Triple Dog Weekend

Posted in Adventures at Home, Piper by Annie T

What’s better than enjoying a gorgeous Spring weekend outside in the yard? Sharing that yard with your two best friends, of course! I’m pretty sure that was Piper’s attitude a few weeks ago when Hershey the Chocolate Lab and Bella the GSP spent a long weekend with us.

Piper and Bella

Hershey and Piper

Piper is 8 months old and full of impish puppy energy. Having two friends over at the same time meant that Piper could keep playing at her usual warp speed while the older dogs took turns resting. Piper would eagerly goad Hershey into a game of tug, then zoom around the yard a couple dozen times with Bella, return to instigate a wrestling match with Hershey, and finish off the rotation with a game of frisbee keep-away with her GSP twin.

It’s all fun and games…

…until Hershey accidentally CRUSHES you!

During the rare moments when Piper needed a break all three dogs lounged around, blissfully chewing on sticks. SO many sticks! I never knew how many sticks were in our yard until we had three dogs scouring every inch of the lawn in an effort to find the biggest and best specimen. At one point Piper showed up with a small log (where did THAT come from??) and Bella gave her tips on how to position it just right to get the best chewing leverage. (Click on the photos to zoom in and see Piper’s funny expressions – priceless!)

Bella showing Piper how it’s done

Piper’s turn!

I’m pretty sure that our triple dog weekend was the absolute highlight of Piper’s life thus far. Not only did she spend it with two friends in PERFECT mid-70s weather, she was also finally able to run loose in the yard without a leash or long line attached to her collar! We were in the final stages of training her to our underground “invisible fence” and, since the older dogs both know the boundaries of the yard, this was the perfect opportunity to see what Piper would do on her own with less direct supervision. Piper thoroughly enjoyed her freedom and never once showed any interest in leaving the yard. Success!

In Sync Shorthairs

Crazy Piper Ears!

Mmm, log…

Piper playing tug with Hershey

Can you tell how much fun the dogs were having? 😀 Except in that one photo up top where Piper got totally crushed by Hershey… I didn’t realize how hard Hershey fell on her until I saw the photo afterwards!! Luckily none of the dogs sustained any permanent damage over the weekend and everyone went home tired and happy.

I love this pup. ❤️

9Apr2015

Thursday Thoughts

Posted in Piper by Annie T

I once read somewhere that you should never begin a post by apologizing for not blogging regularly, so I’m not going to do that. Instead I’m going to tell you about a few of the random things that are on my mind this lovely Thursday afternoon…

1. Instagram

Way back in December when I had maybe …50 (?) followers I shared this image of Piper checking out her reflection in Ridley Creek. That photo was the first of many Piper (and Bailey) shots that have since been featured and shared on Instagram and I now have about 40 times the followers that I had last year. I think people are going to be shocked when someday I post a sweaty race photo instead of a cute Piper pic, but for now I’m having fun sharing my adorable little GSP with the IG world.

Want to see more of Piper? Follow me @The_Little_GSP 😄

2. Run Run Run!

The Broad Street 10 miler is 3 ½ weeks away and I am getting excited!! I restarted speedwork on the track last week and I had a fantastic 8 mile training run experience at Ridley Creek State Park on Saturday. During the run I never looked at my watch and just focused on staying relaxed and listening to Serial (the podcast) and the miles flew by.

Before I get to Broad Street, I still need to tackle the Tyler Arboretum 10K Trail Run this Saturday. I’m feeling less confident about that race after a tough time on the trails at Granogue, but I’m interested to see how I will do without snow on the ground. There might be some mud though… this is the current forecast for tomorrow. Eek!

At least Saturday’s weather is looking perfect!

3. Family

Last weekend Matt and I got to see everyone from both of our families on Easter. “Everyone” now includes 2 newborn babies! Plus 3 siblings, 3 step-siblings, 6 sibling spouses/fiancés, 1 toddler, 4 parents (/in-laws), and 9 (9!!) dogs. Luckily all 9 dogs did not participate in the Easter festivities because that would have been crazy.

I was designated the official family photographer but in the interest of everyone’s privacy (I’m looking at you, Suzanne! 😉) I won’t post the group shot. Instead here’s one of me and Matt.

This is what we look like when we aren’t hiking or running.

