Snow Day II

So work was closed yesterday, and it is again today!  And boot camp was cancelled for this morning, which is also rare.  Our streets are really icy, but I think hubby is going to go with me to drive into my office to grab some work to bring home. 

Defying the odds, I decided to run outside yesterday.  Not a mistake. 

I spent the morning around the house.  Played on FB a bit, and saw my bestie had posted something thanking the trail near our houses for saving her from 8 miles on the dreadmill.  So I called her for a check of the conditions.  She said it was slow going to get to the trail (she has about a block to get there, all uphill; I have about 3 blocks but flat), and that the bottom half mile of the trail was too icy to use, and that the bridges were icy, but otherwise it was good.

It was almost noon and I wasn't doing anything else, so I decided to give it a shot. 

I layered up:  thick socks, tights AND pants, short sleeve running shirt, long sleeved running shirt, ear band, hat and hubby's warm running gloves.  Aside from my runny nose and a loose dog, it was perfect.

Very icy getting to the trail, and with the wind, despite my body mass/density, I felt like I was going to be blown over or blown backward.  I got on the trail and it was pretty good. 

Unfortunately, I disregarded my friend's advice and decided to run all the way down to the bottom of the trail.  For the first time in my running life, I was seriously afraid of a dog.  I was running south and a large dog started barking and raced down a hill toward me.  I was so scared.  My heart rate was through the roof.  Fortunately, it didn't chase me more than a few feet but I had no idea what I was going to do.  I felt completely defenseless.  There wasn't another person or a weapon in sight.  Nor did I have a cell phone. 

Usually this trail has tons of people on it.  Last weekend there were hundreds.  Yesterday, over the course of 9.5 miles, I saw 2 other runners, 2 bikers, and 8 walkers.  No one near me when the dog rushed me. 

I kept going south and had no idea what to do.  I ran near the bottom of the trail for a few miles and was trying to decide on a strategy to get home.  I was thinking maybe I could try a round-about way on the streets to get back on the trail north of where the dog was, but the streets seemed really icy. 

I finally decided to run back north on the trail and find a stick to take with me.  When I was about a quarter mile away from where I'd seen the dog, I grabbed a huge branch/stick.  It was probably 5 feet long and I figured was better than nothing.  So I carried that with me and ran north.

Sure enough, the dog started going crazy and rushed back down the hill at me.  I kept the branch on the side the dog came from and just kept moving without looking in its eyes or anything, and when I got to the bridge, which was very icy, it stopped following me.  I dropped the branch there in case someone else needed it.

Scariest running experience of my life probably (well, except for maybe two other runs where I had a random fear that turned out to be completely unjustified; this was my first justifiably afraid run).