So today I am writing a blog on the topic of WALKING. Nic did offer to do it but I said leave it to me. If you want to know about walking, ask a dog!
Did you know that May is National Walking Month? Well, every month is walking month as far as I’m concerned, but next month is going to even better.
I’m going tell you all about it so you can join me (in a virtual sense, at least) and we can all walk together.
First up, my manifesto for walking. I have spent a lot of time on this so please don’t laugh. I already have a touch of alopecia and I don’t think my nerves could take it.
Here are some stats for you sporty folk. Did you know that 40% of adult humans who go to the gym less than two miles away actually drive there? And 13% of the ones who have to go less than one mile drive. You humans are so silly! Walk!
The charity Living Streets asked me to ask you to walk more during May – National Walking Month. There’s Walk to Work Week (13-17 May) and Walk to School Week (20-24 May) so don’t say they haven’t tried to tempt you!
Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians (mostly humans, but they care about dogs too). They’ve been the national voice for pedestrians for 80 years now and it’s them we have to thank for the introduction of the driving test, pedestrian crossings and 30mph speed limits.
Check out the National Walking month website and get signed up before May. I’ve had a look (with Nic’s help) and it’s really good, there are virtual challenges, log books and route planners, it’s really fun to use and there’s so much on there. Registration (which is free) is open now. You can also like Living Streets on Facebook and follow Living Streets on Twitter.
Hey guys! It’s been ages since I blogged but I know you’re all interested in what I get up to (can’t blame you) so I thought I’d put paw to keypad and tell you about yesterday.
Most of my working days are pretty boring really, sleeping in my bed whilst Nic types, or sleeping in my bed whilst Nic is at meetings, or helping Nic think by whining or chomping loudly on a chew. But some days I really have to step up to the plate and basically be Nic’s assistant.
(^^^ my thinking face)
Yesterday we drove to East Grinstead to help out on a DVD and photoshoot for Muscle & Fitness magazine. It was really cool and I thought you should all know what happens on one of these days.
Remember the time I went to The Training Lab gym, met WBFF World Champ Shaun Stafford and was sick on the floor ? That was for a photoshoot and magazine article (inexplicably, the magazine didn’t want me in the photos – I am still waiting for the Editor to get back to me with exact answers on that).
It was the same yesterday, I wasn’t so much required to be in the DVD but, like Nic, I was a very important part of the behind-the-scenes activity.
Nic’s jobs:
- to sit down
- to write stuff down
- to talk to people and ask them things
- to remember all the funny things that were said and write them down for later
- to think a lot
Well now take a look at my list of jobs and I think you’ll start to see that I’m just as important:
- to lie down
- to get patted by people and try to lick them
- to watch all the funny things happening
- to think a lot (whilst sleeping)
- to guard the gym door so nobody came in during filming
- to guard the camera equipment
- to not get in the way
- to be a team mascot so all the people being filmed were chilled out and happy
Um… HELLO… how can a day like that happen without me? I haven’t asked Muscle & Fitness what my fee for the day is but I’m sure they’ll let me know in due course. Probably they will add it on to my fee for the other time when I was so helpful with the photoshoot.
Every time I do one of these jobs I make lots of cool new friends. Me and Andy McKenzie, who owns and runs The Training Lab gym, are basically best friends now. Especially since I wasn’t sick on his floor this time!
But also yesterday I met a man called Nick “Headhunter” Chapman, who was really big and sort of scary but secretly I think he’s not that scary at all, it’s just his job (he is an MMA fighter, which means Mixed Martial Arts). I caught him smiling at me when he walked past and he said “hellooooo there!” which really wasn’t very scary. But shhh don’t tell anyone, in case any of his MMA opponents are reading.
I also met a nice man called Mike who is very clever and invented a thing called a Unikurve (which is the fitness equipment we were making the DVD about). He showed me photos of his own dog and even gave Nic some advice on my bald patch (too embarrassing to blog about), thank you Mike.
