Saving it for Sunday

Exactly.

Sunday is said to be the day of rest. This is so not a true statement for anyone that runs OR works in animal welfare for that matter. They say that the most important night of sleep for a long run or marathon isn't the night before the race, but the night prior to that. Sleep and I are not the best of friends. Don't get me wrong. I love me some sleep, but long ago, it lost a love for me.


Friday night, I was up using my mid-woofery skills to help deliver 11 puppies ALL NIGHT LONG. They were not Humane Society of Eastern Carolina dogs. It was a poor stray a very caring lady named Ashley saw on the side of the road in the pouring rain. She pulled over and it took her an hour and a half to get the mother dog in her car. When she did, she realized she was covered in fleas and ticks and ready to deliver her pups. I saw her desperate pleas for help on a pets page I follow and the first pup delivered did not make it. I thought to myself, I can watch this unfold through posts on facebook and watch this poor lady suffer through alone, or I can offer to help her. You either run away from the fire, or you run to it. I like to think I always run to it and on this occasion, I did. I went to a total strangers house at midnight to help her. Maybe not super smart, but I don't regret it at all.

And I thought I was tired. At least I didn't
have to nurse 9 puppies afterwards.

Mamma dog was in rough shape. Malnourished, probably anemic from all the ticks and fleas. Her skin was irritated and she was exhausted. Ashley had gone house to house when she found her to find the owners and a man said he had seen her on the side of the road wandering for nearly 2 weeks. Poor girl had found her angel in Ashley. So Ashley and I got to know each other over the birth of 6 puppies. I had to leave at 5:45am so Troy could go run and then had to work the next day. I went back shortly at 9am before heading to the shelter to deliver some formula and some clean blankets. When I got there, Momma was exhausted and so was poor Ashley. 11 puppies had been born. 2 of them died. I found a rescue to take her and all of her pups as the HSEC was bursting at the seams with 4 litters already in fosters and about 35 animals at our facility. I found transport through fellow animal rescuers Brittany and Paige and before we all knew it, she was safe at the Austin Vet Clinic in Beaufort. I am very grateful to all involved in the rescue process. By the time I got off work. I was D.O.N.E. I had been awake for 36 hours before I crashed while watching Harry Potter with the kids. I don't even remember going to bed.

So there goes the whole "get good rest 2 nights before your long run" idea. I've never followed rules anyways so no biggie. My husband thankfully abruptly woke me in a panic saying "Are you going to run this morning?" I was so confused and then thought, "Oh My GOD, what time is it? Did I miss the run?" I was supposed to meet my running group in Farmville (about 25min from Greenville) at 6am. He then informed me it was 4:50am. I thought, "psssshhhhht, I got this!" I was terrified that it was going to be a disastrous long run, but then I walked outside and although there was 90% humidity, it was only 61 degrees. Halleluiah, Priase the Lord! I JUST might survive this 9 miles! Turns out the air in Farmville is nationally known (I still don't believe this, but Marion says her dad told her and he is never wrong). Maybe it was the clean air, maybe it was the good company, maybe it was the crisp temps or maybe I was just running out my frustrations with people that leave their dogs for dead on the side of the road because they don't want them anymore.... whatever it was, I'm going to need to order some more air, book the same friends, pray for good weather and channel ALL of my frustrations into every single run because IT WAS GLORIOUS!

So, I survived 9 miles this am and I actually really enjoyed it. My last mile was an 8:20 pace to boot! I just might feel like I can do this (again). At least for tonight. Thank you for following my journey and supporting my cause. If you would like to donate to the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina, you can do so by clicking on the donate button below!

Day 6 of training
Tuesday- 3 miles
Wednesday- Rest
Thursday- 5 miles
Friday-Rest
Saturday - A HUGE BLUR AND LOTS OF PUPPIES
Sunay - 9 AWESOME miles (at a 9:05 pace!)

Total Training Mileage = 17 miles
Total Fundraising = $395

Donors: Megan Hardee, Kay Evans, Shelley Leicht, Chad Smith, Daniel Rankin, Beth & Abbey Gallup, and a super duper anonymous donor I've never met in person, but she's pretty spectacular in every way! THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE DONATED!