A Man and His Dog!

I was thinking of a good title for my next blog and it hit me. These last couple of weeks, I've been on the comeback trail, and even made strides in my running that I haven't done since before I trained for my big races. This week in particular, I made one of my biggest strides by starting a run streak. So far, I am on day 6. With this week coming up and me and my wife moving, I may be hard pressed to get some of my runs in, but then again, you never know.

Back to this title of a man and his dog. The last couple of weeks, I've started out little by little by taking my dog, Corkie with me for some of my runs. I made the "mistake" one morning by taking her for a walk because Stacie told me too. As some of you know, once you get started in any kind of workout, you get that endorphin kick that helps you keep going. Such is true in dogs as I've found out. Every morning, I get up, take Corkie out to potty, come back in, and then I get my running clothes and shoes on, then I'm out the door. Some mornings, I take her with me for an easy 3 or 4 mile run and it makes my day so much. I never realized before, or maybe it's just me, but something happens that I can't explain when Corkie and I go for a run together. For me, it's nice having a running buddy even if she is a dog. For her, let's just say she's a "daddy's girl" so she'll go anywhere with me. To me, it's our time together that can't be replaced.

As I started my run streak this week, it began Monday morning with an easy 3.5 mile run in just a little over 37 minutes. As much of a speed freak (well at my size anyway) as I've become lately, I've have to take a step back and keep a steady pace for Corkie. In case you're wondering, Corkie is a 15 month old Shetland Sheepdog aka, Sheltie. She's mainly bred for herding, which I've seen upfront when I take out sometimes. She can manage a steady pace (10 minute mile) with me, and when we get back to the entrance of our apartment complex, she books it because that's when I usually jet it back to my front door. It's awesome to see her move like that. On occasion, when I get home from work, after I've taken her out for her afternoon potty break, I'll find a stick, take her off the leash and let her fetch a few times. In the apartments that we live in (fixing to move out from) we have a group of kids that come out and play and when they see Corkie, they of course have to sworm her. She loves it though. Like a new mom and her baby, everybody has to come and see her. LOL!! Anyways, as those kids are out playing, she likes to round them up by leaping and barking at them. I promise you, she is far from the biting and aggressive types. Some of the kids get scared, so naturally, she chases them like as if she was herding them. From my point of view, I couldn't be anymore prouder of my girl. But still, on days I don't take her for our morning runs, I do make it up to her by taking her for an evening walk. I like it because it keeps me in check, and moving for that matter. One of these days, I plan to do a 5k run and have her run with me. No matter the finish time, I'll enjoy the race and I'm sure she will too.

From the day Stacie and I brought her home, she had us pinned. It was oh so clear she was ours.

So cute and tiny the first week we brought her home.

Corkie and Mommy. We are such proud parents.

With our schedules the way they are. Stacie working and going to school, and me pretty much now working two jobs, Corkie IS our child for now. As much as we want to someday have two legged children, but not right now. We're now in our early thirties and we've been married now going on 4 years this October, so it's not to say we are in a hurry to have children, but at the same time we are. We've talked about adoption, possibly trying after she finishes school, and we've even thought about the idea of just raising pups as our kids. We don't know yet. As one would say, "have to talked to God about this?" We have, and he knows our plans and he has blessed and provided us with a lot so far. In his will, if it's meant for us to have kids, we will have them.