Finally I met a cool dude called Wayne who gave me lot of cuddles, here is a picture of us (sorry I am a bit blurry, I was very excited). Wayne used to be in a TV show called Gladiators where his character was called Doom, but personally I think that’s silly because he wasn’t Doomy or Gloomy at all. And I know just how annoying it can be when strangers only refer to you by your stage-name (I am so famous all around the town for my dog-coat modelling, sometimes I just want to free myself from the shackles of fame and cry out “but my name is Frankie!”) So I was very respectful to him and didn’t call him Doom once, just Wayne, which is his proper name.
Anyway that’s enough chit-chat for today. I will be back soon with a more fitness-themed post, probably on the topic of powerwalking and why it is my cardio of choice.
I hope you enjoyed this unique insight into what it is like to be a dog working in the fitness industry.
Hi guys! I know Nic often does kit reviews on the blog so I thought it was about time I did one of my own.
A few weeks ago, Nic was in a coffee shop (I know – massive shocker!) and she saw a dog wearing a really nice coat. She asked the dog’s owner where the coat was from and the lady said “I made it, I have a little business called Woof Coats.” Nic was so impressed at Willow’s lovely coat that she asked the lady if she would make me a coat, too.
Nic had to give the lady lots of info via email including various measurements (being measured with a tape is very fun – my top tip is to wriggle around loads!) and any choice of colour/material. I told Nic my favourite colour is YELLOW which is the colour of bouncy balls but Nic said she thought red might be nicer for a coat. The coat lady used to be work as a fashion designer and textiles person in London, so Nic thought it best to leave the choice of design and material up to her.
Well! I got my coat today and I have to say it is just about the best thing ever!
We went out and about for a photoshoot and I felt like the bee’s knees! (In fact, Woof Coats strapline is “our dog coats are the cat’s pyjamas”, which I thought was really offensive til Nic explained that it means they are the best).
I posed in front of the Racecourse, and the entrance to the Castle, because truly in my Harris tweed coat I feel like a posh dog who lives in a stately home or something.
Then we went to the beach, because I am not a posh dog who lives in a stately home, I am just a Staffy cross who lives near the sea. I worked on my model looks – one I like to call “whimsical horizons” (middle left) and one I like to call “steely glare” (bottom left) -
I posed on the beach. And I posed on the rocks, in case anyone ever needs a dog to do modelling in an outdoors-wear catalogue.
About 10 different people asked Nic where my coat was from and she told them Woof Coats in Sandgate! One man said he preferred my coat to his own coat, and another man said “well Frank you are a male model now mate!”
All in all I have to say that I love my coat. Nic says I should give a proper review so here are a few points to note:
Why I love my Woof Coat, by Frankie (aged 4)
- Harris tweed with a decorative patch made of contrasting fabric
- made to measure and a one-off design
- lined in cosy corduroy
- very smart button with a stretchy loop
- easy to wag my tail whilst wearing it
- easy to run in (I checked this)
- easy to wee and poo in (I also checked this)
- very well made
- not restrictive in any way
- not embarrassing to wear like some coats you see on other dogs
- only £30! (Nic says she can’t quite believe this and that the lady should put her prices up)
- designed and handmade by a proper clothes designer who used to design clothes for humans
You can check out Woof Coats online (I might be featured on the website, how exciting!) and they are also on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks Woof Coats for my great coat! I really love it a lot! Frankie xx
Hey guys! Sorry it’s been ages since I wrote a blog post. Nic’s been hogging the blog with all that Olympics stuff. Anyway, I’ve kicked her off the laptop tonight (she says sorry, no Olympics-inspired blog post today) cos I’ve had a WELL exciting day and I think you all need to hear about it right now!
Have you ever been a fitness model in a fitness photoshoot? Nor had I – until today! Nic and I drove down to somewhere called The Training Lab which is a really mega-cool gym in East Grinstead because a magazine called Muscle and Fitness had asked her to write an article and be in the photos for it, too. (I have never read Muscle and Fitness but I don’t read much as a general rule).
