Katie's Pre- 5K9 Report

My friend Shayla made these cool cake balls for me (but I bet my parents don't let me eat any of them!)

Hi this is Katie. My dad left the computer open this morning, so this is my chance to write about my big race coming up on Saturday!

First I guess I should write about cancer. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know I went to a lot of vets and when they said I had nasal cancer my parents were really sad and cried a lot. My mom says cancer is what made my nose bleed and what makes me sneeze and have a runny nose all the time (her nose runs all the time and she has allergies- I'm not sure what the difference is), none of that stuff really bothers me, so I'm not sure why my parents were so upset. They gave me some medicine and some other stuff and my nose hasn't been bleeding anymore, they seem happy about that.

I'm not really sure cancer is so bad. My parents say it will probably make me feel sick. But because of cancer I get extra attention, new toys, super yummy food, I get to run with my mom again, I get to raise money for the Petco Foundation, and  I get to go to a lot of cool places. But the best thing of all is all the love and support I've gotten from all my friends and family and even strangers! My mom always tells me what people say on my Facebook page and almost every day my dad says "Katie, you're a lucky dog, A LOT of people really love and care about you!" So even if cancer makes me feel really sick, I will always remember that I'm a very lucky dog because so many people love and care about me.

A few days after the cancer diagnosis, I was acting super happy to try and cheer up my parents. My mom said since I felt so good, she was going to try running with me again. Connor and I used to run with her all the time, but a few years ago Connor started to not be able to keep up anymore and Mom started running really far, so we stopped running with her. We went for a 1 mile run and had lots of fun! We went on a few more runs and then she asked if I wanted to run a race! I was super excited! My mom does lots of races but I've never gotten to go, I've only been to my Dad's mountain bike race. So she said if I stayed healthy and felt good, we'd run the Petco 5K9 in May. That was way back in February, so it seemed far away. But I was happy because I got to run a lot to train for the race!

My mom & me after I told her I wanted to do a race!

When WalkRunWag- the people in charge of the race- asked for ambassadors a few months ago, my mom thought we'd have fun doing that, so she applied for us. They said we'd make "perfect ambassadors", and they sent a package to us in the mail. It was full of all kinds of yummy smelling treats and food! There were also collars, bandanas, stickers, and t-shirts. My mom made me wear a t-shirt and took pictures- how embarrassing!

Stupid embarrassing t-shirt picture

Then she wouldn't let me or Connor eat any of the treats, she said we had to give them away to other dogs...sigh...at least I got a collar and bandana that look cool. As an ambassador I got to go places and tell people & dogs about the race- that was the best part of being an ambassador! I went to run workouts with Gilbert's Gazelles and Coach Cindy, I got to go to Jack & Adam's tri shop. Jack's a pretty cool guy, every time he sees me he gives me hugs and attention and my mom says he asks about me all the time. I even got to do a Moonlight run and meet my new friend Banjo!

At a Coach Cindy workout

At a Gilbert's Gazelles workout

I even got to meet Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano! (I think my mom was jealous that I got a picture with him and she didn't)

Jack & me at Jack & Adams

We also get to raise money for the Petco Foundation, which will give all the money raised in Austin to Austin Pets Alive!  They help dogs who don't have homes find homes with families to love them. I have been with my family since I was a tiny baby, so I don't know what it's like to be a shelter dog or to not have a family. But I've met other dogs who lived at shelters and they all say the people at the shelters are nice but being with a real family is much better. So I'm really happy that we get to raise money that will help dogs find good homes & families. If you'd like to help us, you can donate here.

This is my family, I'm happiest when all 4 of us get to be together. Photo by-Amy Gawlik of Gyspy Pearl Studio

I've had so much fun training for the race and being an ambassador! My mom says I'm well trained and will do great at the race (she says we won't win- there will be some super fast dogs there! But I don't care about that, I just want to run and have fun) I can't wait for Saturday, the race is going to be AWESOME!!!

Chilling out after Mike's Moonlight Run

PS I'll write a race report after the race, but it might take a couple days. I have to wait til my parents accidentally leave the computer open, I can't open that dumb latchy thing on top with my paws.