Enough of that. As I progessed in my streak this week, I was pleased to run 9 miles yesterday. As much as I wanted to do 10, it was a case of miscalculating the route I ran. That's ok. I've been grateful just to be able to get out every morning this week and run. I've come to conclude on my mornings I push for a long run, mainly whatever I can squeeze in about an hour and a half, usually about 7 miles, sometimes 8 if I've pushed hard enough. Those days I don't take Corkie because I consider that a training run and I want to get as much out of them as I can. As I promised, I always make up for it by taking her for a walk at night. I got the idea from a Dailymile friend in regards to running streaks. I've given myself a challenge to run 200 miles in the next 40 days. On average, that is 5 miles a day. I remembered in the beginning of my running days that I thought 3 miles was going to kill me, but now 3 miles barely gives me the workout I want. I consider those kind of runs either a warmup or a recovery run. On those days, yes indeed I take the my "daughter" with me. To me, 5 miles is a "just right" kind of run for me. Granted, a 10k (6.2 miles) is my favorite distance, I like doing 5 miles as a workout. After that 3 mile warmup, I catch my second and that's when I take off. My best time has been 41 minutes (8:12 pace). It's also along a route in my neighbor hood that takes me through a section that is very peaceful to stroll by. Plus, it's along the street next to a doughnut shop, so that smell alone motivates me. LOL!! That gets me hungry which pushes me to go faster so I can get away from the smell and the front door so I'm not tempted. HAHAHA!

Over this passed year, as a runner and a pet owner, I am amazed at how much has progressed in my life. On and off the road. Seeing Corkie grow up before mine and Stacie's eyes has been such a blessing. It's hard to go into details about what we've done as a family and ourselves (me and Stacie) as individuals. I look forward to the future and excited for what lies ahead.

Love,

The Taggert Family
Tim, Stacie, and Corkie





In Review!!

Well,

A lot has happened in the last few weeks since my last blog "What's on my mind".. Happy to report that my sweet sister in law, Brenda is still with us. Praise the LORD!! As the family waited on for her dear life and making funeral arrangements, her health went in the unexpected direction... BETTER!! As I was writing my last blog in my hotel room in Lubbock, Brenda was suffering some of the worse conditions she has ever experienced. Doctors and Chaplains all said for us to brace ourselves, and comfort her as she was prepared to go be with Jesus. Not even one week after we made it back home, we got word that her vitals were improving. Again, I ask to you health pros, what explanation do you have for this? I'm still waiting.

As we moved forward with our everyday life, Stacie and I have made progress with our moving situation. I am pleased to report that in two weeks, we will be moving to our new place of residence. Granted, it's another apartment, so more rent and no equity, it's still an upgrade for us. Our bedroom is UPSTAIRS. That's the one luxury I appreciate having. In all my life, I have never lived in a house that had a second story inside. All paperwork, deposits, packing, movers scheduled, and even arrangements for our pet, Corkie while we move has all been taken care of. Once the movers get here, they just load the truck up with our junk, and take a 5 minute trip down the street and around the corner to our first townhome apartment, and start a new chapter in our life. The excitement is rising. Looking forward to finally having friends over, and actually having a a sit down meal at an actual dinner table.

That following weekend coming back from Lubbock, I had the privilege to meet some Dailymile friends as they participated in the Dallas Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon. My friends Jeremy and William aka the Fermo brothers were in town as they themselves had the privilege to run this race with another friend of theirs from their part of town. Their friend Ivy, had made a pledge to raise $1,000 in donations as well as running the race. This was also her first attempt at running 13.1 miles. Boy did that bring back memories from when I ran my first. Long story short, if you want to whole scoop of the race, read Ivy's blog at http://www.dowhatyouabsolutelylove.blogspot.com/

For me, it was truly an honor to be apart of that for Ivy, and the Fermo Brothers as well. For what Jeremy and Willie did for a friend is irreplaceable. You got to admire that spirit in runners like them. For me, I also had the privilege of having a friend pace with me in my first marathon, so I it was definitely a blessing more than anything to pay forward, or give back in this way. I didn't get the chance to sign up for the race, so I made a pack to pace with Ivy, Jeremy, and Will during the race. In fact, I met up with them around mile 9 like I had promised I would. As I met up with them, Ivy was emotionally and physically spent, but her spirit of the race kept her going. No matter how fast or how slow you are moving, as long as it's one foot in front of the other, you're making strides faster than those who are sitting still. Once you get that in your head, you can make vast improvements before too long. That's how I got started. You can too!!

