I am not a chew toy...aka not the best week in running.

I know it's been a month since I posted last...sorry about that. Life is crazy here. But I have to say these past two weeks in running have not been the best to say the least...it's to the point where I was beginning to wonder if God was trying to tell me something. About ten days ago I was running my new route around the high school area when I came upon a young man walking his black lab. The dog was on a leash and I didn't think much about it. I proceeded to run around him at what I thought was a good clear distance, but the dog lunged and ripped the leash out of the boys hand and the dog ended up biting my left arm. Now at the time I really didn't think much of it...I honestly thought he just nipped me...I had never had a dog bite me before...until I was running a little farther and my arm started throbbing and I felt blood running down my arm. Luckily I was only a block away from my in-laws and luckily they were home. They helped me get all patched up, we found the owner...luckily the dog had it's shots and we got things squared away with him. I then proceeded to go pick up my boys from school and then head to the doctor's office. They couldn't give me stitches for fear of infection, but they did proceed to give my a tetanus and antibiotic shot...and I think the shots hurt worse than the dog bite. Geesh!! Though the dog bite really bummed me out (and I'll explain more so why in a minute) I think I was more bummed out that I was only a little over a mile into my run when it happened and it was the nicest day we had had this year...I mean just wearing a t-shirt weather....which is what I had on...no long sleeves, no jacket...just a t-shirt and capris. So yes I am a crazy runner because the loss of a good run bummed me out more than the dog bite....lol. Another reason I was bummed is that I knew the hubby would give me a lecture about the hazards of running. I pretty much got the "I'm going to lock you in the basement with a treadmill" lecture...which bless his heart...I know he says it because he cares and doesn't like to see me get hurt, but like I told him...I am not a caged bird...I must be free. It took him a few days but he got over it...lol. I went back out for a outside run two days later...yes I'm crazy. But I'll tell you I was nervous going back out there, I'm not gonna lie.


Then, as if the dog bite wasn't enough, this past Monday I was on the same route and I noticed this yellow Jeep Wrangler driving by me really slow. I didn't think much of it at first...thought maybe they were lost or looking for an address or something. Then it was on the next street over...not too many houses over there and it seemed to be going the way I usually go. I decided to go a slightly different way and headed down Cambridge Rd. where it ended up passing me and then turned into a driveway to turn around. Needless to say I wasn't waiting around to see if he was looking for me or not...I bolted down a side street, called the hubby to alert him what was going on and just took off. Needless to say I never saw it again. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but my intuition is seldom wrong and that "bad vibe" feeling I usually get was going off big time....I've learned to trust it when it happens. Ironically, I talked to another runner here in town and she told me she also had a yellow Jeep Wrangler follow her recently. So I am being very super cautious now while I run. I am now prepared when I go for my outside runs...I bought pepper spray for my keychain, and my lovely and most amazing sister sent me a lovely care package of a hand held pepper spray, stun gun and a joggy doggy weapon that I can use pretty much to stab someone with if necessary. I pity the animal/person who tries to attack me next time...lol!

I have to admit though, this kind of depressed me. That we live not only in a day and age where we can't feel safe being outdoors, but that even in my small town I can no longer feel safe. One of the beauties of living in a small town is that everyone knows everyone and you could walk down the street anytime and not worry. Not anymore....just makes me sad that there are people out there that want to purposely harm people. But I know God is in control and that He's watching over me. I knew that the day the dog bit me. It could have been so much worse!! And it could have happened somewhere where I couldn't get speedy help. I consider myself extremely lucky and I'm very grateful to God for watching out for me...as well as the Jeep incident. God was definitely watching over me then too. I am now very much more aware of my surroundings.

So I just want to say, if you're a runner out there....be careful. Know your surroundings. Be prepared and carry something with you to protect yourself...better safe than sorry.

On a much more positive note I was able to get an 11 mile run in today and it was a good one. Though I started a bit slow at first and my hamstrings were feeling pretty tight, I had a really good pace. I did my 11.1 mile run in 1:49:57 which is about a 9:54 pace....at that rate if I'm able to keep that up I'm positive I'll beat last year's half marathon time...woot woot. Pretty happy about that!!

So until next time...stay safe, be prepared and be aware.