Back in May I hosted my inaugural Be Bold Training Camp in Flagstaff, AZ. I knew that I wanted to drive out there and bring Roubaix, knowing it was most likely our last solo road trip together. He is a big dog, getting old (11) and slowing down. He was an excellent passenger as we traveled through the plains, switch backed through mountains, saw old friends, and landed in the desert with new ones.
Part of this training camp encompassing some introspective writing. I was heavy with the impending knowledge that my dog would not live forever, not knowing what the coming months would actually entail. We had an exercise where we wrote about our favorite trail, this is that entry:
“It’s early morning and we are up as the sun crests the hill, excitement building for both of us. As we make the 5 min drive, the windows crack as we get close, dust filling he car. He can barely contain himself, whining to be let out. The air is thick with wetness, the grass is moist with dew. He’s off to pee in the same corner he has peed on hundreds of times. We start the run the same way every time: go straight, climb up as I wait for him at the top to charge me and then take a sharp right down, dancing atop the rocks and roots dumping into the field while raspberries flank us on either side. He runs through the rows of freshly cut corn like a car in a lane, then jumping out to run in the tall grass so it can brush his face with half closed eyes. Once we reach the big hill in the trees he knows what to do. Taking the lead through the secret single track where you don’t dare to stop as you’ll get eaten alive by mosquitoes. A sharp right turn with a grassy down hill, he beats me every time. He’s on the edge of the creek before I know it, deep in mud, looking back for approval. Once I’m ahead of him he breezes past me grazing my leg with his wet body, catching my knees. I smile and tell him he’s a good boy as he smiles at me with his tongue all the way out, like a cartoon character. We have one more climb where the wild asparagus grow and we race for the top with a Ready, Set, Go! Dirt gravel road back to the car where he waits in the shade of his favorite tree, with one more pee and a plastic bowl of water to drink the run away. We pull out of the lot with the windows all the way down and the dust swirling, mixed with the AC, us in our happiest place. Just us.”
Now, is this place my most favorite trail, maybe? Is it the place that I know by heart and have more memories than I can recall, absolutely. This park is one of the very first places we ran together when he was just a pup. He comforted me after Boston in 2013, we ran in the snow for the first time here. We brought friends, and showed them our playground. We even said goodbye to his very best friend here.
To the average person or to the avid trail runner this park may seem boring and small. But every inch of this park is filled with him.
Losing a pet, a best friend always comes too soon. We found a week ago that his lungs were full of cancer, he most likely had it when we took that trip in May, maybe I knew something was off? Yesterday almost exactly a week later we said goodbye to him, as each day his breathing got increasingly worse. He was ready and I have solace knowing he is no longer in pain, I hope he gets to see Ari and his resting haven is this park.
