Sep
28
Pavlov’s Dog
September 28, 2008 |
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian scientist who is best known for his experiments with dogs. He essentially trained his dogs to drool whenever he rang a bell even when there was no food in sight. I have stumbled upon a runner’s modern version of this little experiment. Just before my stress fracture I began using a Garmin 305 in my training. I had been doing alot of hill repeats and speed work, intervals, etc.(which is why I got the stupid stress fracture in the first place) I was doing mostly time based intervals, so I set up the Garmin and it would put out a series of beeps whenever I needed to change from easy to hard or vice versa. As it turns out Supermutt LOVES doing speedwork. He really grooved on going fast. It also turned out to be really effective at teaching him to pace with me.
So now I’ve started a run/walk program now that I’ve been declared healed from my stress fracture. Again, I’m using the Garmin set up with intervals so that I don’t have to do any excessive math or thinking. BEEP….run….BEEP….walk….BEEP….run, you get the idea. As it turns out, Supermutt was surreptitiously conditioned by my Garmin to go really fast whenever the thing beeps. He doesn’t get the alternating hard/easy part, he just learned the part he thought was the most fun….going fast. He hears the beep and he bolts yanking me with him. When I get my feet back under me and hold him back he just looks back at me with big sad eyes and an expression that says “come on man, we’re supposed to be going fast!”
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A Restless Supermutt
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Dogs are amazing, aren’t they. My Jack knows it’s time to run the moment I start putting on my running shoes - he loves it! Are you in NH? I live up in Concord.