Weak In The Knees

I was running this one time.

I had my two boys Astro & Snoopy, running on one of those warm yet icy mornings in Denver. Astro always pushing. Snoopy always having to be pulled. We had started on our route back, towards Holly Street. By that time, I had finished mapping out the entirety of Denver's city. So best believe I knew where I was going, at all times. Except for one time. We had come to a stop. Well I had stopped. Snoopy had stopped. Astro had stopped. But then Astro went. Then Snoopy went. And unbeknownst to me, I guess I was going too. 

I had been dragged along the pavement for 0.05 miles of our run, actually increasing our pace by 7 or 8 seconds probably. They had only stopped because they were getting choked by trying to drag a 200 pounds worth of Jon. Luckily I only lost a decent amount of skin on my elbow and  my face only got a few pebbles. I had looked up at them after my first dog sledding venture, and they impatiently sat down on their rumps, growling at me to stand upright.. Waiting for me to regain my composure.

Astro & Snoopy were two overgrown weimaraners that outweighed me by a few pounds. They were strong, intelligent, loving, and clumsy dogs. Astro was slightly bigger and actually pushed me to do 5:30 pace with him when alone. Snoopy just wanted to go for a walk and talk about what garbage he ate. Two of the worst running duos out of the 40 dogs I ran but they despised being separated. And who was I to separate two 100 pound dogs from one another?

It took me over 3 months to train Astro & Snoopy to turn at the right time. If we didn't turn at the right time, Astro goes at at right angle and Snoopy would go straight and I'm on the ground. Every morning I saw them, they clawed at the door ( I could literally hear them from inside my door trying to break down the walls to tackle me) and normally destroyed something in the house do to them being aloof.

But the two years I was their lackey I completed over 60 sessions, 250 miles, and unsolicited wrestle time of over a hour. I saw them twice a weak. They got excited every time my car even pulled up. They showered with kisses like I wasn't ever coming back. Until I didn't and for the first time in two years, on my last run, they tried to bite me when I tried to hug them. They knew. They knew that they were my best friends.