Nic and a man called Shaun Stafford (who is an actual fitness model) had to do a workout and another man called Andy McKenzie (who is a coach) had to tell them what to do and then another man called Simon Howard (who is a photographer) had to take photos of them. It was a bit confusing for me, meeting so many new people, but I got it in the end. Andy was the one shouting at Nic and Shaun, Shaun was the one with loads of muscles and no top on, and Simon was the one who kept putting a camera in front of his face (I think perhaps he was a bit shy, I’m not sure).
We got there and I warmed up for the proper photos by posing outside The Training Lab
Then I lay down in my bed in the physio room and Nic tied my lead to a kettlebell so I couldn’t go off exploring by myself.
Then Nic and Shaun did lots of cool stuff like jumping over hurdles and putting chains around their necks – I really wish I could have joined in, especially the jumping (which I love) but Nic said no I had to sit in my bed
At one point I could hear everyone shouting and yelling at Nic and I got really angry so I pulled the kettlebell and wandered into the gym. I was so mad I was ready to bite them (even though I’ve never bitten anyone before but, you know, don’t push me!) But Nic laughed and said “it’s OK, go to your bed”. Apparently the shouting and yelling was to do with Nic squatting a bar with chains on?
What I learned today is that everyone has a role on a photoshoot. For example, today:
- me: artistic director. Basically what I did was sat on my bed and transmitted my excellent ideas for photos into Simon’s brain and then he did them. He was pretty good! My job was the most important, obviously, although many people might say you wouldn’t know it. That’s because I am a true professional and don’t like to make a song and dance about my high skill level. - Simon: the photographer. This is a really important role in any photoshoot otherwise you have no photos and then the magazine gets really cross. - Nic and Shaun: the models. Nic said I must point out that she isn’t really a model, she just pretended to be one for the day. Shaun however is a real one, it’s his actual job and he even won a big competition and got his Pro Card! And you could totally tell – he was way better than Nic. Plus I really like his hair. - Andy: the coach. You don’t have to have one of these on a photoshoot but if it is a sport or fitness photoshoot then it’s a good idea, because the coach can tell the athletes what to do and make sure they are doing everything right and not hurting themselves. He was a really nice man too and even said I can come back again.
There was only one strange thing about the whole shoot – Simon only took one photo of me? I can only assume that the photo he took was so perfect that he didn’t need to spend ages asking me to do the pose over and over again. That is what you get for being a top model like me. I did offer Shaun some tips but he said he was OK thank you.
Luckily Nic made sure she took some on her little camera so here they are (these aren’t Simon’s, I expect they’ll be a bit better)
Everyone said I was really good today, for example let me tell you a few things they said:
- Hasn’t he been good?
- How cute
- Good boy
- What a lovely dog
- Aw he is cute
- Hello there fella
- Hello fatty (????)
- Very good
Again I can only stress that professional and experienced models like myself can expect compliments like these on shoots. Those of you who are new to the industry might have to work a little harder until someone calls you Good Dog or Fatty.
One last observation from today – being a fitness model is exhausting! I am really tired now and very thirsty. And on that note I am going to go to bed – I haven’t had any naps today and my brain is very sore from all the thinking.
It was lovely to meet Shaun Stafford, Simon Howard and Andy McKenzie and I really enjoyed visiting The Training Lab. If you’re nearby, you should totally go! Oh and you should wish my new best mate Shaun loads of luck in his upcoming competition which is the WBFF Worlds in Toronto (which is in Canada, which is abroad). I reckon he’ll win for sure but as I said to him today, if he’d like any last-minute tips from me on how to be really brown or how to have shiny hair, or how to get really muscley by sprinting after a football, I will be happy to oblige.
TheFitDog on… training partners
Hi guys! It’s been a while since I last blogged but I am a dog of action so I thought, time to put claws to the keyboard and give you a few more words of wisdom out of my massive square head.
I’m really glad so many of you enjoyed my blog post on the important topic of BALLS. I was a little worried that you might not share my passion but it seems that many of you realise the serious nature of balls. Do you know, I even got a piece of fan mail! Well it was an email but it still counts. Here is a snippet from it:
“I love Office Dog’s blogs – I had to nip out of my office as I was giggling so hard at the blog on balls!”
