friday, 11 miles . . .
i don't remember too much about these two runs other than the fact that it each day was colder than the previous and that i keep hitting my times. i've solved that inner thigh problem, thanks to the stick, and things are pretty much under control.
friday, i went in search of the christmas tree. deep into the woods my brother and i hiked looking for it. this year was a real beauty. ended up going a mile up and a mile back to the truck pulling the tree. didn't effect saturday's long run though, like i thought it might.
saturday, 19 miles . . .
i found this sight which has proven to be most helpful for the runner: http://www.usatf.org/routes/index.asp. you type in a city and different routes pop up. just for new ideas and the like. the endless effort to keep the running fresh. there was a nice little loop that i added to that i've never ran before, so i thought i would give it a try.
it was amazing. lazy country roads. rolling hills. large fields, some barren, some vineyards, all frosted over. old trees. old cars. old roads. train tracks. no trains. few cars. along the river. the shoulder wasn't that big at times but i had no problem running on the road. only once did i have to go through a ditch. no big deal.
the only real problem in all this is the tendency for those who live outside of the city limits to: 1) own dogs 2) have poor or no fences 3) leave said dogs unleashed.
encounter one . . . i heard a dog start barking and running towards me. this house had a long driveway. i was going downhill. i thought for a second. it was still early in the run. i felt good. i decided that i would outrun him. and the crazy thing, it worked!!!
encounter three and four . . . after the previous two encounters, i kept my eyes open to any and all dogs in the yards around me until i made it back into salem. i spotted an unchained unfenced german shepherd and a pit bull. yes, a pit bull. fortunately neither one of these dogs spotted me.
encounter two . . . dog starts to bark and he is close, too close to outrun even though i am on a steep down hill. so i stop and put out my hand. he stops barking after a few minutes. so i take a step down the road. he barks again, so i stop. now it becomes a ten minute game of red light green light except i'm going away from the light and losing equals teeth in my leg (or worse). a few cars pass me in this time and i stick out my thumb, hoping to hitchhike even 200m. no one stops. so i use the cars as cover and walk quickly as they pass (probably laughing the whole time). by this time i am completely cooled off, sweat freezing in the air.
i've looked up on a few websites and it seems like the answer is pepper spray. the thing is i really like this route and i'm not going to allow some back woods x-logger (i know making assumptions) who doesn't chain up his dog or even wake up when he is barking intermittently for ten minutes, stop me from doing it again.
other point of interest for this run . . . there was an older lady out running, right towards me. her legs looked like cooked, wet spaghetti noodles. i'm not sure how she did it but they would wobble in and out, like jelly fish tentacles before they struck the ground.
i hard push back uphill towards the end. but i did it. week one of base building is over and successful. two more to go. but for now i won't think of that. i'll just focus on what i've accomplished.
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