I’m linking up again this week with Debbie for her Wednesday Word link up! This week, we’re talking about friendship.

I’ve always said the best way to get to know a person is to go for a run with him or her. For some reason, running breaks down most social barriers and you can talk freely about almost anything. I think it’s a combination of the exhaustive nature of running and the fact that you can say what’s on your mind without having to look someone in the eye. I’ve gotten to know someone better in a 60 minute run than some people that I’ve known for years. You can quickly bond with someone when you both share a love of running, and as a result a strong friendship can form.

I have a friend named Kim who I have been running with for the past four years. I often refer to her as my “running buddy” but like most running buddies, she’s more than that.

Kim and I usually meet up on the weekend, which means our runs are more often than not long runs. Sometimes we run silently side by side. However, it is more common for our long run to turn into a social hour… or two. We have talked about everything from silly life anecdotes and jokes we recently heard to the more serious things in life. I don’t think there’s a topic under the sun we haven’t talked about while on a run.

We’re there for each other to work through the thick and thin tribulations of life, and the thick and thin tribulations of a long run. We have pushed each other and helped keep each other going when one or the other was having a bad day. I have had many long runs where I just focused on whatever Kim was talking about instead of the run itself, just to keep going. We’ve both done that for each other, and it really helps to be able to focus on the conversation instead of how tired you are.

In addition to helping you keep going, a running buddy also keeps you accountable. It’s not easy to get up before the sun on your day off, just to head out for a run. Especially when the weather isn’t favorable. Kim and I have run together in all types of weather. We have run in freezing rain, wind so strong it knocks you off your feet, and several inches of snow. We have also run in weather so humid you could cut the air with a knife. There have been many times I would have been tempted to bag a run, had it not been for the fact that Kim was waiting for me.

Lately we run together casually, as Kim is 8 months pregnant with her second baby. Our runs are more laid back, but I don’t mind because meeting up with Kim is about much more than a long run. There’s so much more to a run when you run with a friend.

The bond forged through running is a strong one, and I’d venture to say it’s a bond like no other. You see each other at your rawest, and your truest. Running has brought so many people into my life. Although I love running solo, it’s also fun to run with a buddy or a group. The best running is definitely running with friends.

If you’re a runner, do you prefer running solo, with a buddy, or with a group?
What activities in your life have led to strong friendships?

I was recently nominated by Richard from The Running Schlub for the Versatile Blogger Award. This was an award that I hadn’t heard of before… but it reminds me a bit of the Liebster Award. Remember that thing?

About the Versatile Blogger Award:

It is for those blogs that bring something special to your life.  In picking your nominees, you are to consider the quality of the writing, the uniqueness of the subjects covered, the level of love displayed in the words on the virtual page.  Or, of course, the quality of the photographs and the level of love displayed in the taking of them. (I’m guessing I’m on the content side… and not the quality photograph side!)

The Rules:

Answer the questions you have been given, nominate 10(ish) other bloggers and give them their own set of questions to answer.

Questions from Richard:

I recently announced that my little sister decided to train for her first half marathon. Even better, she chose the Hokie Half Marathon! Naturally, we are planning on running the race together. She looked at a bunch of training plans and had decided on a Hal Higdon one, but also asked if I could write her one. I used a format and mileage build up similar to the one I used for my first half marathon, and I think she’s going to use the one I wrote.

This entire spring I’ve been running whatever I wanted to run and whenever I wanted to run, sans training plan. Although I enjoyed following the Hanson’s Marathon Method last fall (it made me feel hardcore), I think it really burnt me out on training plans by the end. Eighteen weeks is a long time to follow a regimented 6-day-per-week plan, and at times it made running feel more like a chore than something I got to do.

I was planning on not following a training plan (I planned not to plan… Is that still type A?). But after making the training plan for my little sister, I found myself tailoring it to fit my work schedule…

No training plan is complete without a race-related picture pasted into the Excel document. It feels nice to have a training plan to follow, though. Looking back it seems like I have followed a training plan during the summer for a fall race every year since 2011. I guess I just can’t get away.

Training plans: yay or nay?
Do you like following a structured workout schedule, or do you prefer to go with the flow?

It’s Wednesday! What does that mean? Time for a Wednesday Word link up with Debbie from Deb Runs.

This week’s word is: Inspirational.

I thought about sharing one of the many amazing running stories about tenacious individuals that many of us have heard before. That’s inspirational, right? Then I thought about sharing a personal story of overcoming adversity. Also inspirational, yes? And then I thought about how it makes me feel when I go out and watch an athletic event, or even watch one on TV. Especially a marathon.