I am thinking of printing it out and framing it above my bed.
Anyhow, this rainy weather is not much good for ball games (too much skidding) and it’s not much good for sitting outside in the sun, either. So I thought I’d write you a blog post on the topic of training partners.
Recently I met a fine lady by the name of PEPPER. She is brown and stripey like myself so I knew we would hit it off. Now, it can be tricky finding the right training partner, sometimes they are too slow, sometimes they are too quick, sometimes they prefer to use different equipment (balls vs sticks for example) and sometimes their bum smells bad. (Usually bad is good but sometimes bad is just bad!) Pepper and I really hit it off, which might be because we are a similar breed (probably; the jury’s still out on my parentage) or might be because we have similar humans (Pepper’s owners are both into bodybuilding, too).
Here are a few pictures of us enjoying a great workout. This is what we did:
- warm up of walking
- pre-exhaust of jumping in and out of a stinking river
- main session of long sprints
- some stick work
- cool down (walk) and stretching
- PWO meal of water
Do you have a training partner? This is what I look for in a good training partner (like Pepper) and I think you should probably take my advice on this (like most things):
- Are they a similar breed? I mean, are you both big and muscley, or both thin and fast? Just take a look at their breed and build, you will get a fair idea of whether or not you want the same things out of your training session
- Does it make you feel good to be around them? I am pretty positive about things, on the whole. I don’t want a training partner who’s always going on about their sore paw, or their mange. Make sure your temperaments are about the same (but recognise that everyone has bad days)
- Are they likely to turn vicious and bite you? Best avoid these types (unless that’s your thing, of course!)
- Are they hygienically acceptable? I don’t mind a bit of mud and spit but I like to keep myself quite clean. Again, this is your call. For instance, my friend HARVEY is great but gosh he smells. (Sorry Harvey if you are reading this, but you do!) I think he maybe needs a bath. Or his glands seeing to.
- Have they got decent kit and are they willing to share? It’s all very well getting a training partner and thinking “wow, ace ball collection!” but what if they’re all sniffy and precious about the balls? No fun!
- Are they willing to train as hard (or not) as you and as frequently? You don’t want to get attached to them and then find out they only want to train once a month or something boring like that!
I hope this little checklist helps you out so you can find a training partner who can help you meet your goals.
I’m off to eat a fish oil capsule! Nic’s been adding them to my food and, once I worked out how to eat the damn things, I have to say they’re very good. Kind of… fishy! Bye!
Hi again guys! I said I’d blog about BALLS and that’s what I’m going to do!
BALLS are really important. Most humans don’t give them enough thought. Unless you a footballer, cricketer or golfer I bet you haven’t even played with a ball in ages! More fool you. Balls are really important. If you ask me (or any dog), it’s no coincidence that the world itself is shaped like a ball.
Think about that for a second.
I am here to tell you all about balls and to inspire you to maybe run after a ball or two this week. So I thought you would probably love it if I went through my BALL collection with you and told you a bit about how I got the ball, what I use it for and why I’d recommend it. Let’s go!
1) Oldest ball
This is the first ball I ever found. What a day that was! Good times. It’s leather based and a bit tatty but that’s probably why someone threw it away. I don’t care. It’s like an old friend. Every once in a while I will dig this one out and have a play, but only if it’s a fine day with no mud underfoot. Plus it doesn’t kick very well. This ball is special!
2) Patchy ball
This was the second ball I found over the park. Are you getting a theme here? Again, it’s a fine leather ball, no real reason to get rid of it, but sadly some people discard their balls once they get a bit old. This one is great for chewing.
3) White ball
Now we are on to the actual workout type balls. This is what you’d call a workhorse kind of a ball, an every day ball which you can rely on to kick really well. It’s more a plastic vinyl type material. It skids really well on dew and snow. When Mark kicks it, it goes miles! When Nic kicks it, it doesn’t go so far. Sometimes it doesn’t go anywhere. Nic isn’t very good at kicking. My favourite thing to do with this ball is to wait til it bounces then jump up and catch it mid-air!
