So do you guys remember a post I did a while ago about fears of running outdoors? Well, apparently, someone in running heaven has decided I’ve reached that point in my journey where I MUST face all of my running fears NOW!
Two weeks ago, I had my first near miss with a car. UGHHHHHH! DC DRIVERS!
And, today, as I’m running on vacation in Connecticut…incident NUMBER TWO!
When I left the house, my aunt made a joke to the effect of “don’t call me to come pick you up”. I giggled and headed out. Within the first half mile, I realize I forgot to bring my pepper spray. I immediately got nervous because even though this is a really nice neighborhood, I haven’t seen ONE person running since arriving yesterday. I take for granted how many people run in DC. Because even though I DON’T really run alone, I know that if I did, there would be tons of people out there to make me feel safe. Apparently Connecticans haven’t seen the running light. So I felt kind of uneasy but decided to continue. However, I only put one of my earphones as a precaution.
First thing noted…damn it, there are a LOT of hills in CT, which might explain why no one runs there. Second, my leg has retreated back to that weird pain on the top of my foot, which I haven’t felt since I got off that dreaded treadmill. Not sure why it’s starting to act up again…ugh.
I knew it’d be a quick run. Literally, just needed to get out there to justify the cherry pie I was going to be eating for dessert. Is that snickering, I hear? Plus, I am a punk and yeah, not getting lost in an area I don’t know well. So was thinking 2-3 miles at most.
Anywhooooooo…as I was heading back, about .5 miles from the house , I saw the HORROR…
OK, this isn’t EXACTLY what I saw…not even close. More like…
but…times TWO, and without an owner in sight. I considered if I could just run in place until the owner came out to get their big s$$ dogs! Then, I considered if there was another route to get back to the house…but I thought, it’d be much worst to get lost (in the approaching dark) than to risk getting mauled by a pair of boxers. So I decided to just stop running and cry call my aunt to come pick me up.
It’s 2 hours later, and they are still joking about it. And if that wasn’t bad enough…it was discovered that the boxers were enclosed in an invisible fence. So had I kept going I would have been safe. Instead, I stopped short and sweated out the only workout clothes that I packed, for a 1.5 mile run waste of time.
Womp…womp…womp!
An anonymous black girl who despises unattended dogs, especially when they ruin my runs
Tags: failed run, running, story about running
“Literally, just needed to get out there to justify the cherry pie I was going to be eating for dessert.”
There is a T-Shirt out there that says “I run so I can eat”. I know that’s why I’m running a Thanksgiving Day Half!
I don’t blame you for calling. Getting lost unnerves me. Maybe I have lac of control/control freak tendencies or maybe bad things always happen to people when they are lost. Or maybe I just read too much Stephen King LOL.
Maybe you should walk with a baton just in case there are any more unattended dogs… they shouldn’t be the reason you quit your run. P.S Are you stretching and strengthening after runs? I’m running a marathon in October and my coach has said not stretching the IT band can cause pain, especially above the knee. Hope this helps!