I once again encountered the worst weather for running: dogs.
But let me back up a bit. It was hotter than yesterday–around 27C and it was enough to notice. I had put off the walk/run for most of the day and did not run the entire way back. The parts I did my pace was clearly lagging from yesterday. I was tired. But overall I didn’t feel bad. The right ankle muscles felt a bit tight for reasons, but they limbered up after a short while.
So in all, it was a decent outing, right up to near the very end of the trail. At this point, I was walking and listening to music. I spotted two women at the side of the trail, near where you can cut over to the river bank. One was holding up a bike. I shifted left to give them room and continued on. It was then that a stubby-legged hellion appeared out of nowhere and ran at me, running around my feet, yapping and snapping its jaws at me. It was basically a tripping hazard as it kept running around me. I could not extricate myself and quickly got a bit steamed.
I yelled (remember, I still had the music blasting) at the woman, “Leash your dog!” then repeated it for good measure. As her dog kept circling me, I yelled out something like, “Goddamn it!” and that’s when she told me to relax. Yes, I should relax with her off-leash mutt circling me like a land shark. She picked up the dog and I further explained in my yelling voice that there are big signs explaining that dogs have to be leashed. she came back with how this was somehow my fault. I didn’t have a good response for that, because it was completely bonkers.
Before leaving the trail, I turned back and she had gone to the river (hopefully to toss her dog in) but her friend was still standing there holding the bike, so I pulled out my phone while staring at her and pretended to make a call, then turned back again and left. I don’t know if it made her uneasy, but it was the only thing I could think of to give myself some small sense of satisfaction. I then finally removed my AirPods.
In retrospect, what I should have done was:
- Remove the AirPods
- Explain to her that all dogs are to be on-leash, as per the sign at the trail entrance
- Continue on without further word
- Bonus: If she had said anything, I should have started recording a video to post on TikTok, possibly set to Pink Floyd’s “Dogs” because it has “dogs” in the title.
Stats:
Walk 43 Average pace: 8:35/km Location: Brunette River trail Distance: 7.31 km Time: 62:46 Weather: Sunny Temp: 27ºC Humidity: 47% Wind: light BPM: 132 Weight: 179.0 pounds Total distance to date: 332.85 km Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