4. Food

The weather was beautiful over Easter weekend so Matt and I pulled out the grill for the first time this year. Yippee! Saturday we had patty melts (burgers with melted Swiss and grilled onions on buttered toast) and Monday we made what is possibly our fanciest grilled dinner yet: Paella!

Don’t worry, the recipe for this grilled masterpiece will be coming soon. And it’s surprisingly not that hard, considering how crazy it looks.

5. Piper

No post would be complete without a shout out to my little pup. (Oh, I already did that in #1, didn’t I? Well here’s more.) Piper is 7 months old now and has recently had some major breakthroughs. First off, she hasn’t had an accident in her crate since March 31^st (not that I’m counting) and secondly, Piper has now graduated to sleeping in our bedroom in a big crate rather than all alone in her little crate downstairs. She has been very quiet so far and I think she likes the extra sleeping space.

Nope, not doing it!

Look at all of that cheese

Hopefully Piper’s next breakthrough will be summoning the courage to walk up our front staircase. These stairs are “floating” with open space between them that goes all the way down to the basement stairs below. Piper is, somewhat understandably, completely and utterly freaked out by these stairs. She won’t even come up for cheese! We’re taking it slow, one step at a time (literally).

Yes, the stairs are scary, but this is the puppy who climbs all over the place on hikes. Look what she did on Monday… what an agile little pup!

These round things are slippery!

Queen of the stone garden

That’s it for today. I’m off to The Running Place to pick up my Tyler 10K bib. Wish me luck on Saturday! (I think I’m going to need it!)

26Mar2015

Ridley Creek State Park Orange Trail

Posted in Hikes, Piper by Annie T

As I type this it is 67 degrees outside… easily the warmest day of the year! I’m about to go on a nice, long run and I’m definitely looking forward to running in a t-shirt!!!

Before I embark on my run I want to share some photos from a hike that Matt, Piper and I took last weekend. We explored out a different part of Ridley Creek State Park on Sunday and it was beautiful!

We typically stay on the west side of Ridley Creek but on Sunday we ventured eastward to the park’s Orange Trail. This single track path follows the eastern bank of the creek before looping back through a hilly forest. The trail is well marked with orange blazes and the entire lasso-shaped loop was about 2.35 miles long.

Oddly, the official DCNR map shows a shorter orange loop than what was marked in the woods, so I overlaid the outline of our actual hike on the above map.

Piper had a blast, as usual. She is getting very comfortable climbing on boulders, logs, dirt piles and anything else we find in the woods. She also really wants to go in the water but it’s still pretty cold out so we still haven’t really let her get more than her paws wet. I can’t wait for warmer weather!!

Staring me down

Stalking

Something smells GOOD!

Wishing she was swimming in the creek…

All in all this was a pleasant little hike with great views of the creek. I’ll definitely return to the Orange Trail, maybe for a run or a summer picnic by the water. Piper still doesn’t even know that summer exists, but soon enough she’ll see what I keep raving about! 😀

“‘Summer?’ I’ll believe it when I see it!”

Ridley Creek State Park
351 Gradyville Road
Newtown Square, PA 19073

16Feb2015

Hiking Delaware’s New National Monument

Posted in Hikes, Piper by Annie T

Matt and I have gotten into the habit of taking Piper hiking nearly every weekend. We have a few favorite spots like Ridley Creek State Park and Okehocking Preserve, but sometimes it’s fun to let our pup explore a new place. Earlier this month when the weather was especially nice (aka not below freezing!) we decided to bring Piper to the Woodlawn Trustees Preserve. The preserve stretches for thousands of acres on either side of the Pennsylvania-Delaware border and features miles of hiking trails, scenic sections of the Brandywine Creek and breathtaking vistas of rolling hills and woodlands.

Matt and I have hiked at Woodlawn several times but last weekend was our first visit since the area was officially declared a National Monument in March 2013. With the exception of a few new signs in the parking lot the National Monument designation didn’t seem to change the area much which is good because it’s already perfect just the way it is!

Cool Mountain Bike Obstacle (April 2012)

Woodlawn in April 2012

Looking across the valley to Granogue Estate (February 2015)

Piper had a blast on our hike. She sniffed everything, tried to convince us to let her swim in the Brandywine (it was 40° out – not happening, pup!), and confidently stared down the mountain bikers that were out on the trails in force. She is definitely getting accustomed to me taking photos of her on hikes… sometimes I think she poses on purpose!

