Jogging with dog versus running with son

So I’m back to running, slowly but surely increasing the amount I’m running versus time spent walking. It’s the usual drill. You can read about that here.

Often I’m dog jogging though the dog too got a bit out of shape during my running hiatus. It’s nice though because a) dogs are motivating, she’s got to be walked so we may as well run, and b) she keeps me in line. I’m tempted too run faster, further and right now she can’t and that’s okay.

This week though I was away camping, car camping really, with my teenagers and twenty something, at a nearby provincial park. It’s a bit of a family tradition getting away the week before school starts. I love it.

My teen athlete is recovering from concussion and he’s just getting back to physical activity after a few weeks of not much. It’s better now he can read and watch movies and use the computer. The days of “watching paint dry” as the doctor put it were painful.

He’s getting excellent care at the university’s sport injury clinic. They have a dedicated team working on concussions. He’s even seeing a physiotherapist who specializes in concussion.

All good.

But when he asked me to go running with him while we were camping, I realized I was playing a role for him that the dog plays for me. I was his excuse for taking it easy.

It was tough for me. We ran about five km, walked another couple, at noon on the hottest day of the summer. It was faster than my usual pace, accompanied by lots of “come on mom, you can do it” and good natured ribbing about my pace.

It was also hot.

Heat advisory? I know! Let’s run. His reasoning was probably right though. He was asleep earlier and if we put it off till later we wouldn’t go.

Luckily since we’re at the park we ran on shady trails. I love trail running.

And I love that, athlete though he is, he’s not embarrassed to be out with his nearly fifty year old mother huffing and puffing along! I’ve written about this before. See my post on life as a sports parent here.

It’s one of the ways that we all benefit from having a serious athlete the house. When I come home from a soccer game he always asks how it went. I once asked him if he was embarrassed by having his mother in her road cycling clothing, sweaty after a ride, watching the end of practise. He said he was happy I got to ride my bike while they practised and it was the parents sitting in chairs the whole time who were really embarrassing. (Some parents have to embarrass some teenagers some of the time. It’s a rule.)