Pouring One Out for the OG Blog Dog

Before Lucille — or even Ben — graced these pages, about 85% of my posts were dedicated to a certain goldendoodle with great hair, a sunny personality and immediate star power that probably warranted its own spin-off blog but then what would I have written about here? Oh yeah, running. Forgot that’s what I founded this thing on back in 2012.

If you felt a disturbance in the force yesterday, you weren’t imagining it: Keira, my original muse and the poodle mix voted most likely to play Joe Biden in a musical, passed away at the far too young age of seven. I know I owe her perfect prose and a eugoogaly to make Derek Zoolander proud, but I’m too profoundly sad to be funny or thoughtful tonight. So instead, I bring you six life lessons that my brother’s very special pup taught me, complete with — of course — photos. Because, let’s be honest, Keira would have wanted it that way.

Without further ado, I present to you a pictorial recap of everything Keira taught me as a runner, not least of which was that time she ate an entire crockpot of gravy until she nearly burst, making her, quite clearly, my self-control spirit animal.

Keira Life Lesson No. 1: ALWAYS BE PREPARED.

Whether you’re training for a long run with an emergency $20 in your pocket or donning a pair of goggles before your aunt Anne forces you to complete the ice bucket challenge, it’s good to be prepared.

Keira Life Lesson No. 2: DRESS FOR THE ELEMENTS.

photo 2 (62) — Running 12 miles is hard anyways. Don’t make it harder by forgetting your warmest spandex or leaving your gloves behind.

Keira Life Lesson No. 3: DON’T RACE HUNGRY.

photo (71) — I’ll run 5-6 miles on an empty stomach, but any more than that and you’ll be swooning your way to the finish line. Try some peanut butter toast or a banana several hours before you toe the starting line — or your aunt’s delicious arm in a pinch.

Keira Life Lesson No. 4: DON’T SWEAT A BAD HAIR DAY.

photo 2 (15) — Or a bad training day. Some days you’re on top of the world, some days you feel like scum, but it all averages out if you let it. Shake off the bad days.

Keira Life Lesson No. 5: GET GOOD SLEEP.

Eight hours a day isn’t just for babies and mattress models like Keira. Go to bed early, and stop scrolling through social media from the comfort of your pillow. (If you can figure out how to pull that off, please tell me.)

Keira Life Lesson No. 6: ENJOY IT.

Move to Hawaii. Have a best friend. Be nice to strangers. Smile. Life’s too short for anything else.

Rest in peace, K.

3 thoughts on “Pouring One Out for the OG Blog Dog”

Such sadness. Such a great tribute. Adios, beautiful, photogenic Keira!

Liz says:

March 14, 2019 at 6:46 am

Phyllis took the words right out of my keypad!!! A beautiful tribute to an amazing Keira! She touched many hearts and was lucky to be loved by so many too! Thanks for your writing of this blog!

Reply