Dogs are such...animals

Thursday, November 11, 2010

I parked the car and did the short walk to the trail head for my run. I could tell that things were not quite right just walking. I’ve been feeling a pain in my achilles tendon during the last couple of runs and it’s beginning to concern me. I started running, but quickly decided this would be a very short run. I thought I’d go 10 minutes…just enough to loosen it up…and then head home and to so some serious leaf raking to make up the difference. Now…here’s a surprise. When I reached the turnaround for the ten minutes…I kept going. I mean…could I really only run ten minutes? Just because it would be the smart thing to do is no reason to do it…and you can quote me.

There is certainly a difference with the deer in November during the rut. I practically bowled one over that was standing dead center in the trail as I rounded a turn. Normally, they’d hear me coming and move into the woods at the edge of the trail…but not this one. It was a doe, so I looked into the woods, figuring there was a buck with a big rack nearby and something I didn’t want to tangle with. There wasn’t. I pretty much had to step around it to continue my run.

I was running one of my 30-minute courses and although I made some adjustments to shorten it, ended up adding a trail towards the end and ran 30 minutes after all. I can’t say that I felt good at any point during the run and I’m thinking I’d like to get on the bike for a couple of days over the weekend and give the running muscles a break.

Leaves are a pretty decent workout. All winds on my street blow towards my yard and deposit the leaves of neighbors who have learned there’s no point in raking. They probably know how much I like to work out and think they’re doing me a favor. I suppose they are. I had Dakota out with me and was watching her closely. Sometimes she acts like…I don’t know…an animal? She’s been rolling in something really foul-smelling and had gotten into it again earlier in the day…when she was tied on her line. How far away could it be? I couldn’t seem to locate a dead carcass or a pile of unusual poop in which she could wallow, but it’s got to be there. I know it’s their nature to find horrible scents and then to smear them all over their bodies, but really…aren’t you a little beyond that behavior, Dakota? She’s never spent a night in the wilderness yet and I don’t think she will be any time soon. Well…Savannah gave her another bath so at least she’s clean…for the moment.

Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.