Hi all! New to this subreddit but not new to running. This is my 6 year old mini american shepherd (aka a mini aussie) Steve. I started running 6ish years ago when I had a surgery that relieved chronic pain I had. After that, for the first time in my life I was able to exercise without severe pain and I fell in love with running soon after.
I struggle with severe ADHD and anxiety and even with medication, its difficult for me to run on a consistent basis and make sure I stick to a routine. As a result I've never ran more than a 10k before. But I still enjoy it a lot and most runs I do a 5k as my minimum distance. I'm working on getting better with consistency so I can build up my endurance and run farther with my best bud.
Steve is such a good running partner. I wish I had started running with him much sooner but it wasn't possible with my health issues. He tries to herd me during our runs sometimes by lagging behind me to give my legs a little boop, then he goes back to my side. Its genuinely the cutest thing and keeps me going when I start struggling a bit. We only did 4 miles yesterday as I'm coming off a long break from running and my legs couldn't do more than that. But eventually I want to run a half marathon and maybe a full marathon one day. Any advice for either of us is more than welcome! I'm mostly worried about pushing Steve too far. Aussies don't have an off switch, so I'm always trying to be hyper vigilant about how he's feeling so I know when he's done. 6 isn't old for his breed but its not young either so I just want to make sure he stays healthy as he ages so we can both do what we love together. 🥰