4) Blue ball
This is the third ball I found. Can you believe there are so many unwanted balls out there been discarded by their owners? Blue ball used to be my everyday ball but it’s a bit deflated now. But it’s great to have a blue ball because sometimes I fancy a change of colours.
5) Rugby ball
This ball is stupid. When it bounces, it goes off in another direction?! Mark says this is the whole point. I find it very frustrating and I feel sorry for rugby players. They must spend their whole time wondering what the hell is going on! I don’t really like playing with this ball, but Mark does, so sometimes we have a quick kickabout. Plus it’s actually Mark’s ball anyway and he doesn’t like me to chew it. Are you a rugby player? Does the weird ball annoy you?
6) Orange ball
There is a great story behind this ball! I was on a normal everyday walk with Nic when I saw a garden full of old balls. I was transfixed and I just stopped in my tracks and stared, wagging my tail. Seeing all those balls just made me feel so happy inside! Then a lady came out of the house and Nic thought maybe she’d be cross so she explained that I love balls and was just having a look. The lady said “well my kids leave them all over the garden and I think your dog would appreciate them more anyway” and gave me one of the balls! It’s a brilliant ball because it’s a totally different size to all my other balls, and it’s bright orange, and it was a gift. The greatest gift of all, you might say! Anyway on a related note, that whole walk is a great example of why you should always be optimistic in life. On paper, it was going to be a boring weekday evening walk in the dark. In reality it turned out to be a walk where I got given an orange ball by a stranger! Stay positive guys and remember that sometimes the most ordinary things turn out to be the most amazing!
7) Golf ball
This isn’t really a ball I play with but it’s a fun one to add to my collection. Nic found it once whilst we were walking. The funniest thing about it is that the golf course it comes from is like five miles away! That person must be a really good golfer! Please note this ball is no good for bouncing or chewing. It is OK to push around the carpet and chase for a bit.
8) Comic Relief ball
This ball is a blast from the past. When I first came to live here, Mark and Nic used to bounce it at me because it makes these freaky laughing sounds. I went a bit mad to be honest with you and Mark and Nic took it off me. But they only put it on top of my crate: I might have been a puppy but I wasn’t born yesterday! I found it again straight away. It now lives in a drawer in the kitchen. I might ask for it this evening and have a laugh.
Gosh I didn’t know I had so many balls! It’s ironic, really, because I don’t have any *you know what* balls. This man who is called a vet stole them from me whilst I was having a nap at his place. I’ve asked around locally and it seems this man has done this a lot to many, many dogs (and even some cats). No-one has intervened and to this day he is still carrying on with this practice. What a greedy man! How many balls do you need? I mean, I know I’ve just listed eight but he must have loads more than that now. And what does he do with them? They’re no good for chasing!
Bye, guys! Have fun doing a kickabout or ball-chasing session this week! Just make sure you drink tons of water after.
EDIT 08/03/12 Since writing this post, we have discovered another “white ball” and also a tennis ball in Frankie’s collection
I regularly get Tweets, Facebook requests and direct messages asking for more blog posts from my dog. Yes, really. The thing about Frankie is, he’s not that great at typing. He has lots of ideas, but then he forgets them. And if there’s food around, forget it (forget what?!) But we can not deny the repeated requests of such a strong fanbase.
Hi guys! Today I thought I’d focus on DIET. Diet means food! And food is brilliant.
I wanted to talk about FOOD for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I haven’t been doing much training, just cardio really: long walks and then HIIT chasing after my football (blog post to come on my collection of balls, how I came about them all and how I select a ball depending on what I want to achieve out of my session).
Secondly, Nic recently posted the picture below on her Facebook wall, and I know most of you are probably thinking “wow, how did he get that ripped and muscular? What is his diet?” So I am going to talk you through what I eat, what I like to eat, what I wish I could eat and maybe even some of my favourite products.
