An attitude of gratitude: Miles 9 and 10

Wow, here we are at Miles 9 and 10! This marks the beginning of the last third of the race and where I really need to kick it up a notch and stay strong. Fortunately, I have lots of wonderful dog people to think about who will help me do just that.

Here's the latest weather report for race day:
May 16 Sunday More clouds than sun. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the low 50s.
AND Saturday's low is now in the mid-40s! SCORE!!! Forecast, please, please, please stay this way!

Mile 9:
We'll start with Tynya, who is very special to me for many reasons. First, she grooms my dogs, a service for which she deserves a medal. My older dog had never been to a professional groomer until he was 5, and he was in pretty rough shape when she first started working on him. She would have been well within her rights to berate me for not looking after him better, but she didn't. He is the first dog I've ever owned and I just didn't know any better. Now that he is a hospital therapy dog, he has to look tip-top, so he gets the full spa treatment every three months. Second, Tynya is a fellow agility handler and a very good one at that. She moves very gracefully around the course with her standard poodles (see why she's such a good groomer?) and always has fun with her dogs even if they don't do the course quite the way she had intended. Third, Tynya also does hospital therapy (at a different hospital than the one I go to) with her dog Nicolette, a stunningly beautiful black standard poodle who does amazing things with autistic kids. They are a very accomplished team and bring a lot of joy to the kids they visit.

Next, we have Pat. Pat is a longtime dog person with a wonderful sense of humor (showing dogs for twenty or thirty years will do that to you) who always seems to take everything in stride. She has a wonderful bi-black Sheltie (black and white) named Bow who has racked up an astonishing number of titles in several different dog sports. I took a few Rally Obedience classes from her and went on to do very well in my first few shows, no doubt due to her fantastic instruction!

Many people in the dog world also were or are active in the horse show world as well, and JoAnn is a prime example of that. She even gets to work with dog and horse supplies at her job! JoAnn's dad battled blood cancer himself, so she knows what I am going through with my mom. In addition to running her dog Ema Lu amazingly well, she works hard for our agility club as a "worker herder" -- she lines up all of the people who help out when we hold a show. It requires dozens of people, but JoAnn makes it happen! Thank you, JoAnn!

Julie R is another new-to-dog-agility-but-kicking-butt-and-taking-names handler whom I met at an agility camp last spring (yes, we have camps too--it's a whole lifestyle!). She is also a professional writer and helped me get an article published on-line related to dog agility. A woman of many talents, no doubt about it, who has been supporting me and cheering me on the whole way. Thanks, Julie!

Caroline was one of the first people to reach out and donate, and she left a comment telling me why: "My good friend and colleague, Kim Seigneur, who was a Speech Language Pathologist, passed away this past August at the age of 54 from Multiple Myeloma. It is good to see that donations will be used in part for that disease too." I will spend part of my time in Mile 9 remembering Kim and hoping that some of the money we've raised might help make some progress on multiple myeloma.

Last but definitely not least, we have Emily, who is not only a fellow agility handler and classmate, but also a fellow runner. She and her dogs have been running together every morning for the last 13 years! She was there the day I ran my very first 5K race (it was her first race too!), and now she and I and a few others are teaming up to run the Akron Marathon Relay in September. Thanks for all your support, Emily!

Tynya, Pat, JoAnn (and JoAnn's dad), Julie R, Caroline (and Kim), and Emily, Mile 9 is for you!

Mile 10:
Double digits! I have only run this far or further three times: once in training (a ten-miler in late March), once in a race (my triumphant Hermes ten-miler), and one super-long training run (a twelve-miler a month ago). They say that when you run a half-marathon, that you should break it up mentally into three parts: a five-miler, another five-miler, and a 5K. This mile is the end of the second long part. If I can just stay smooth and relaxed through this point, I know I can get through the last 5K in good shape.

I'm going to cheat a little bit and dedicate this mile to the Medina Swarm Agility Club. Some of the people in Mile 9 are also members of the club, but I'll be up all night if I write a paragraph about every single member I want to mention. Let me just keep it short and sweet:
Brenda -- thanks for all the nice e-mails! I'll always remember the night of the glue fumes with you and Steve.
Courtney and Jenn -- you are the social queens of the universe! You really know how to throw a great party.
Michelle -- Love your Brutus blogging! You and he are both great additions to the club.
Amanda P and Amanda M -- You guys are always there to work on the building and help at trials! Your energy amazes me!
Betsy L -- I love the fine work you're doing for rescue, and seeing Desmo destroy your pant cuff at the Fun Run was PRICELESS!
Chris -- You and Theo have become such a great team! Now if you could just finish remodeling your house...
Cindy -- Thanks for all your fantastic work for the Cleveland APL. As you and I know, rescue dogs rock!
Frances -- I've so enjoyed following your ongoing adventures with Miss Sarah, the Great Mouse Hunter! Hopefully she will soon come into her own.
Barb -- Happy belated birthday, and thank you for all your hard work organizing APDT and TDAA trials!
Katie -- You and Mitzi are setting the agility world on fire! And your running sounds like it's coming along pretty well too if your Facebook postings are any indication! Thanks for all your support!
Nancy -- You and Dave are coming along really well, and you are always so willing to help out!
Julie D -- You are a super trooper! "Man may work from sun to sun, but the trial sec's work is never done..."
Michele -- The club is lucky to have you and Ransom! And thanks for making sure that no one has to starve on trial weekends. The food you provide is dee-lish!

I'm going to mention one or two more club members in Mile 11, but Medina Swarm, Mile 10 is for you!

My parents are coming in tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately they are coming to see me and not my house--my house looks horrifying.