I love my dog, Audrey. She has probably the most unique, loving personality of any dog I've ever been around. When Ellie gets up early in the morning, Audrey will jump right where Ellie was sleeping and we will snooze until it's time for me to go to work.

There is one thing about Audrey that isn't working out for me. She is not much of a runner . . . at least not with me. Here is the problem, She used to run with me, but two things happened a few months apart from each other.

The first thing that happened was when I was out playing with her in my flip flops just running around. I tripped and fell on the driveway. I was pretty slow to get up; asphalt hurts. She was pretty worried and came running over and nudged me with her nose, making sure I was OK. I got up and tried to keep playing, but she wanted no part of it. She carefully walked at the end of her leash all the way home.

The second thing occurred some months later when it was winter time. I had my boots and my metal traction cleats attached. We were, again, running and playing. This time I didn't fall. The problem happened when she burst through a snow bank right in front of me and I stepped on one of her paws. I quickly jumped off but she was feeling it pretty good. She sat down for a few minutes, and then she gingerly walked with me back home.

So, OK . . . it might be my fault that she wont run with me. She runs with Ellie just fine. I know I have to slowly gain back her confidence and trust in me when it comes to running, I just wish I could expedite the process.

Now for the point of this post. Something clicked for me the other day when I was trying to get her to run. When Audrey runs, she is playing with us, making the activity fun. She makes it terribly hard to pace, but she makes it fun when she is jumping around. (I assume that getting stepped on is not fun so she refuses to share that fun with me unless Ellie is with us). It clicked, though, that running isn't always about distance and time, but about having fun while doing it. Last night I went out and admittedly ran to much and am very sore, but more importantly I went running off the roads and sidewalks. I ran wherever I wanted, cutting around the parkways and trees like Audrey would do. I highly recommend giving it a shot.