The training continues.

So the training for the St. Jude half-marathon in December goes on. Yesterday was an 8 mile run which is the longest yet. I finished it somewhere around 1:24. I say "somewhere around" that time because I ran into a real problem with a dog. I'll get into that in a bit.

Since I started this back in May I've endured one joint problem after another. The only joint below my waist that hasn't given me fits is my left hip. All the others have rebelled and some have even managed to temporarily disable me, but I've manged to pull through all of that.

Now my muscles don't seem to be recovering quickly enough. I can't tell you how sore my leg muscles are today. Oh, if I concentrate I can manage to walk well enough that only someone who knows me can tell something is wrong, but this freakin' hurts.

Oh well. It's just pain.

I did encounter something at around the 6.5 mile point that I'd never encountered before. I started getting short of breath (go figure) and a little dizzy so I thought I needed to breathe more deeply. The deeper I breathed the worse it got so I slowed to a fast walk for about 50 yards, regained my breath and took off again. This happened two more times. The third time I finally realized what was happening. I'm pretty sure I was hyperventilating because the next time it happened I slowed my breathing and took shallower breaths and the situation improved enough that I didn't have to slow down. I know - that's weird, but it happened.

Now, the dog. I had added a mile to my regular route by running a half mile past the starting point and running back. I had finished the 7 miles and started that first 1/2 mile leg.

At around 7 1/4 miles a dog charged out of nowhere. I didn't see him because I was just focused on the task at hand which was surviving that last mile. I immediately stopped running and just slowly walked and prayed he wouldn't actually bite. I got a ways away from him and he started again. I yelled "NO!!" and he stopped and I walked away until he turned and trotted back the way he had came.

After that I ran to the turn-around point and started back. I topped a hill and there he was about 150 yards away just off the road in a yard. I stopped again and started looking for something to use. I found a dead tree limb and broke off a four foot or so section that was around and inch and a half in diameter. Feeling a little better prepared, I started running again. He saw me coming and came running at me again. This time I stopped well away from him and kept yelling "NO!" and "GO HOME!" (two commands most dogs have a clue about). He was about 20 feet away when I raised my club like a baseball bat.

This time he never slowed down and he didn't even seem to see the swing coming his way. It connected on its left shoulder and knocked him down. He let out a yelp and continued yelping as he hauled butt back to where-ever he belonged while I took off the other direction with some new-found energy.

I have no idea how much time I lost and I didn't even thing about stopping the timer on my watch, so I have to guess at how long the actual run took.

I think I need to invest in some pepper spray to take along from now on.

 

Thanks. I've had lots of joint issues since I started and I pay close attention to those issues. Muscle soreness is a different story, though. I'm a little confused as to why the muscles aren't recovering more quickly, but I'm sure I'll get there.