Behind every long, grueling mile of training, there is a source of pure, unadulterated joy keeping me moving. For me, that is my German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP), Connor.
As I push my limits and log the heavy mileage required for my upcoming trail races, Connor is right there by my side. He isn’t just a pet; he is truly the best running partner I could ever ask for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His boundless energy matches my drive, and his enthusiasm turns even the most exhausting training sessions into an absolute adventure.
Looking at these moments captured, you can see exactly how much love and happiness he brings into my life. Whether we are tearing up the trails or sharing a quiet moment of appreciation post-run, he makes the journey infinitely better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Behind every long, grueling mile of training, there is a source of pure, unadulterated joy keeping me moving. For me, that is my German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP), Connor. As I push my limits and log the heavy mileage required for my upcoming trail races, Connor is right there by my side. He isn’t just a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[174],"class_list":["post-922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-pets","tag-trailrunningbuddy-gspcommunity-germanshorthairedpointer-runningwithdogs-ultratrainingpartner"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260616_102634.jpg?fit=432%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62,"url":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/25\/trail-run-grootfontein-bike-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":922,"position":0},"title":"Trail Run @ Grootfontein Bike Park","author":"Rey De Bruyn-Walters","date":"25 January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I went for a 15km Trail Run at Grootfontein Bike Park with my dog, Connor, a German Shorthaired Pointer. As fun as it was, we arrived around 07h40 and started running at 08h00. About 3km in, my stomach felt a bit weird, but I didn't think much of it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Trail"","block_context":{"text":"Trail","link":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/category\/trails\/trail-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dji_mimo_20260125_105150_0_1769333713290_photo2466727397470817124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dji_mimo_20260125_105150_0_1769333713290_photo2466727397470817124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dji_mimo_20260125_105150_0_1769333713290_photo2466727397470817124.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dji_mimo_20260125_105150_0_1769333713290_photo2466727397470817124.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dji_mimo_20260125_105150_0_1769333713290_photo2466727397470817124.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":943,"url":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/trading-boredom-for-endorphins\/","url_meta":{"origin":922,"position":1},"title":"Trading Boredom for Endorphins","author":"admin","date":"20 June 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Waking up bored this morning, I scrolled through my socials, had another snooze, got dressed, and even played a few games. 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At 29 degrees, the air shimmered, heavy with promise and challenge. My German Shorthaired Pointer wagged his tail, eyes bright, already scanning for the rivers he knew would be waiting.\u00a0 We set off at a steady\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Trail"","block_context":{"text":"Trail","link":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/category\/trails\/trail-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260208180309554.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260208180309554.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260208180309554.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260208180309554.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260208180309554.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":897,"url":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/my-body-pauses-my-spirit-doesnt\/","url_meta":{"origin":922,"position":3},"title":"My Body Pauses, My Spirit Doesn\u2019t","author":"Rey De Bruyn-Walters","date":"27 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I woke up with my legs paralysed again. That familiar fear crept in\u2014but so did something stronger: determination. As the feeling slowly returned, I stretched, breathed through it, and made a decision\u2026 I was going to run.Connor, my usual partner in crime, is recovering after surgery, and my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My life with FND"","block_context":{"text":"My life with FND","link":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/category\/my-life-with-fnd\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_20260426_161105_284.webp?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_20260426_161105_284.webp?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_20260426_161105_284.webp?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80,"url":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/27\/tye-start-of-hyrox-training\/","url_meta":{"origin":922,"position":4},"title":"The Start of Hyrox Training","author":"Rey De Bruyn-Walters","date":"27 January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"My personal trainer, Asad, mentioned that I'd do well in Hyrox. The whole week, I have been thinking about it.So today, he did a Hyrox challenge with me to give me an idea of what to expect. 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It was the day I realized I\u2019ve been underestimating myself. Under the guidance of my trainer, Asad, I tackled a Hyrox Gym Challenge that pushed me into new territory\u2014and I came out the other side \"acing it.\" The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fitness"","block_context":{"text":"Fitness","link":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/category\/fitness\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260209210603102.jpg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260209210603102.jpg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debruyn-walters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dji_export_photo_20260209210603102.jpg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph3bPZ-eS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debruyn-walters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}