I have always felt a dog can be a great personal trainer. So, I was intrigued when one of our runners explained to me how she had got the ‘exercise habit’ Claire Walker’s story to fitness:
“Dogs bring great emotional benefits such as friendship, loyalty, protection, however it was only when I adopted my crossbreed Ace from a rescue centre that I learned just how fit they can help us to become too.
Now at this point in my life I was fast approaching 40 I had given up smoking, was carrying a few surplus pounds and was decidedly unfit!! I felt tired a lot and I knew I would benefit from some sort of exercise but was really struggling to become motivated.
Ace needed a lot of exercise, so slowly but surely we travelled further and further until we were doing up to 4 miles. Every day he would look at me with those hound dog eyes run to the door and wag and bark until I got his lead on, and I just felt too guilty not to take him out so barely missed a day.
I noticed how much fitter I started to feel and how much my pace was improving so the next logical step was to walk a little then run a little, Ace thought this was marvelous as he loved the increased speed, and before I knew it I was running. I loved how much more energy I had, how good it felt every time I went a bit further or a bit faster. 5 months after Ace became my personal trainer I ran my first 10k race. The sense of achievement was immense. This inspired me to join S E Fitness as I wanted to run with a group.
Thank you Ace my little crossbreed that nobody wanted, you’ve given me a healthy body and the motivation to run!