It was June 2004 when I got a call from my parents up north saying they knew someone that needed to rid of a dog because he couldn’t take care of her anymore.  She was a Lab/Rotty cross.  After a brief discussion with my wife, we agreed to take her.  I was working in Kingston at the time, and came home to Hamilton on the weekends.  So after the week, I took a detour up to Sudbury to pick her up.

Brought her home and we immediately fell in love.  We decided to call her Sandie.  She was barely 1 year old and was already house broken, and knew all basic commands – one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever known.  Her greatest passion was off course – to play ball.  Anything from tennis balls to big 24″ exercise balls.  If it rolled, she enjoyed it.

Enjoying a nap.

Over the years her ball passion never faded.  She also grew to have a big hatred for squirrels, and cats, except for her sisters.  Never once did she try to harm our cats.  She even let them sleep with her on the couch sometimes, and she regularly got hugs from Sweet-P when entering the house.

In 2008 she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.  This meant she had to take a pill twice a day for the rest of her life to regulate her metabolism.  Other than that, she was a happy, loving, and always playful dog.

Sandie had a bath.

On November 15 2011, after discovering a big lump on her right rear leg, we found out that our beloved Sandie had osteosarcomas.  This is a very aggressive form of bone tumor.  It literally appeared out of nowhere it seems – within a week – and the vet said the options were limited given her age and weight.  He gave her a shot of steroids hoping it would slow it down a little and told me that she might be fine for another 2 weeks before a decision would have to be made.

Only 6 days later on Nov 21st, that decision had to be made.  She could barely walk anymore and was basically laying down the whole day.  Even though we knew the day would come sooner rather than later, you’re never prepared to do this.

Her last car ride was that day and we believe she knew it.  Even limping into the vet she didn’t seem that bothered as she usually would.  We brought her to the back room, I picked her up and put her on the table.  She was calm and we comforted her and stayed with her – we owed her at least that much.

At 4:35 PM on November 21, 2011 at the young age of 8 years old, she was gone.  Her suffering was over.

Goodbye dear friend.  You were the best companion a family can ever hope to have.  You will be remembered and in our hearts forever.

It’s been over 2 months since I posted anything.  To say this year was challenging would be an understatement.  Everything from my wifes car accident to having to put down my awesome dog, to potential loss of employment; it’s been trying overall.  All this resulted in my old ways of 1 man pity parties and stuffing my face, and leading to more weight gain.  One good thing is I somewhat kept up my activities, and have started training for 2012.  I still have some challenges ahead of me, but I’m trying to be positive and deal with them more appropriately.

I now sit at approximately 240 lbs and the odds of me being at my race weight of 180 by May 2012 are next to impossible.  That goal weight could be met probably in July/Aug if I’m 100% dedicated.  With that said, my initial goals of being competitive in the duathlon sprint series is not going to happen in 2012.  What I will do for 2012 is rebuild myself, do a few sprint & olympic distance races to further my fitness, have fun, and stabilize this into a lifestyle.  That doesn’t mean I won’t be setting aggressive goals for these races.  I’m too competitive not to.

The first 2 races of the 2012 are the Tim Horton’s Grimsby Half Marathon on Feb 26th, and the Around the Bay 30k on March 25th.  The half marathon will serve as a “test” for 30k race the month later.  The test will serve to determine my goal time for the 30k.

My weekly run mileage is up to 42 kms (26 miles).  Next week is a recovery week.

Till next time! Take care everyone.