

Luke has had a very sad start to his little life.  At two weeks old, he was found with his brother and sister, in a garbage bag, in an alley dumpster.  He was covered with parasites and lesions, he was in bad shape.  His foster parents nursed him back to health and gave him a second start to life.  We now get to be the loving family that adopts him!  

You will be seeing much more of this little guy!!