Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Training Runs Gone Bad

Even the best training run can turn into a disaster.  Below are a couple of my husband’s run that haven’t turned out so well…..
Paul & Mike’s Adventure 
There is a country road in Narrows, VA that my husband and some of their friends use as a training run course.  It is relatively flat with low traffic, and following a river is a beautiful course to run.  One day as they were running they begin to hear gun shots.  They quickly started scanning the surrounding woods to see if they could pinpoint where the shots where coming from.  They saw two guys shooting from one side of the road to the other, either sighing in their guns or shooting at the ducks in the river.  The “hunting men” noticed Paul and Mike and threw up their hand in a friendly wave to let them know they had seen the running men.  Paul and Mike then started running again thinking that since the “hunting men” knew they were there all would be fine.  Paul said that they barely had time to run past where the “hunting men” were before the shots rang out again.  Fearing a stray bullet or someone’s aim being just a little off, I’m pretty sure that was their fastest training run yet!
 It’s Not Always The Dog That Gets Ya
 For this story, you first have to understand that Paul is deathly afraid of dogs.  Doesn’t matter what size, shape, or breed; he strongly dislikes and distrust them.  As any runner knows, there are always dogs out everywhere.  One day as Paul was running through town on one of his popular training courses (very popular for runners, and used by our local University track teams) he thought he had finally met the dog that was going to get him.  As he was running down the sidewalk, a woman was coming out of her house to put her Boston Terrier out on a chain in the yard.  As Paul ran past the dog managed to get loose from its owner and started heading straight for Paul; growling, with fangs bared and the slobber flying.  Paul, acting on instinct to get away from the dog, jumps off of the sidewalk…..right in front of an on coming car!  Luckily the car was able to stop in time and Paul was fine, other than getting a couple of years scared off the end of his life.  So just remember, it isn’t always the dog you have to worry about, sometimes it is the other obstacles that you need to avoid.
Paul & Mike’s Close Encounter With a Rabid Raccoon
 Paul and Mike decided that they were going to drive down to Burk’s Garden and run the Varmint ½ Marathon course as a training run.  They got up early and drove the hour and 20 minutes to get to the beautiful area known as Burk’s Garden.  They park at the YMCA and set off just as if they were running the Varmint.  They picked up a fellow runner, a spunky brown lab, right after taking off; and Paul actually enjoyed having the dog with them!  Towards the end of their run, right before completing the loop a scraggly looking raccoon comes walking across a field.  Both Paul and Mike took one look at the raccoon and knew that something wasn’t right.  First, you very rarely see raccoons out during the day time; and second, this raccoon looked like it was a matted, mangy mess.  Their new friend, the brown lab, quickly spotted the raccoon and took off after it, chasing it away from them and into another pasture.  With the sickly raccoon gone, their new best friend trotting beside them, they finished their run.  A couple of days later Paul sees on the local news where a rabid raccoon was captured in Tazewell County area (that is where Burk's Garden is located) after attacking a dog.  Luckily the brown lab never had to confront it that day, and neither did either of the runners thanks to said brown lab; and the dog attacked was up to date on its shots, so it all has a happy ending.  But, boy, was that a close one!
 OK, everyone, please share your training run turned disaster story.  We know that everyone has one………..

1 comment:

  1. This is Jen...I TRY to tell Paul to chill with the dogs! :) The one that he really hates over on the Narrows run came out on me one day when I was there with my friend Jeannie. She promptly rolled over for a belly rub!!!! Usually my training run disasters involve dogs who want love. But I guess my worst disaster was the night I fell on top of East River Mountain on the ice and thought I lost my car key, only to discover it in my pocket AFTER I rode home with someone else then had to go all the way back after my car!

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