In the shot above Pipe stopped to listen to the eerie sound of a train whistle floating through the cold winter forest. I learned afterwards that the train we heard is the East Penn Railroad (you can actually see the locomotive in the Granogue Estate photo, above) and it runs about three times a week to take steel to and from a recycling plant in Pennsylvania. Cool!

Below Piper was pointing at some unseen (or imagined) prey. She looks so grown up!

Matt, Piper and I hiked a nice 4 mile loop that began at the parking lot on Brandywine Creek Road just south of the intersection with Smithbridge Road on the Delaware side of the border. We finished with an easy flat mile along the Brandywine Creek. During warmer months this is a very popular area for kayaking and canoeing but last weekend we only saw one lone canoer (canoeist?), frantically paddling upstream against the current. I bet her arms were tired once she made it to her destination!

If you find yourself in the southern PA/northern Delaware area on a nice day I would strongly recommend that you pay a visit to the Woodlawn Preserve. Detailed information on the area is somewhat scattered between Woodlawn’s web site, the new National Park Service page, and an preservationist group called Save The Valley so I suggest checking out all three organizations for information before planning a day trip. Here’s a map from Save the Valley with our 4 mile hike overlaid in red:

Click here to view the original Save the Valley map.

When the weather gets nicer I will hopefully return to Woodlawn with a running buddy for some quality trail running. Maybe by the end of the summer I will be running here with little Piper! I’m pretty sure she will think that’s the best thing ever. 😃

26Jan2015

5 Months Old

Posted in Piper by Annie T

Piper is 5 months old today! As I type this she’s stretched out on the couch, sleeping soundly with her head resting on Matt’s leg and her left ear flipped inside out. Piper is the sweetest, most affectionate pup ever!

Matt and I spent last week in Las Vegas on a work trip. Piper got to stay with her best buddy Hershey at my mom’s house (thanks, Mom and Rob!) and she had a fantastic time. Piper has approximately one million percent more energy than Hershey and she happily funnels this excess into constantly pestering her chocolate lab friend. Luckily Hershey is extremely tolerant of Piper and gently puts up with all of her puppy antics.

“What puppy antics???!”

After a week of fun with Hershey Piper was still very excited when Matt and I returned home on Saturday morning. She wiggled and wagged and snorted at us before happily curling up between us on the couch. Piper then snoozed for hours which was good because we were really tired from our red-eye flight!!

After two days at home Piper still seems extra laid back but I think she’s secretly just saving up her energy for the snow storm we’re supposed to get tomorrow… I’m sure that more snow puppy photos will be coming soon! 😃

11Jan2015

Snow Puppy

Posted in Piper by Annie T

As I type this my little Piper pup is on the couch next to me, exhausted from today’s hiking adventures. She is sleeping on her back with her hind legs splayed open (she’s not the most ladylike puppy I’ve ever met!) and her breathing sounds like something between a snort and a snore. She’s been sleeping this way for at least an hour – a long time for a nap in Piper’s world! – so I’m taking advantage of this afternoon lull to do a quick photo post!

Last Tuesday we got about an inch of snow in eastern Pennsylvania and I snapped some photos of Piper playing in the back yard on my lunch break. Piper seemed totally undeterred by the sub-freezing temperatures and had a blast romping around in the snow, chasing sticks and snatching up the occasional mouthful of snow… she loves this weather!!

Beautiful Piper

Playing with Matt

Dashing through the snow!

Piper

Piper in the snow

4 1/2 month old Piper

Eat ALL the snow!!!

Galloping around with her stick

We’ve had Piper for 11 weeks now. Only 11 weeks!!! It seems like she’s been a part of our family for MUCH longer than that! Matt and I are having a blast with her and I can’t wait to see what the next 11 weeks bring!! 😄

1Jan2015

SRA New Year’s Day 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4 Mississippi.
THAT’S how close I came to beating my 5K PR this morning!!

I kicked off my 2015 with the S.R.A New Year’s Day 5K in Swarthmore, PA. The weather was sunny and brisk and the race was well organized with a great turnout of around 220 runners. The course was fun and relatively flat, starting and finishing with laps on the Swarthmore College track.