People run marathons for all sorts of reasons. They run to qualify for Boston, they run to raise money for charity, they run to challenge themselves. Many are completing a feat they once thought impossible. Despite often running amidst thousands of other runners at a road race, each individual is facing a quiet, solitary triumph over the idea that they couldn’t conquer the distance.

If you stand on the sidelines and watch a marathon, you’ll see them. The runners clearly fighting an internal battle. But with every step they’re proving to themselves how much they can take. More than anyone, especially themselves, ever thought possible. You can stand at the finish line and join in the fellowship, as we all marvel at the accomplishment taking place. The marathon is the ‘holy grail’ of racing and it takes a certain amount of grit and determination to overcome. It’s also a celebration of the human spirit, and it makes us all feel a bit stronger.

What do you find inspirational?

This is the second (and last) part of our experience with Hank’s bout with bloat and stomach torsion (gastric dilatation volvulus, GDV). If you missed part one, start HERE. Disclaimer: I am not a vet or any type of animal expert. This is merely our experience with canine bloat and GDV.

When I left off, we had brought Hank home from the vet after a 48 hour hospital stay. We were all really happy to have him home and so relieved….

As the days went on Hank regained some strength and started to act more like himself. Having food in his system again helped him have more energy, as well.

I took him to a follow-up vet appointment on Friday afternoon, four days post-surgery. He only weighed in at 113 pounds (he’s usually around 125). The vet was very happy with what she saw, though. She said his incision looked great (he had dissolvable stitches, so no need to get those out, thank goodness!) and his heart sounded good. His temperature was normal and he didn’t have any discomfort when the vet palpated his abdomen.

She instructed me to finish up his round of antibiotics and start to wean him off the pain medication. She also said to stick to leash walking, with no running or jumping, four 14 days total (through July 6). Up to this point, Hank hadn’t had any issues with licking and thus hadn’t needed a cone. Naturally, the day after his vet follow-up, that changed. Ironically, he didn’t mess with his incision at all. No, he was licking his IV site on his arm, to the point of making it raw. First he earned a sock…

That proved effective for about 24 hours and then it wasn’t. So we moved to the cone of shame, or rather the inflatable protective collar of shame. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but still effective nonetheless.

Funny thing is, he loved the collar. Strange dog, but I’m glad it wasn’t a fight and he seemed fairly comfortable in it. By day 12 post-op (July 4) Hank was completely off his pain medication and no longer needed his protective collar. He seemed like he was pretty much feeling back to his old self. It actually became a challenge at this point to keep him calm and keep him from running around. Finally, after 14 days of rest, he was allowed to run around in the backyard again. He was pretty tickled!

Hank is quick to wear out when he plays in the backyard, so we are limiting how much he gets to run around and making sure he gets enough rest. We are also working on getting him back to his normal weight, since he lost 10 pounds during all of this. But he has been doing really well and continues to act like his old self. I like to think he doesn’t even remember everything that happened.

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I knew about the risk of bloat in deep-chested dogs back when I researched the breed and knew we would have to be proactive in preventing it. We have always done so (elevating their food bowls as recommended by the vet, restricting exercise before and after mealtime, etc.). I grilled the vet with a lot of questions about anything we needed to change. She told me we weren’t doing anything to cause this and that sometimes it just happens. There haven’t been any scientific studies done on the causes of bloat, so all of the recommendations to prevent it are merely widely accepted best practices. The only thing we could have done differently would have been to have elective surgery to attach his stomach to his abdominal wall to prevent stomach torsion. I didn’t want to put him through unnecessary surgery to prevent a condition that may or may not happen. Now we have a lot of thinking to do on what we might do for Scout….

This whole experience has been very harrowing. I know that we are really lucky that Hank survived, as he progressed so quickly. Had his condition worsened anymore before he got into surgery (lost blood flow to his heart, lost blood flow to his esophagus, gone into shock, etc.) he would have either died or needed to be euthanized.

I’ve been pretty freaked out since all of this happened and I’ve lost my peace of mind. I think eventually I’ll go back to just being mindful of it, like I used to be. But for now I can’t help watching both dogs like a hawk for signs of bloat, and sometimes even checking on them in the middle of the night if I wake up. I am definitely counting my blessings that Hank is still with us, and that both of our dogs are currently happy and healthy.

They have been getting lots of extra love and attention lately!