On August 27, 2015

Progress despite setbacks

This week was fun, a long run, a short fast run, and a whole bunch of burpees, and otherwise uneventful, without much to report.

The long run was pretty easy, just shy of 12 miles. I ran the Sherburne Trail, up the Hershey Highway to Pico Peak, back down the Hershey Highway to the trail, up to Killington Peak and back down. I didn’t go particularly fast, but there was no heat stroke, and I had no problems, but for my left hip. The usual.

Further into the week, I did more walking as I had very little time for training.  So I tried a short fast run, three miles on Killington Road, the length of the sidewalk, up and down.

The best part about this run was that I really cranked. All three miles were half up/half down, and all three were in the seven minute mile range, two in the mid-sevens, one almost eight (the first mile). It was a really easy, and for me, very fast. Hopefully by the time I run the Dallas Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving, I can make it down into the sixes!

Hopefully this coming week I will have more time to run.

After a week or ten days of true guinea pig progress, affection, petting, no biting, Pip the Impaler is back and worse than ever…snapping at my fingers like a dog biting water from a garden hose.  While this is discouraging, it seems like we do a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing.  While he is snapping, he is also far more relaxed during our daily snuggles, and he is stretching and flattening out on his belly at the beginning of the snuggle (which is a sign of relaxation and comfort).

This means that though there are setbacks, that the rescue effort is paying off.

Also, his behavior seems to involve primarily fingers. When he is feeling snappy I can put my toes in the cage and he investigates them without so much as a nibble. It’s totally adorable!

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

What if Vt’s housing crisis was a bridge?

April 23, 2025
On June 11, 2023, a tanker truck full of gasoline was traveling on Philadelphia’s Interstate 95 when it approached an off-ramp and overturned. The truck spilled 2,500 gallons of gasoline mixed with ethanol, which then ignited. Philadelphia Fire Captain Boyd reported, “Every square foot of the underpass was nothing but flame.” The fire ran into…

Green Up Day is May 3

April 23, 2025
When I went to Kent Pond the other week to launch for the first time, I was all stoked to enjoy the beauty of nature right from the boat launch. But the joke was on me because right behind the treasured bench was a bag of unattended—you guessed it—dog poop. How nice of someone to…

A puzzling situation

April 23, 2025
Over the years, I’ve told my son at least a thousand times, “It’s a puzzle, figure it out.” Borne of necessity, I used the phrase to promote action in my child, given that his first response to difficulty, traditionally, was to either give up or make a half-hearted attempt. Because of his laissez-faire attitude, my…

Mating rituals of muskrats

April 23, 2025
Muskrat mating is so sensational that songs have been written about it. Fans of 1970s pop music might be familiar with a certain ballad, written by Willis Alan Ramsey and popularized by bands like America and Captain & Tennille, about two anthropomorphic muskrats falling in love. Though you probably won’t find breeding muskrats “nibblin’ on…