I really wanted to run a new personal best in this race. As the opening line of this post indicates, I did not quite get my PR, but I feel confident saying that I put forth the absolute best effort that I was capable of today. Although my official finish time of 23:36 was 4 seconds short of my PR from November’s Trinity Berwyn 5K, I think this was still my fastest 5K pace ever (Trinity might have been a little short) and I certainly FELT like I was running my hardest the while time! Apparently my new Garmin heart rate monitor agrees… I averaged 192 bpm and maxed out at 202 bpm in the final 0.1 miles… I have no idea what my max heart rate is but that’s probably pretty close!!

The first mile of the race included a lap around the track and a gentle uphill and before I knew it my Garmin was beeping a 7:14 first split. Good start! As the second mile began I focused on my cadence, quickly getting my feet down on the pavement, especially when I started to feel a little tired. The second mile was over in 7:46… not quite where I wanted to be but my second mile tends to be my slowest.

I knew that if I was going to beat my PR I would need to maintain around a 7:30 pace. My first two splits averaged out to exactly 7:30 but I was feeling a little discouraged (and a lot tired) at the start of mile 3. I kept focusing on my cadence (which apparently worked… I averaged 179 steps per minute throughout the whole race!) and tried to stay strong. I saw Matt and Piper cheering me on by the college field house at the 21 minute mark and entered the stadium at 21:47 with a lap to go. I knew at that point that I wasn’t going to quite get my PR but I still ran that last quarter mile as hard as I could. I crossed the line with an official chip time of 23:36, just 4 seconds shy of my goal.

Overall today wasn’t easy. I stayed strong, I ran hard and then I ran even harder when I felt like I was already going as fast as I could go. Although I would have loved to start the new year with a PR I still feel very proud of my effort in Swarthmore today. Oh, and my 23:36 finish was good enough for 7th woman overall AND 2nd place in my age group! I got an awesome wooden medal with downtown Swarthmore etched on it (so cool!!) which is probably my favorite piece of race swag yet. (Except for maybe the 150 gallons of heating oil that Matt and I won in a race raffle in September, that was pretty good too. 😜)

SUCH a cool medal!!

This is going to make a good xmas ornament next year.

My next race is Saturday (I guess I should stop drinking beer and start re-hydrating now??) when I tackle the Athlete’s Closet 5K course in West Chester for the 5th time. I’ll see how I feel by then but that race will probably end up being a little more laid back than today’s speedy tour of Swarthmore!

Miles since last post: 83.8
Days since last post: 18
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.86
2014 TOTAL MILES: 1773
2015 MILES: 4.6

Past Races:
• December ’14: Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5), Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7), Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K (12/14)
• November ’14: Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1) [PR], Metal Run 5K (11/8), Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27)
• October ’14: Martin’s Run 5K (10/5), Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18), Bark in the Park 5K (10/25)
• September ’14: Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13), Run A Muck Trail Race (9/20), Haverford Township Day 5K (9/27)
• August ’14: Riddlewood 5K (8/3), Radnor Red Steeplechase 5K (8/17), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28) [PR]
• July ’14: Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10), Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (7/18)
• June ’14: Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1), Media 5 Miler (6/20)
• May ’14: Elwyn 5K (5/3), Run for Victory 5K (5/18) [PR], Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30)
• April ’14: Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/, Rick’s Run 5K (4/19), St. Tim’s 5K (4/26)
• March ’14: Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1), Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30)
• February ’14: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1)
• January ’14: Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4)
• December ’13: Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14), New Year’s Eve YMCA 5K (12/31) [PR]
• November ’13: Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2), Turkey Trot 5K (11/28)
• October ’13: Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19), Oy Vey 5K (10/27) [PR]
• September ’13: Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

31Dec2014

A Review of 2014 (Plus, what didn’t make it on the blog the first time around!)

Posted in Adventures at Home by Annie T

Happy New Year! My 2014 was bookended by two huge events. In January Matt and I suddenly lost our beloved Bailey, the affable, energetic, wonderful dog that was the original inspiration for this blog. Then, in late October, we brought home Piper, a wacky, awesome little GSP puppy who, of course, will never replace Bailey but nevertheless immediately made us feel whole again.

Although I spent much of the days between January 30^th and October 26^th mourning Bailey’s loss and awaiting Piper’s arrival, I still managed to find time for a healthy dose of running, cooking, photography and adventures. Here’s a recap of my year.

JANUARY

Freezing 5K

My brother and I ran nearly 7 miles to get a photo in front of this sign!

