runaway dogs

Walk 43: I hate dog owners

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:

  1. Remove the AirPods
  2. Explain to her that all dogs are to be on-leash, as per the sign at the trail entrance
  3. Continue on without further word
  4. 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

Run 552: The paws that does not refresh

Run 552
Average pace: 5:10/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 11:23 am
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 26:07
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 10ºC
Humidity: 76%
Wind: moderate with gusts
BPM: 173
Weight: 158.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4290 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

With today being the statutory holiday in lieu of the actual holiday on Saturday, I opted to go for a run today instead of having to run that horrible circuit around the golf course at noon tomorrow. Also, it’s supposed to be raining and super-windy, so there’s a good chance I wouldn’t even be running, anyway.

The forecast was similar today, with winds up to 80 km/h forecast and a 70% chance of rain. I managed to both duck the rain (very light showers started shortly after the run) and the wind (it only got up to maybe 15 km/h, so it was breezy but not “duck as large branches tear off trees and fly at you” windy). There were some parks workers out pruning some branches, possibly trimming down the ones most likely to go a-flyin’.

Because of the wind I wore two layers up top, even though it was a mild 10ºC. I think I may have been okay with one layer, but two definitely didn’t leave me overly warm.

I felt a bit tired for the first part of the run, likely because I was running too hard and didn’t realize it, but my pace stabilized and I felt fine after, with no issues to report. My BPM is stubbornly staying around 173, still too high for my liking, but we’ll see if it drops the next time I go for a longer run. Or maybe I’ll force myself to mellow out a bit and see what happens. My pace was 5:10/km, which is pretty much back to form, so that was good, at least.

The river trail was host to a few other runners, some people out walking and the occasional cyclist. The most memorable person, though, was a woman out walking her large white fluffy dog. An older woman was jogging ahead of me and this woman and her dog were to her right. As the jogger moved past the dog started running after the jogger in a “playful” manner. The jogger was obviously alarmed and put up her arms as if it surrender. As I caught up to the woman I turned my head to her and said, “Leash your dog.” I continued past the other jogger and the dog then decided to playfully run after me and caught up and then jumped on me, putting a couple of paw prints on my shorts. I then turned back to the woman again–she was already making some kind of noise to call the mutt back–and yelled, “LEASH YOUR DOG!” I no doubt sounded very macho. I happened to pass her two more times and the dog was indeed leashed both times.

The best part is during the entire incident the song that was playing on my phone was The Cars’ “Let the Good Times Roll.”

It was a perfect illustration of why the bylaw to require dogs on leash in public areas exists. This person had zero control over her dog and the only reason no one got hurt is because I’m a 5’10” man and not a five year old girl. Had the dog approached a little kid the same way the kid would have gone splat and likely been hurt, possibly seriously.

It continues to depress me that people do not think of others. It doesn’t even matter that it’s a bylaw, it’s just common sense. A dog is not a four-legged person. You can’t reason with it logically. It is not as smart as we are. It doesn’t understand that jumping on a person can cause injury. We do, so we leash them and keep them under our control.

Anyway, I hope the dog owner learned something today and will actually keep her dog leashed in the future. She probably won’t, but I’m ready to yell in a macho manner again if I need to.

The ‘Should I be annoyed at this?’ run

Distance: 7.45 km
Weather: Mix of sun and cloud
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: breezy at times
Calories burned: 506
Average pace: 5:23/km

I had a better-than-expected start to the run, coming in at under 5 minutes for the first km in a long time (4:59/km, to be exact). This is never an official goal for me but it is a nice psychological boost when it happens, so yay! I also had a strong finish with the final 450m clocking at a relatively brisk 5:10/km. My pace in the middle did slow a little vs. the previous run and I chalk that mostly to the sun coming out. I swear that thing is like a vampire to my energy level. I don’t swear enough to wish it gone, however. Please don’t go, sun! You have been precious and rare this spring!

I think it’s also safe to say now that running clockwise (reverse) is not affecting me in any material way, except to hopefully reduce the chance of injury.

The ‘should I be annoyed by this?’ part: A couple were at the park with two dogs, one was a large adult that looked like some kind of Doberman mix, the other a tiny and adorable Malamute puppy. Neither were on leash (can you see where this is heading?) A young woman was jogging counter-clockwise on the trail and we had passed several times. As I jogged up the southern stretch of the trail from the east, she came along from the west, the couple and their dogs between us, in the field just on the edge of the trail. Suddenly the puppy runs after the jogger and manages to get right into her feet, causing her to fall down — not hard and not totally, as she managed to stay partly upright. She took a few moments to play with the puppy (it was adorable, after all), then went on her way, all smiles — as was the owner.

On the next lap the incident repeated itself, though the jogger was more aware this time and stopped before the dog could get underfoot. After this the jogger disappeared and the puppy was briefly put on a leash.

