August 27th, 2010 – 5.88 Mile Run

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

Tonight’s run was great in many ways. I knew it was going to be a hilly one, so I made no demands on myself regarding speed. I just wanted to keep moving and finish the run. After I scouted the route on MapMyRun.com, I expected it to be 6 miles even, but it turned about to be just shy of that.

Mile one was great. It was really easy and the incline was very slight. That part of the run was very well known to Sarah and me, but it threw Sarah off a bit because it usually comes at the end of our runs.

At the beginning of mile 2, we start the incline and Sarah is pulling and tugging on her leash the entire time. I was doing the 4 and 1 so I was able to take several breaks but even during the breaks, it was a constant tug of war and she is winning much of the time. She is getting to be stronger than me. By now I have decided that the next time I do this run, I am going to leave her at home.

Just before the mile 2 mark, the street ends and I have to make a turn. It is still uphill but the neighborhood is so great and the weather is so perfect that it hardly matters.

I get to the turnaround point. I am just shy of 3 miles, but I turn around anyway. The downward trek is much easier on me or would have been if Sarah hadn’t been pulling so hard on her leash. I knew my form was off but there was no way I could adjust it and hang on to her at the same time. I decide to take a HUGE risk and take her off her leash just to see what it would be like.

Oh, the bliss!!! It was so much easier to get a good stride. She ran ahead, but didn’t seem to want to get too far away. After about a tenth of a mile, I see a couple with a dog coming from ‘way up ahead. I know Sarah can see them too, so I quickly call her and get the leash on before she darts across the street and gets herself killed.

The downward trek is much nicer and even though I know it’s going to be hard on my hips and AT, I know I am making up some serious time.

At about mile 4, I take Sarah off her leash again. This turns out to be a disaster! There are two yellow labs in their backyard barking like mad. The sidewalk is up higher, so I can look down and see right into their backyard. Sarah bolts through the fence, the wooden farm type, and goes for the dogs. They can’t get at each other but the racket they’re making is definitely going to draw the attention of the owners of the house. So I call her. After that has zero effect, I hop the fence and go after my girl. I have to admit that I’m a little panicked that this point. What if she never obeys me and I actually have to throw myself between her and these dogs? I have pepper-spray and I’m not above firing on my own dog, but then what? Then she’d be excited and pissed!!

Fortunately, once I got close enough to her and called her name, she just walked right up to me. Now I am squatting on this rather steep slope and the footing is very precarious. So if she decides to make one last attempt on the other dogs, she could easily pull me down this hill. So I attach her leash and put on my most formidable Mommy Voice and tell her to “COME!”

She obeys and we make is back up the slope and over the fence and on the running course. This is when I realize that I didn’t bother to pause my RunKeeper so my time and pace are all screwed up now. Any time I’ve made up was eaten away by this little interlude. Ah Well…..

So we just run it back home. By now my daylight is all gone and I have beaten myself up pretty badly on this run trying to restrain Sarah and get a decent time.

So I gotta get home, cook dinner and get some ice on both ATs. Could have been better. Could have been worse. I’ll try it again soon.