Here's (from Left to Right) Jeremy, Ivy, and Will coming into the fair grounds for the finish. As she was gaining her strength back, Ivy was wanting to run her heart out. Such a champ.

The champs after a tough finish. Again, words can't express how honored I was to be apart of this event with them. Btw, they went with a theme for the race, the "80's".. awesome!!

Ivy, Jeremy, and myself strutting the streets of Dallas. Pic, courtesy of Willie. So much fun that day when it comes down to it.

And then the 4 of us by my car after the race and as we said our goodbyes. Awesome bling they were rocking that day.

I'll never forget that day. I was blessed to see in person some friends I've got to know over the passed year or so on DM. The Fermo brothers are awesome in person just as they are online. I can't wait for the next race where I can possibly make a trip down south near Houston, or even Beaumont where they came from. Hope the hills of Dallas weren't too bad for them. I could go for a break sometime and enjoy some flat terrains that South Texas has to offer. Here's to hoping for either the Houston Half marathon that Jeremy and Will traditionally run, or maybe the Rock 'N Roll Marathon in San Antonio. Either one is coming up this fall, so the weather will be much appreciated than this nasty muggy-ness this summer will bring to us Texans.

It's been two weeks since that race, and the memory of that was as fresh as when I ran that same course just a year ago. I so proudly set a PR (Personal Record) that day, and it was so humbling to see a new friend achieve a goal as well a year later. Funny how God works in our lives through the course of time, and how we get connected in strange ways. Blessings indeed.

This passed weekend, I'm sure we all celebrated the festive holiday of Easter. To some of us, we saw the Easter bunny and hunted for eggs, some of went to church and heard the good message, and celebrated the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. I was fortunate to do both. I also got the privilege to run in a 5k on Saturday morning. I met up with another Dailymile friend, Dionna and her husband Tommy as they ran the race that weekend as well. Just an easy 3.1 mile jaunt through a couple of streets in Keller. It was for a good cause. I came in a 27:42 finish (8:54 pace). Not my best time, but I was pleased with my pace per mile. Over the last couple of years, I've been working my tail off trying to nail a sub 10, then eventually, a sub 9 minute mile. To make it in a 5k was unbelieveable. If I can nail this for a 10k, and eventually a half marathon, I will uberly satisfied.

Not much to say though about a 5k, it happened so fast. The RD (race director) says go, we run, we finish. Seemed like a blink of an eye for me. I'm used to being challenged by the road for a run. A 5k is a mere warmup for me, but I gotta hand to anyone who runs one of these. This distance will kick you if you let it. I'm not out to call anyone a sissy that can only run a 5k, because there are some that can't even run 100 meters. Before the race, I warmed up for 2 miles and finished in 17:39. It was a nice way to wake up and to getting ready for a good finish. With the course being as flat as it was, I was hoping for at least a 25 minute finish, but when you start at 9am in the Texas humidity, you're guaranteed to get kicked a bit in what you're used to pacing. As I got to the last part of the loop where it circled around and came back to the starting/finishing point, that humidity and sun showered me with some serious sweat. Still I pushed for a good finish. Needless to say, I was a little discouraged with my time, but I still had fun overall. The overall winner was a dad that finished in 17 minutes and some change. Not only that, he was pushing a jogger. Heroic in my book. For a short race, and not as big as marathon, I didn't receive a finishers medal, but that's ok. Still a great day was had.



Me as I was coming up to the finish line. I had made a "Hulkamania" pose. I guess the photagrapher didn't catch it in time. Oh well... I was still proud of this race, and finish for that matter

Me and Dionna, a former Dailymiler, but still a good friend. Her and her family are very active, so props to them staying that way.

I'm not really sure at this point when my next race is. My hope is to possibly run the Mayfest 10k in Ft. Worth on May 5th. I think once Stacie and I get settled into our new place, I'll decide when my next race is. In the meantime, I will begin to put my knowledge as a personal trainer to the test. I hope to start training my first client in the next week or so. Things are starting to come together, and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for me.