33 Miles and a Dog Bite

Saturday, Aug 16:

Saturday, if there is not a race, it’s time to run with the St Croix Valley Runners, who assemble at Northland Tennis Courts in Stillwater at 7:00 am. This morning I ran from home to Northland, then ran with the group, then back, for a total of 17.8 miles. I didn’t feel too energetic for some reason, and the 9:59 pace showed it, but the run went OK with no pains of any kind. Charlie and I ran with George today, who was alternating seven minutes of running with one of walking, and we were more than happy to accommodate him on the walks. I walked other times on the solo portions of my run too, whenever I felt like it. Gels three times, water every mile or two.

This was the first really long run with the new Brooks Ghost shoes - they were OK but I still like the Burn better. There’s a little foot-slapping, and one toe hurt more than usual. The Ghosts will do, but they don’t quite delight me. Too bad Brooks stopped making the Burn. Maybe I’ll look around for another shoe brand.

Thursday, Aug 14:

Dog bite - sort of. Again my sweeties and I went to the Gateway, though in separate cars because we had different goals. I started at the Hwy 96 horse bridge and went south first, intending to run just to milepost 13 and then reverse up to milepost 18 and back. On the way to 13, I was intercepted by an unattended, playful, but powerful pit bull dog, which thought of my arm as a chew toy until a few stern words calmed it. The dog didn’t really clamp down, but its sharp teeth did scrape some skin off, with enough blood to drip a little. The dog had a collar but no nearby owner.

Concerned for the many children that use the trail, I called 911 and officer Joel came, but the dog was gone. The next day we three trolled the nearby neighborhood for a young calico-colored pit bull, coming up empty. One of the residents said that a dog can get on that trail and go for miles, and of course that could have been the case with my happy-go-lucky friend.

I also called my doctor, to discover that he takes Fridays off. A nurse called back, but had no useful advice: "Well, if you want to have the rabies shots, you can go to the hospital to get them." She seemed less knowledgable than I about WHETHER to get them, which is hard to imagine. I’m assuming that a rabid dog would not be happy and playful as this youngster was, so I’ll skip the shots and take my chances - I’m sure there is a risk to the shots too. Meantime the injury is not at all inflamed.

I’ve considered bringing a weapon (knife with locking blade) on future Gateway trips, but I suppose I won’t. Even a pepper spray would teach a dog the wrong lesson. As always the real problem is not the dog but the owner, and this is the first trouble I’ve had on the Gateway in hundreds of miles of running.

Otherwise the run was a complete success. Ten miles in 1:35:25, for a pace of 9:33, which is comparable to other recent runs. No pains! Splits: 9:36, 18:08 (2 mi), 9:03, 10:30, 8:37, 9:11, 9:24, 10:17, 10:40.

Wednesday, Aug 13:

My sweeties and I went to the park and I just ran for 25 minutes, then came back. By the time, 49:29, I assume that I ran at least 5 miles, so that’s what goes in the log. This was a warm run, but no problems of any kind. I did walk occasionally, which seems to be normal these days.

		Lunch: Two low-fat bison bratwursts with organic mustard on a bed of organic lettuce, organic mixed vegetables, and an organic nectarine.
Salad: Organic romaine, hydroponic cucumber, giant stuffed olives, organic strawberries, blue cheese, and organic red wine vinegar.
		Dinner: Grass-fed bison, spinach quiche with lots of organic spinach, sweet potato, organic strawberries. I went back for seconds.