Handler Fitness and Agility

These past 2 years of competing in agility, hearing my fellow competitors yell "Run, Michele, run", seeing myself wabble thru my runs with baby steps and no accelleration (thank goodness my dogs have a rock solid start line stay so I can lead far far out),  and mostly avoiding front crosses for fear of twisting an ankle, I've been looking for

• a running coach,
• or at least running tips,
• plus a lower body fitness routine to do a few minutes every day, and
• a short handler warm-up routine to do before my runs. 

Nobody has come forward to offer me these so I've sort of picked up tips and made up my own routines -- not optimal since I don't know what I'm doing but surely better than nothing.  In fact, still no agility handler I've met personally seems to think handler fitness training is important.  Some say "running just comes natural", others say I'm taking the fun out, or over-complicating things.

But . . . . . . . it isn't fun to be unsure on my feet, and running DOES NOT COME NATURAL to me.   I swear, either I am missing some muscles, or maybe they have atrophied in 45 years of NEVER having an occasion to run. I didn't run thru my classroom as a teacher.  I don't run in the grocery store, don't run from room to room at my house, don't run to the mailbox, and I don't run behind my broom, mop or push lawn mower.  I certainly don't run at my computer where I spend at least half my time.

Finally, today, I find Daisy Peel's website of Online Classes, one of which is:

FUNCTIONAL FITNESS FOR AGILITY HANDLERS
This 9-week course is designed to give you some guidance with exercises that you can incorporate in to a new or existing physical fitness program to help you move around a course fluidly. We’ll address the areas of core stability, balance, strength, acceleration and deceleration, and sports vision.

Aha!  I'm not crazy.  Handler fitness training is important!  It's not only about training the dog!  And I so love the sound of "moving around a course fluidly", the phrase has just become one of my New Year's Resolutions.

"Move around the course more fluidly."

But what the hell is sports vision?  Do I have it?  Do I need it?  If I google it will I get answers?  That will be subject for another blog post. 

The more I learn, the more I learn that there is always something more to learn.  "Knowing it all" is a goal "that fades forever and forever when I move" (quote from Ulysses).  Thus, another New Years' Resolution this and every year is to

"Set realistic expectations, so high they require reaching, but reachable with consistent effort

and some luck."

As it happens, I have an eye appointment scheduled for this Thursday afternoon for a dilation and vision screening in preparation for possible cataract/lasic surgery.  Because I have floaters and look through a fog in my left eye and my reading glasses are getting stronger and stronger, and the TV looks blurry, and I need a magnifying glass to distinguish between 3 and 8, between 5 and S, and I squint a lot which makes me look angry when I'm not, and stuggling to see makes everything harder to do and gives me vague headaches, so that is already another New Years' Resolution of mine:

"Get my eyes fixed in 2012, before trialing begins."

Upwards and onward!

Cross Country Racing

Michele and Jonathan, after the race.

I've never been to a cross-country race, so my mind was reeling with excitement last Saturday morning while attending my grandson's cross country races at Highland Park.  Nathan, Allison and I met up there.  Hundreds of high schoolers from neighboring parishes were bussed in to compete in 2 mile and 3 mile races from about 9-11 a.m.  15 to 20 schools had canopies set up across the landscape. The crowds of spectators were enormous, I'm guessing 1,000.  Parking spaces were scarce and a long ways away. The weather was bright, beautiful, and cool on the 1st day of October.  Thank goodness for that, because the terrain was hilly for the runners and not much shade.

I took lots of videos but there was so much to take in, I only got a moment's footage of my own grandkid at the end, which you'll see in the composite video below.  But that turned out not to be my only subject.  I found the whole event fascinating, especially gratifying to see so many kids participating, not as in days of old when only a select few made the varsity team and the rest of us sat on the sidelines.  "We've come a long way, baby", in recognizing the value of participation and inclusion.

I also got the proof I needed that real runners do get airborn, they land heel first, and their back feet kick up behind them!  I've been asking for a Running Coach (see previous post).  This helped.

Here's a composite of snippets from all the footage I took at various stages of various races, including the start, middle and nearing the end of Jonathan's race:

I have simply GOT to get a faster computer, a better video camera, and better video editing software!  It took me a whole day to make this 4 minute video!  And COX had better get their act together, too.  Their broadband delivery system is woefully inadequate and I'm going to dump them the minute I find a better alternative.

Jonathan nearing the finish line.

I include one still shot from the video, for those of you still on dial-up who can't play the videos I post. Just letting you know (Mom and Dad), you are really cramping my style! 

I heard Jonathan came in 27th, a very respectable finish, but anyone that finished has my respect. Nothing like being shown up by a herd (or is it hoard) of teenagers.

Nathan, Maxie, Willow

Of course I brought Maxie and Willow, and  they were, as always, a conversation piece.  I heard people exclaim "look, twins", "how cute", and "can I pet your chihuahuas".  Very few recognize the Papillon breed, and nobody I told about Maxie's and my sport had heard of dog agility!   We've got a ways to go to get our message out about agility.  I'm proud that anybody, even the physically challenged, can participate in my sport.  I'm proud that I, at last, can say . . . . . "I have a sport!"

Another thing I'm proud of is Willow, who used to huff, pant, grunt and become overheated just walking around the block when we first got her, did perfectly fine walking around for 2 hours in all the excitement.  Down from 16 pounds to 8.5 in the past 2 years, I take this as a solid sign that her heart is truly healthy again.  This is most gratifying, especially as she is indispensible as Maxie's crate mate at trials. Gotta have her!

Upwards and onward!

Monday Practice

Before meeting up with Nedra, Georgie, & Michele S at the field at 4 p.m. for an hour's practice on the FCI course set up last week, I dropped by Joy's to train Puddin a bit, and bring Joy a platter of food from our Christmas Party, and the first disk of The Tudors. Joy is getting around, and seems ever cheerful.  I worked in the den with Puddin's Line-Ups, fetches, bring it to me's, post turns, pull throughs, sit/stays, downs, and so forth.  He seems willing to learn, anxious to please.  Joy put most of the other D's outside, which helped Puddin to focus. I quickly retreated from the treadmill as he showed some anxiety