Bailey

Matt and I froze our way through the coldest January ever, blissfully unaware that we were enjoying our last days with Bailey. We kicked off the month by running a 5K in 10° temps (and kudos to both of our little brothers who still showed up – and beat us – on race morning!). Then Matt, my brother and I headed to Las Vegas for a work trip. We returned to freezing Pennsylvania in mid-January and, twelve days later, had our hearts utterly broken when Bailey died.

What didn’t make it on the blog? The last photo I ever took of Bailey. This was January 26th and she was hanging out with her best buddy, Hershey, on Hershey’s extra-large bed in our mud room. When I went through my iPhone camera roll last night to find this photo it still made me so sad to see Bailey’s beautiful little face. 😦

January Races: Just one, the Athlete’s Closet January 5K (26:19)
January Miles: 153.3

FEBRUARY

Icy Pine Needles

I disturbed this goose in my mom’s pond

Icy Road

February began in a dark, cold, snowy blur. An ice storm hit eastern PA early in the month, knocking out power for days and severely damaging several of our trees. There were, however, two silver linings to the ice storm. First, it gave Matt and me a reason to take refuge at my mom and stepfather’s house (yay for back up generators!) where we got to spend some much needed time around loving family. Secondly, all of the ice and snow DID make for some cool photo ops. The goose photo is still one of my favorite shots of the year.

After the ice and snow melted Matt and I enjoyed a wonderful getaway on Virginia’s eastern shore with friends for an all-you-can eat Oyster fest. After weeks of frigid temps I was very grateful for this mini vacation and the chance to stretch my legs with some outdoor running. A good end to the month!

Cape Charles Pier

What didn’t make it on the blog? This photo of our mailbox, obscured by a ridiculous amount of snow… all personally shoveled by myself and Matt! (It still makes me tired thinking about it.)

February Races: One again, the Athlete’s Closet February 5K (26:02)
February Miles: 144.9

MARCH

Shrimp Scampi

Jambalaya

Cassoulet

I kicked off March with my first 5 mile race ever, then ran 10 miles in mid-March (still my longest run to date!) and finished the month with another local 5K. Matt and I also ate like kings this month. We enjoyed Shrimp Scampi (which first made an appearance on the blog in February but was too good not to make again immediately!), Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya and, perhaps my favorite stew ever, Cassoulet. YUM!

What didn’t make it on the blog? Matt flew up to Montreal for a weekend bachelor party in late March (lucky him!) and I spent a quiet weekend at home with both of our parents’ dogs, Hershey the Chocolate Lab and Bella the GSP. After being dog-less for several weeks it was nice to have four-legged companions in the house again.

March Races: Two official, the Athlete’s Closet 5 Miler (42.47) and the Color Out Cancer 5K (28:13). I should have run a third race, the Pickle Run, except that I got the time wrong and showed up several hours late!!
March Miles: 143.1

APRIL

Enjoying ourselves in the vineyards!

Miramonte Sangria

Ponte Vineyards

In early April Matt and I escaped from the east coast’s terrible winter weather with an 8-day work trip that took us from sunny Las Vegas to the L.A. area. We spent a blissful, amazing, perfect weekend in Temecula, California, a mini wine country paradise not far from L.A. and San Diego. I would go back in a heartbeat.

What didn’t make it on the blog? We roasted an entire chicken… on the grill! For some reason this Tex-Mex recipe never appeared on the blog (I guess I was still in a post-California haze?) but believe me, it was delicious!

April Races: Three, the Security 5K in Vegas (25:26), Rick’s Run 5K (25:56) and St. Tim’s 5K (26:22)
April Miles: 136.9

MAY

SPRING!!!

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (5/6/14)

In May Spring finally arrived. FINALLY! Matt and I spent a few days in Baltimore for work where we ran in the Inner Harbor and enjoyed a complementary 5PM happy hour wine reception at Hotel Monaco. I also ran a huge new personal best at the Victory Brewing Company 5K in mid-May. Woohoo!

What didn’t make it on the blog? In May we fell madly in love with an $8 bottle of oaky Chardonnay, only to find out shortly thereafter that it was a special Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board “Chairman’s Selection” that had subsequently sold out throughout the entire state. Apparently the PLCB buys up the complete year’s worth of wine from the vineyard so our new favorite wine was no longer available anywhere in the world after it sold out in PA. Boo! But at least I learned that if I like a PLCB selection wine I should buy ALL OF IT!

