2024 - January and February

 Well here I am at the start of my tenth year and it has been quite a good start to the year with some running and walking including a very misty trip to Moel Fammau in January.  My human is slowing down quite a lot, especially on the uphill sections, it was a run of 8.5 km with quite a lot (296 metres) of ascent.  I waited for my human to catch up and admired the view...of mist. 

It was well worth the effort and was not at all busy on the hill, a bonus was the lack of sheep so I had much more time off the lead than I usually do on this hill.

I continued to run, but now I have at least one or two days break between each session, many of my runs are short runs of around 5 or 6 km.  I help my human with his interval training, this involves 10 sprints of 100 metres with 100 metres of slow running in between each one. this is followed by 2 sprints of 200 metres and another lot of 100 metre sprints.  I love this because my human starts to get really tired and I can outpace him easily by the end of the sessions.

February started off very well with a trip south to Herefordshire for a few days, stopping off for lunch and a short walk at Church Stretton on the way. 

Carding Mill Valley, Church Stretton.

 

I stayed near Ledbury for a few days in a pub where dogs were made very welcome, whilst in Herefordshire I visited Hereford and had a lovely walk around the city and I went inside the cathedral for a look around (I was allowed in as long as I was carried).  From Hereford I travelled over to Ledbury for more wandering and a visit to a pleasant coffee shop. The weather was lovely, it was exceptionally mild and sunny for the time of year. 

February sunshine at Hereford (above) and Ledbury, Church of St. Michael and All Angels.

I did one run in Herefordshire, it was a fairly flat but muddy run of 6 km on fields and through a cider orchard.   On the way back home I stopped off in Ludlow for a wander, I visited St. Laurence's Church which I last visited in August 2014, a lovely peaceful place where I relaxed and listened to the organ music. It is a very old church dating back to the 11th century and very welcoming to dogs and humans.

Then the most exciting part of the month for me, it was my birthday on 16th February, I was ten years old and excited to get a new toy for my birthday, a super walk by Llyn Tegid and a special doggy birthday cake.

Wags and woofs, 

Dexter.