By the way, for all you bodybuilders out there who wish you could do such a great rear-lat spread, here’s my top tip. It will never fail you. Just turn around and imagine there’s a CAT in the GARDEN! Honestly, it will make you so puffed up and enraged your lats will flare like mad and you will look massive. Top tip right there, guys!
Obviously I mostly eat actual dog food, but that’s by far the most boring part of my diet, so that’s all I’m going to say about that. As well as dog food, I eat:
- vegetables, mainly cruciferous.
I love the crunch!
Favourites: cauliflower (only the outside leaves), brocolli (only the stalks), cabbage (red or white), brussels sprouts (bit tricky to get a purchase on, can fall out of the mouth and roll around), cucumber. Once, I stole availed myself of a whole entire cauliflower, but I only ate the leaves. Another time I stole caught (as it was falling off the kitchen surface) a red cabbage. I ate the whole thing! Then I was sick a bit on the carpet (which is cream coloured).
- meat! Sometimes I am lucky enough to get odds and ends of whatever Nic is cooking. Here is me taking a look at what she’s got out of the freezer for the week, just so I know what might be coming my way.
When Nic makes something in the slow-cooker, I get to eat my dinner out of the slow-cooker bowl once it’s empty! This is probably my favourite meal of the week.
Nic gets her meat from various places but, in my expert opinion (I am a dog, after all), the best ones are:
- Athleat (I even made it onto their website! OMG! Look – can you spot me?) Nic says put nicolamillichip in at checkout you’ll get 10% off your order. My favourite product is their grass-fed mince, Nic’s is their chicken breast.
Westin Gourmet – I love their sausages (Nic loves their chicken and turkey) and on the topic of sausages, if you go to here, you’ll get free sausages on your order! Whooo-ha!
Nic also cooks quite a lot of “exotic” meat as her treats, I just asked her where she gets it from and she said Osgrow and Kezie. She also gets her fish from Regal Fish Supplies, but I can’t give a personal recommendation on these items as I have never once been allowed to sample any
- Coconut oil.
I just can’t get enough of this. Here are a few pictures of me with an empty tub, and even a video. I just wanted to show you all how much I love it. Nic gives me about a tsp of the oil (it’s solid) on her hand every morning and I go crazy when I see the tub. I think it gives my ears a nice shine; what do you think? Shiny ears are very important. Nic got this tub from myprotein but you can get it other places, too.
Here’s a video of me and an empty tub
- Water!
The only thing I drink is water and I honestly believe it is a big factor in my all-round awesomeness. I’ve tried tea; don’t like it. I don’t fancy coffee and I’ve never been tempted by booze. One thing I would say – from experience – don’t fall asleep of an evening and then wake up really thirsty so you end up drinking a ton of water just before bed. You’ll only need to bark to be let out for a wee in the night!
Anyway, I hope that answers some of your questions about how I manage to be so muscly and shiny. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, feel free to drop Nic a line and she will pass the message on to me. My next blog post will be about BALLS!
Thank you all so much for your sweet and positive responses to this year’s XT Memorial Mile even though I sprung it on you a little late!
Have you checked in and told me how you got on? If not, please do.
Here’s a round-up of XT Memorial Miles I’m aware of (the Mile went global!)
- Allie of Allie in Wonderland ran three miles with her Mum (they’re training for Race For Life) and dedicated one of them to XT (and perhaps the other two to her dearly-departed Basil?)
- Anna of Up ‘anley Duck walked three miles with her two dogs and dedicated one to XT (and maybe the other two to gone-but-not-forgotten Ruddles).
- Jenny of Cover Girl says she’ll run a mile today, even though she’s only just started running AND yesterday was her birthday (happy birthday!)
- Richard of Richard’s TransRockiestook part in the Chilterns Classic mountain bike event, and rode the first mile for XT (he knew him very well indeed).
- Nat of Modal Corpus did a mile for XT on the X-Trainer (clever… clever!) at the gym.
- Sable from Squat Like a Lady walked two miles and dedicated one of them to XT.
- Kristen from Following Fit ran a mile at track after her gym session.
And non-bloggers took part, too.