May Races: Three, the Elwyn 5K (26:17), Run for Victory 5K (24:17… NEW PR!), and Rocky Run Trail 5K (27:40)
May Miles: 138.1

JUNE

Bella at the Hunting Camp (6/6/14)

Anniversary wine tasting (6/8/14)

Waking up in Asbury Park, NJ (6/15/14)

We spent June on the go, traveling to the Hunting Camp with family before heading out on a work trip in western PA and then journeying east to New Jersey for a friend’s wedding. In the middle of all of this road-tripping we still found time to celebrate our first anniversary over a glass (or two) of wine at Sweetwater Farm’s Grace Winery.

What didn’t make it on the blog? On June 3rd I took Bella out for a jog and discovered that she clearly had previous experience running in a perfect heel position. Matt’s parents rescued Bella so we don’t know much about her history, but she definitely was somebody’s running partner in the past! Following this discovery I happily took Bella on several runs while she was staying with us in early June.

June Races: Two, the Radnor Conservancy 5K (25:49) and the Media 5 Miler (42:57)
June Miles: 142.8

JULY

New Front Plantings

House decked out for a party!!

Full RCSP Loop!

July marked the completion of several of our household projects. Matt and I had spent much of the spring and summer digging up and replacing all of the shrubs and perennials in front of our house as well as repainting and fixing up our living room. Everything came together perfectly just in time for the fiesta-themed bridal shower that we hosted in late July.

With the household projects finally out of the way, I started focusing more on running. I began doing group runs with The Running Place on Mondays and joined the West Chester Running Club for their speed workouts at a local track on Tuesdays. The extra running work started paying off quickly, which brings me to what didn’t make in on the blog for this month… on July 26th I ran the entire 4.3-mile Ridley Creek multi-use trail loop without stopping! This loop includes an enormous uphill section so I was extremely excited to finally be able to run all the way up it!

July Races: Two, Cam’s Moonlight 5K in the rain (24:46) and the Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (40:28… NEW PR!!)
July Miles: 148.4

AUGUST

Struggling to keep my balance down the hill into the finish.

Post Race – my RHPC t-shirt is from around 1990… I dug it out of storage for this race.

I kept busy in August with lots of running, participating in three 5Ks (including a huge PR!) and more group runs and track workouts. I also spent a weekend in Philadelphia and managed to drag myself out of bed early enough to get in a great 5 mile city run that included the section of the Schuylkill River Trail that passes by Philly’s famed boathouse row near the Art Museum. Although I’ve walked up the Art Museum’s steps many times I took this opportunity to run up them and then took pictures of the city stretched out before me like a total tourist. 😉

What didn’t make it on the blog? My brother and his fiance got a puppy in August! She is a German Shepherd named Lady and she’s beautiful. She and Piper have played together several times and really seem to feed off each other’s endless puppy energy.

August Races: Three, the Riddlewood 5K (25:01), the Radnor Red Steeplechase (27:49) and the prediction-style Pickle Run 5K (23:41… NEW PR!!)
August Miles: 157.5

SEPTEMBER

I loved getting a chance to see the Garrett Williamson Foundation’s beautiful grounds — look at that view!

Blind Beer Tasting!

Matt on our post Run A Muck hike

September was much like August except with nicer weather. I ran in three more 5Ks and Matt and I spent a lot of time outdoors. We also hosted an epic Beer Tasting Party mid-month, which only didn’t make it on the blog because we were too busy having fun and drinking beer to take a single photo of the event. We had a blind IPA tasting, 20+ types of beers, soft pretzels, sausage, pepper & onion sandwiches, and lots of friends and family there to enjoy everything with us… it was great!

September Races: Three, the TALK 5K Trail Run (25:40), the much-anticipated Run-A-Muck Trail Run (28:08 on a long course), and the Haverford Township Day 5K (23:50)
September Miles: 158

OCTOBER

In October we drove to Wisconsin and brought Piper home!! That was at the very end of the month, so first we had to make it through a few more long weeks of waiting for our little pup. I kept myself busy by making delicious Italian White Bean Hummus (I made more last week… so good!) and Apple Crisp. I also ran in a few more races, including a dog-friendly 5K with Hershey in tow.

What didn’t make it on the blog? After logging hundreds of miles in three different pairs of Mizuno Wave Rider 16s I finally took the plunge and upgraded to the new WR 18s. I love them!!! I now have 200 running miles on my October pair and they still feel as springy and supportive as the day I first put them on. Yay for new shoes!

