Swimming for a cause

People who train for long distance events often decide to put their hard work to good use and use their events to support a charity close to their hearts. In marathons, triathlons, cycling events, etc there is no shortage of "teams in training" and other such groups. See, training for athletic events is essentially a selfish endeavor - we put tremendous amounts of time and energy into pursuing our goals, but this is of little benefit to others or to society as a whole. But by supporting a cause, athletes are able to use their events to serve a greater purpose.

I counted myself as lucky since neither myself nor my immediate family members were inflicted with any serious maladies (mental quirks? Yes. Questionable tendencies? Perhaps. But no serious maladies to speak of). That was until very recently, when I noticed some changes in my favorite little man.



Sneakers has been losing some of the hair on his chest and under his legs. He has been itching and scratching these areas as well, meaning his problem is more than pug pattern hair loss. It turns out the little guy is seriously allergic to something. It's not life threatening, but it is a terrible nuisance that deserves our sympathies.

Sneakers requires a bath once a week, in special medicated shampoo. After he is lathered up, he must remain all soapy for a full 10 min before he can be rinsed (and before he can rub himself dry on our furniture).

As you can see, Sneakers is being amazingly brave and tolerant of his weekly bath. Much more distressing is the special diet that the vet has put him on. He can eat nothing except his special dog food (made of rabbits, potatoes, and kangaroo meat) and carrots for his treats. He gets nothing else! As any pug would tell you, carrots are NOT treats. Sneakers is hungry for some better food and I don't blame him one bit.




So I'd like to take this opportunity to raise awareness for K9 skin allergies, a very common problem among pugs. The next time you see a pug with a sparse patch of hair do not stare - the pug is a hero, doing his best to get by on carrot treats!

Week 12:
Mon: rest
Tues: swim 6000 yds, run 3 mi
Wed: swim 4500, run 3 mi
Thurs: swim 5200, 40 min abs
Fri: swim 14,000
Sat: run 5 mi
Sun: swim 6,300 walk 3 mi
Total: swim 36,000 yds, walk/run 14 mi, 50 min abs