Oh well, it's not as though he'll read it.....
Most of my longer-distance training since October last year have been with one particular running companion, starting with 6 then 8 miles, building to the regular weekly 15-miler we do together over High Pike and Skiddaw.
That's 220+ miles together in total, so I'm getting to know his little foibles - running style, likes/ dislikes, how he comes with distance/ weather/ diet etc. I think we generally run well together.
Pace-wise, we're close over a distance, although at the start he's much quicker than I am, and copes with this by running ahead and then back again. Later on, with a few miles under our belts, he slows a bit and keeps a steady pace with me. He's very good uphill - when I'm slowing with the effort, he hardly seems to notice. He's not keen on blowy ridges, which the Skiddaw summit usually is - he tends to stay close to me, and his enthusiasm for racing off to greet other walkers gets cut back a bit - although he's always got an eye on a rucsac being opened; the chance of someone else's food is always a temptation!
A couple of times his terrain-reading ability has let him down - there's a big pool cunningly disguised as soft turf just below Skiddaw House, and he's been through it a couple of times, the first time I thought I'd be going in after him! To be fair, I would have gone straight into it myself, had he not got there first. Then between Grey Knotts and Brandreth (10 in 10), he went straight into a real peaty bog, and came out looking like an upside-down chocolate eclair!
I'm still slightly surprised by his ability to cover the distances we do together, and above all I love seeing him racing about on the hill - he's clearly in his element! I don't suppose there are many under-2s who would take it all in their stride either - I just got lucky with my choice of running companion!
Alfie the Puggle:
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