October Races: Three, Martin’s Run 5K (23:54), the Fueled Up 5K (23:56), and the Bark in the Park 5K (26:21)
October Miles: 158.6

NOVEMBER

Fun perspective on Piper

Piper kept us very busy in November. Crate training proved to be a challenge, resulting in us having to let her out to do her business pretty much once every 3 hours, be that during the work day, night, or anytime in between. Needless to say, all of this was totally worth it and we didn’t need potty training as an excuse to spend every possible moment with Piper. We hiked, trained, snuggled, and even got to play in the snow with her in November. A good month!

What didn’t make it on the blog? Matt got me a Garmin Forerunner 220 which replaced my ancient Timex stopwatch. My birthday was a few days after we brought Piper home so I joke that I got a GSP and a GPS for my 30th… ha. Anyway, my new Garmin is awesome and so far I’m really enjoying having more pace and distance data available to me during runs and races.

November Races: Three, the Trinity Berwyn 5K (23:32… NEW Birthday PR!), the Metal Run 5K (24:18) and a local Turkey Trot 5K (23:40).
November Miles: 149.4

DECEMBER

Piper and her reflection in Ridley Creek

4 months old!

Our adventures with Piper kept getting better and better this month. She is growing up FAST and she’s clearly enjoying hiking and exploring the parks, preserves, and trails we’ve been taking her to. Piper also started Puppy Class and is eagerly soaking up every new command as quickly as we can teach it. She takes “down” very seriously, making a big deal of dramatically flinging out her front paw as she descends from a sit to the down position.

What didn’t make it on the blog? For the past week Piper has been sharing her car, kitchen and yard with Hershey while my mom and stepfather are out of town. Piper has adjusted to this change well and seems very content to go quietly to her crate when it’s time for the two dogs to be separated. Hershey has also been doing a great job of tolerating Piper’s nonstop puppy antics. What good pups!

Together in the car

Two Pups on a bed

Piper and Hershey sharing a stick

December Races: Three, the Jingle Elf 2 Miler (14:33), Brian’s Run 5 Miler (39:11… NEW PR!!!) and an unofficial prediction fun run at The Running Place (2.8 miles/20:54). I was planning to run a NYE 5K but just learned that the race I did last year is not happening this year. Therefore the fun run was my 30th and final race of 2014! I’ll pick things right back up again in 2015 with a New Year’s Day race tomorrow morning.
December Miles: 142

So yeah, that was pretty much how my year went! I should probably change my blog tagline to “Dogs, Races, Food, and Photos,” don’t you think? 😜 Thank you to all of my readers for following along with my adventures. Here’s to even more fun in 2015!

25Dec2014

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Piper by Annie T

24Dec2014

Okehocking Preserve

Posted in Hikes, Piper by Annie T

Merry Christmas Eve! Matt and I are hosting dinner tonight… bone-in short ribs over polenta with brussel sprouts braised in cream. YUM!! The food is prepped, the house is clean, I got in a nice 4 mile run in the rain and now I’m just waiting for family to arrive. I thought I’d take advantage of this lull in the day to share some photos from one of our hikes last week.

Matt and I are fortunate to live very close to Okehocking Preserve, a 180-acre conservation area with miles of trails, a scenic section of Ridley Creek and an off-leash, unfenced dog park. We’ve been taking Piper to Okehocking a lot lately, in part to socialize her but also because the preserve’s close proximity to our house allows us to squeeze in the maximum amount of outdoor time before the sun goes down. (Hooray for the shortest day of the year being BEHIND us now!!)

Historic Stone Barn

Looking out over Okehocking

May I please have a treat?

Piper and Matt playing

Piper

Looking like a puppy

Hello!

Hiking with Piper

Drink drink drink

Okehocking Sunset

Piper, queen of the stone wall

Piper looks at home here

So far Piper has really taken to Okehocking. She sniffs and snorts around in the tall grass, has fun climbing on rocks, walls, and fallen trees, wades into (and tries to drink all of) Ridley Creek and, of course, has a blast playing with other dogs in the off-leash area. I’m sure we’ll be spending many, many afternoons at Okehocking over the next several months. If you’re from the area I would definitely recommend visiting Okehocking… maybe we’ll see you there!