Running Chick

How do you like me title? I was lamenting to Josh about my lack of creativeness when it comes to coming up with one and he said that he never has that problem. So I told him to come up with a title and I’d use it. There ya go.

I am slowly working my way back into running, but I’m not happy about how few miles I’m able to manage. I suppose I should feel glad that I’m able to run at all, but still.  Annoying.  The good news is that this Friday, I have an appointment at the UW Health Runner’s Clinic in Madison, WI.  I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much because, frankly, I’ve pretty much heard loads of professional (sports MD, podiatrist, physical therapist) and non-professional (running store schmos) opinions about my stride/gait/body mechanics and they’ve all been wrong. But, all the same, helping runners run is what these folks do, so maybe I’ll allow myself a little eep of hope. If nothing else, it’ll be a fun time in Madison. We used Priceline to score a crazy good deal on a hotel right downtown and within walking distance from Capitol Square and all sorts of restaurants, shops, bars and museums.  How good of a deal did we get, you ask? Well, we’re paying $44/night for a room that normally goes for around $180. I love Priceline.

It actually felt like it might be officially Spring here in da Yoop on Sunday. Sunny and warm, but not hot. Slightly breezy. Perfect. I decided to brush the dust of the old MTB since the road bike has been seeing all the action this year. I was going to head up to the MTU trails, but I had watched a movie about wood ticks & Lyme disease the night before and I was convinced that I’d come home covered in them, so I decided to bike out to Chassell and back on the trail instead. My trip out was uneventful, aside from coming nose to nose with a skunk. I was riding down the trail, he was running up the trail, I stopped and hoped he’d jump into the bushes and he didn’t stop until he was about five feet from me.  My initial thought was that if I stayed completely still, he wouldn’t see me. When he saw me and arched his back and tail, my next thought was that my co-workers were really going to hate me when I came in all skunky on Monday. You know, up close, skunks are kinda cute. They have teeny little black noses, tiny ears and floofy tails. This one must have been relatively young, because he looked to be quite healthy with his shiny black coat and he was seriously moving when he was heading up the trail. Anyway, he decided that I posed no threat to him and he waddled off into the bushes and off to his next adventure.

Remember my rant about shitty little dogs? Well, on my way back, about halfway between Chassell and Houghton, I got chased by one.  I’ve encountered many dogs on my runs/walks/bike rides and most of them are all bark and no bite. Usually I end up saying hello to them and they come over to get petted and head on their way, or just ignore me once I get past their driveway. I’ve never had one actually chase me and attempt to bite me before until Sunday.  I’m talking snarling, snapping, barking and lunging at my legs. The guy owner was screaming at me to stop “HE DOESN’T BITE!!!!!! JUST STOP!!! STOP!!!!!!!” (interspersed with multiple curse words) but when I unclipped and tried to put my right leg down, the dog lunged at it and I actually felt it’s breath on my ankle, so no way in hell was I putting my foot down. That’d be like giving it a unwrapped Christmas present. So, I figured that since it wanted my leg for lunch, I’d put my shoe in it’s face and it’d bite that and then it might realize my shoe wasn’t all that tasty and that would be the end.  I did that and the owner FREAKED OUT and started yelling about how I was going to kick his dog in the face. By this time, I had slowed down enough so that the lady owner was able to grab the little beast. I stopped and exchanged some choice words at the guy owner. Very choice. BUT! I did not swear. Well, I think I might have used “hell” as in “Hell yes, I was going to kick your dog in the face!” but that’s used so frequently nowadays that I don’t really think it’s even considered a swear word anymore. Anyway,  I told story this to a few people at work and they said I should have called the cops because, really, that dog is dangerous.  Also, it was off the leash and I was one of about a million people using the trail at that time. If it wasn’t me the dog was chasing, it could have very easily been a little kid. I’m sure I’ll be on the trail multiple times this summer, and you’d better believe that if I have another run-in with this same dog and it’s irresponsible owners, I’ll be calling the PoPo.

Se ya’ll after the weekend.