Ups And Downs

When it comes to training, it often seems like every time you take one step forward you then take two steps back. In fairness, I think Peyton and I have had a lot more forward progress lately, but sometimes it can be frustrating when you lose that momentum.

In Monday's class, he did pretty well after his first run, which was a zoom-fest. We worked on some challenging tight sequences and he really handled them pretty well. Now that I'm starting to get more focus, he's really running with a lot more speed and intensity, which is good, but it forces me to react quickly and really *think* about how I'm handing him.

Last night's class was not so good. Right when I got him to the start line for our first run, two of our classmates walked in (one who Peyton just loves) and I completely lost him. Our first three or so attempts at running were a disaster - he was all over the place. Once he settled down a bit, he actually worked pretty good, but in hindsight (I say that a lot here) I shouldn't have even attempted to run him while his brain was in spotty-land. :) *Sigh* one of these days maybe I'll learn.

I did some more experimenting with adding his mat our start line routine, and I think it definitely helps with setting him up for his run, but it didn't prove to be so helpful with his early zooming. I think I'll keep working on it though and maybe once we get a better routine down, it will help him relax a bit at the start.

The really funny thing is after class I gave him the opportunity to play with his friends (who he desperately wanted to play with at the start of class) - and he didn't even really want to. He is so much like a kid - he only really wants something when he knows he can't have it. :)

Silly spotty boy...