- My sister walked a mile with my big ol’ baby nephew in his pram (good going Sista!)
- My husband did the same mountain bike event as Richard – the Chilterns Classic (75kms) – and dedicated the first mile to XT.
- My friend Jo and her dog Buddy run-walked on Saturday in memory of XT (they both knew him well).
- My friend Sally and her dog Mws (who looks a bit like XT) went for a walk (which I suspect was a lot longer than a mile!)
- My friend Morag and her dogs Cuán and Xena, along with Jet and Tiggy walked two miles in the pouring rain (I know how rainy it was cos she lives close by).
- My friend Lisa walked at the weekend and dedicated a mile to XT and other furry friends.
- My friend Lan got in on the action early, and did her XT Mile on Friday by walking home rather than getting the DLR (American readers: a bit of London’s public transport) and had a think about XT, dogs in general, and her miniature dachshund Mabel. As she told me, “I remembered the gorgeous pictures of XT and his ears and how well behaved he was at your birthday picnic. I remembered my disbelief at the pictures of him not eating everything!” (He was incredibly well-behaved! And did have incredibly huge ears…)
- My friend Kelly walked a lot on Saturday, including Southport Pier – which is a mile long.
- My friend Gaynor went on a long walk with a friend and the friend’s dog, perfect for remembering XT.
Me? Well, my initial plan was to go to track, where I ran the 2009 and 2010 XT Memorial Miles by myself. But it was absolutely lashing with rain here all day, and my husband had the car, so I would have had to ride my bike there and back. I decided to do the XT Mile in a way that would fit with my current training plans.
My second training session of the day was “steady state, medium”, one option for which is the cardio machines at the gym. So, I rowed a mile, walked a mile on the treadmill on a steep incline and then biked (much more than a mile!) Of course, I also walked theFitDog yesterday (we do about three miles).
Thank you all so very much. I’m really touched that you all took the time to walk, run, jog, amble, cross-train, bike or push a pram whilst thinking about XT.
Ohhh I’m a bad blogger. I hold my hands up and admit that I forgot about the most important event in the athletics calendar: the XT Memorial Mile.
It should have been on 13th July. But I only remembered (with a start!) this morning. By which point it was too late to hold the event on the 13th, but not too late to hold it this weekend.
For my newer readers: my training partner wasn’t always brown and stripey with a baggy face. Nope, once upon a time I had a black and white training partner with disproportionately huge ears.
His name was XT, and you can read about him here (if you’re a dog-lover, you might want to have a hankie nearby).
It’s been a couple of years now since XT left us suddenly, but he’s far from forgotten.
The day after he died in 2009, I went to the track in an attempt to run the pain in my heart out through my legs. Last year, deep in my running-groove, I celebrated him in the best way I knew how: by running a mile at our local track.
Since then, I vowed that the XT Memorial Mile would become an annual event, and I know a lot of you pledged to run/walk/jog/swim/cycle/whatever the distance this year.
So, we’re a couple of days late, but will you do your own XT Memorial Mile this weekend? Shall we say Saturday (tomorrow)? You can do it Sunday if it suits you better, and of course you can cover the distance wherever you like and however you want. You can even do further if you like: if you’re running a 10k, just dedicate one of the miles to XT and dearly-departed dogs we’ve all known and loved.
Please let me know in the comments if you’ll be taking part, then come back and let me know how you got on.
I don’t expect to run anything like as fast as I did two years ago, or last year! I might even run it as intervals. But I will run it.
I bribed my dog with snacks and took some pictures.
My thinking was that Frankie is roughly the same colour I’ll be when I step on stage
So… thanks for voting on which colour bikini I should wear (via this poll).
I’m thinking of getting two, the purple and the jade. I wanted to love the turquoises, but they’re a bit too pale. I wanted to love the royal blue, but it just doesn’t “pop” for me.
Posted by Nicola Joyce 
but Nic said she thought red might be nicer for a coat. The coat lady used to be work as a fashion designer and textiles person in London, so Nic thought it best to leave the choice of design and material up to her.