I found the behavior of the couple annoying. After their dog had knocked the person down the first time they should have a) moved away from the trail or b) put the dog on the leash immediately. The park isn’t off-leash, anyway. In either case, it strikes me as odd that a puppy knocking down a jogger is somehow amusing. I guess it’s like what Mel Brooks once said: Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.

Or something like that. I gave the puppy a seriously wide berth.

I am tentatively planning my first full 10K of the year on Monday. Here’s hoping it goes well.

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise):

km Jun 11 Jun 8 Jun 6 Jun 2 May 31
1 km 4:59 5:04 5:05 5:00 5:05
2 km 5:05 5:10 5:13 5:10 5:13
3 km 5:10 5:14 5:20 5:16 5:18
4 km 5:14 5:16 5:25 5:20 5:22
5 km 5:18 5:18 — 5:23 5:25
6 km 5:21 5:20 — 5:26 5:29
7 km 5:23 5:21 — 5:28 5:31

Dogged run

Tonight’s run was done under pleasant conditions: 21ºC, sunny and a light breeze.

Little did I know the four-legged doom to come!

The first thing I notice when I get to the park is a lot more dogs than usual, most of them gathered in the southeast corner of the field. It looks like some kind of training event. I am a bit wary at the sheer number of our canine friends. I don’t worry about being attacked by dogs or anything like that, but in the park they tend to run and play and not pay attention to where they are going, much like little kids.

I set off. My starting km is average but I seem to be clicking along fine. Around the 4K mark I hear something above the ELO playing on my iPod and a guy goes jogging past me on my right. The nerve! He also has silver hair. I don’t care if he’s only 22, it rankles me. I make a mild effort to catch up but he keeps inching ahead. I opt to bide my time and merely keep pace until I can pull the ol’ tortoise and the hare routine.

At just under 5K I am coming out of the southwest corner of the path. I spot a pair of small dogs playing just off the path to my left. That’s fine. They’re not in my way. I jog by them and think nothing more of it. A few moments later I glance down and spot fur at my feet. This isn’t good. There is no time to register anything else over the next couple of seconds, the events just happen and my body reacts automatically. My feet catch on the dogs and I tumble forward, my hands going out to catch my fall. I hit the ground with both palms and my left knee. I get partway up and look back to the dogs, which are already off playing elsewhere, oblivious to the events. “Stupid dogs,” I mutter, but what I’m really thinking is “stupid dog owner” and then my eyes meet with one of them. He stands there and looks at me blankly. I am still hearing ELO but his lips aren’t moving.

I decide the run is more important and get back up, resuming my pace without even stopping to brush the dirt away.

A short time later I see a little kid on a bike ahead of me, standing squarely in the middle of the path. He looks to be making a wobbly attempt to move forward. I can see where this is heading, especially as the front wheel of the bike starts turning in my direction. I shout, “Look out, kid!” as I give him a wide berth. My run is being partly fueled by anger at this point.

Later still a woman is crossing from the field, across the path, to the street. We are on a direct collision course. She remains utterly oblivious to my approach. If I had been inclined to, I could have easily blindsided her and knocked her down flat. Instead, I loop around her and mutter something about paying attention. Original I am not.

I finish with a time of 54:29 and an average pace of 5:26 — my best 10K since April! The extra zest of being miffed has clearly given me an extra boost. Despite this, I am hoping I do not trip over any more dogs in the future. I’d rather get my extra boosts through things like inspiration or divine providence or something.

Chart (red denotes running in especially warm conditions, green denotes cramps during run):

km Aug 11 Aug 7 Aug 4
1 km 5:07 5:04 5:02
2 km 5:09 5:08 5:08
3 km 5:13 5:12 5:15
4 km 5:16 5:16 5:19
5 km 5:18 5:19 5:23
6 km 5:20 5:21 5:26
7 km 5:22 5:23 5:29
8 km 5:24 5:26 5:32
9 km 5:26 5:27 5:35
10 km 5:26 5:27 5:37

Bonus shot of my grubby hands after the run:

All Dogs Go to China Creek Park

On Friday there were more dogs at China Creek Park than I’d ever seen in four months of jogging there. It was weird, like it was some sort of Take Your Dog to the Park Or Else day. I always keep my eye on dogs when I’m running, especially the ones not on leashes (about half of them, typically) because, like gravel-throwing little girls you never know when a dog might do something you don’t expect. As it turns out, a chocolate lab came running up from behind and on my left and I didn’t see him until he was cutting in front of me close enough for a little dog-human contact. If he’d been a toy dog I probably would have crushed him under a foot. Unintentionally, I mean.

The actual jog went fairly dismally even if you don’t count dog collisions, as I checked my time at only 19 minutes in and called it quits just short of 23. I’d skipped the previous jog due to tender muscles around the shins and man, even skipping one run is noticeable.

Today’s went significantly better, however. I ran for 31:46 and have decided to add an extra minute onto each run for awhile and see how it goes. I have some plans for tracking distance and time that I may be implementing soon.