08/23/11: Not my finest......

I'd love to say that my Tuesday run went as well as my Sunday run.

But I'd be lying.

The temperature was nice. It was another humid morning, but there was at least a nice cool breeze.

It was still dark, staying darker later and later now. Fall is coming!

Within the first mile, I stepped on a grey rock on the road (it was a piece of the road itself, and blended in, I couldn't see it even with my headlamp), and turned my ankle.

For some, that would mean a stop to the running right then and there. But, because my ankles are so ridiculously flexible (the reason I'm having trouble with my legs actually), there was no pain. I actually felt my outside ankle bone hit the concrete...but it did nothing more than make me wobble for one step.

I walked for a couple more, to make sure there wasn't anything seriously injured.....then was back on my merry way.

:-)

I wanted to change things up a bit, so took one of my regular routes and ran it the opposite direction I normally do.

I now know why should continue running it the original direction. The highway I have to run along for a 1 mile stretch is a little perilous when going north instead of south. There are trees almost right up to the edge of the road, and quite a few blind corners.

To say I was hyper alert to my surroundings would be an understatement.

:-)

Eventually, I was able to turn west into a neighborhood with streetlights and onto some sidewalks.

(I actually prefer running in the road....it's usually smoother, and there are less trees and mailboxes to duck and run around - but running on the "safety" of sidewalks for a little while was nice.)

A block or two into the neighborhood I see a very large black object running to the street, from behind one of the houses.

I knew right away it was a dog. But the size of the dog was amazing. Not intimidating mind you, I love big dogs!!!



The biggest female solid-black Great Dane came running straight at me.....and then INTO me!!

(I grew up with a St. Bernard, so knew how to brace for the impact.)

After petting her a little, I took a look at her tags and found her name to be Lila.

What an awesome animal!!!!!!

After getting petted, she decided she was going to be my running companion.

I eventually told her that if she came with me one more block, we were going to have to stop so I could get the phone number of her parents. There wasn't an address on her tags, so I don't know if she belonged in that neighborhood or not.

It was almost as though she understood me, because just then she decided to part ways.

Beautiful AND smart.

:-)

I ended my run with some really sore legs, the scent of strange dog (my black lab was less than pleased) on my hands, and a scraped up left ankle bone.

Not one of my finest running moments.
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3 miles, 39:12, 13:03 overall average pace (including my encounter with the dog, and stops along the highway to get off the road), 331 calories, Max HR 177, Avg HR 158