week 47: when it's hard to be grateful | Runs With PugsRuns With Pugs

If you know anything about me, it’s that I try to be positive at all costs. I look for silver linings and bright spots. Glasses are half full, rainstorms bring rainbows, and there is always something for which to be grateful. After this week, it’s getting harder and harder to count blessings.

We are struggling with Delilah’s health. It was a very long and scary weekend with her, and we still don’t have all our answers. Best case scenario, she will have a full dental and extraction procedure on Friday and all will be well. We won’t talk about worst case.

Monday also marks the one year anniversary of my accident. I am not usually one who swells on things like this, but I have been extremely anxious and edgy about the day, and I want to skip the rest of November altogether.

Sunday – 3.09 miles, walking

Even though we were out super late at dinner, I still got up for some movement. It felt like the right thing to do.

I am pleased to report that I haven’t noticed too many residual aches or pains after my long run days, which I find super encouraging. I’m not planning to up my days or my miles just yet,

Monday – 4.26 miles, walking

And so began A’s last week of school before break! Whoo hoo! I think that motivated me through my morning miles.

His allergies have been acting up, so he was in a bit of a mood, making the work drag a little longer than it needed to be. So close to the end of the semester. So close.

Tuesday – 4.75 miles running + 1.53 miles, walking

Yay for a nice run!

For some reason, we were all very irritable. I don’t know if it was the weather or the weirdness surrounding the holidays this year. We ended up going out for dinner and that helped break up some of the crankiness.

Wednesday – 3.67 miles, walking

Another beautiful morning. The weather has been so perfect for outside time. I hustled out for my walk.

My neighbor asked me if I would help her with her service mini horse. He had a scheduled appearance and she needed someone to assist. I was so happy to do it – I’m always down for some animal time, and this mini is the cutest. He’s also the most stubborn, and our morning did not go as planned.

While I was just happy to be there, she offered to let me ride her other horse, but I’m not ready yet. My leg is stronger but I don’t trust it in the saddle yet. I did happily take her up on grooming him, and my reward was that this beautiful boy fell asleep on my shoulder as I was hugging him.

Thursday – 4.75 miles, running + 1.55 miles, walking

The morning started on the correct foot. It was chilly and we had a great run.

Instead of going home to take a hot shower, I went to grab a coffee, and along the way, my Raynaud’s flared up. Blah.

I didn’t get ahead of it fast enough and managed to get quite a nasty chill. Even bundling up with a hot coffee drink instead of iced didn’t help me out. I spent most of the day in bed, and came to the conclusion that my insomnia and lack of appetite were all contributing factors to my unwellness.

Delilah had a vet appointment. She was a little off this week, and we wanted to get her checked. The first order of business was that she would need a full dental (ugh), but we would have to wait on her labs.

Friday – rest day

Mr PugRunner asked me not to set my alarm, and to take the day off, which had been my plan. I was also thrilled to wake up feeling like a new woman. Delilah had a rough morning, but seemed mostly ok. I was happy to just hang out and keep an eye on her.

A submitted his last assignment before the holiday week. Normally, all his work is done on Thursday, but he had a few papers that needed a little extra attention, so we scheduled that time.

I also got two awesome surprises – I had almost forgotten about this virtual packet!

And this tank arrived from my blogger Elfster gift exchange. I don’t know who sent it, yet, but I love it and can’t wait to wear it to my Sandy Claus 10K in a few weeks!

Later in the day, D started too struggle a bit with breathing. Mr PugRunner scheduled her dental cleaning for the Friday after Thanksgiving and came home with antibiotics and painkillers, even though all her labs came back clean. We sat with her, trying to keep her calm and safe, but by 9:30, he felt better taking her to the emergency vet. As you can imagine, it was a very, very long night.

Saturday – 5 miles, running

It was a long and sleepless night for most of us. Mr PugRunner left at 6AM to pick up Delilah, but when he got there, they advised that she wasn’t weaning off the oxygen as quickly as they hoped, so they asked to keep her longer. Ugh.

Of course I was a nervous wreck. I bailed on my 8 miler (it didn’t help that it was raining) but tried again a few hours later. It was hot and I had eaten something so my stomach was sloshy. J came with me and we managed five and then I came home to play the waiting game.

She was cleared from the oxygen chamber and spent the day weaning off the O2 until we picked her up at 6. She was thrilled to be home, and we were thrilled to have her.

Goal-getting

Obviously, my miles were off this week. Oh, and somewhere along the line, I fell off the Abvember Challenge wagon. My lower back started hurting and when I gel so awful on Thursday with more pain, I gave up the idea of making up any time I’ve missed. Bailing on a challenge bums me out, but I’m not down to be laid up again.

On to Big D. As a pug, Delilah suffers from brachycephalic airway obstructive syndrome. We aren’t sure, right now, what the best course of treatment will be, but we are hoping she is just stressed out because she needs some dental work (which she is scheduled to receive this week).

This week, I’m going to focus on cooking a nice dinner for our small family, and making a kindness and holiday countdown in advance of December. we need things to look forward to this year, probably more than ever after this week.

On Thursday, I plan to run a 5K in honor of turkey day, even though it won’t be an official race. I’m kind of sad about that, but I will make it work on my own.

And just because we need some more cuteness, here’s Luna, waiting for sissy to come home.