What a get-away!

Yesterday (Tuesday, April 15, 2008) I ran a workout where I warmed up for about two miles, ran about five minutes hard with about three-to-three-and-a-half minutes of walking/jogging in between, and then cooled down for two miles. This has actually been one of my first runs around the Catonsville neighborhoods in Baltimore County, Maryland since I recently moved there (I've usually been running around Howard County after I get out of school or after I get out of class at Howard Community College.

I enjoyed running around the neighborhoods (and I definitely had a strong workout on all the hills). While I was warming up I ran around this nice, fairly hilly neighborhood. I ran down this path by someone's big house (at least I thought it was my house, I could not see that clearly since I was running without my glasses) and as I was getting ready to turn around, these two black dogs with white fur around their necks (and no higher than my lower hips) came running from around the side of the house and started barking at me. At first I thought they wanted to play but they were quick to tackle me. As they ran towards me, I began to back away and yell at them to stop and back up, but they were on me real quickly and before I could turn to bolt, one of them had bitten me around my right hip (the hip that has given me a lot of pain before in running 'cause I've had bursitis there and I was bitten by a dog there over a two years ago). Fortunately, I moved quick, turning and kicking at the dogs on both sides. God blessed me with the strength and agility to not be taken down by both dogs leaping, biting, and pawing at me, otherwise I probably would have had to wrestle them if they took me down. The one on the right bit me again around my right hip, this time have a firm grip on my running shorts and slowly pulling it down. And I yelled something like "HEY!" and I yanked up my shorts. I continued to yell at them to stop and fend them off, half-hoping that someone over in the fairly distant houses would hear or better yet, the owner of the house would hear and call the dogs off, granted that the dogs belonged to whoever lived in the house and they were not strays (even though it looked like no one was home if it was even someone's house that I had run by). I hoped no one saw me fighting off of the dogs and get the wrong idea that I was trying to kill them. I just wanted to get away and continue on my run...

Then, just after I pulled up my shorts I saw an opening straight ahead the way I had come and I bolted across the field back towards the path; both dogs running on boths sides of me nipping at my heels. Now, I don't consider myself much of a sprinter, but I guess my anger and fright caused enough of an adrenaline rush for me to keep running, and I actually began to feel confident that I could keep up the pace long enough to get to the neighborhoods and maybe get help, or out run them. Oddly enough I began to feel a strange thrilling rush, like I was kicking at the end of a race and these dogs were not really attackers, but competitors. I thought I could hear myself egging them on, "come on!" I know it's an odd response to such a situation, but at teh very least these dogs were giving me a a good strong run; the likes of which I would hope to see more of in my kicks towards the of races that I do, haha!

After dashing away from the house with the dogs in hot pursuit, they stopped as I neared the path and the other houses and continued barking at me from the grass. Perhaps there was an invisible fence, they got tired, or they belonged to whoever lived in that house and were trained not to run unattended beyond a certain point. I dunno, but I yelled angrily back at them and continued on with my run and workout; invigorated with energy and a bit of adrenaline from my... encounter and escape!

After my workout I showered up and made my way to a local hospital and spent a few hours there waiting to be properly checked out. I had a couple of bites/bruises which could be infected, and I got medication for them in addition to a tetanus shot that I probably needed anyway. I may be back to the hospital in the near future for a follow-up. I feel like I'm still able to run all right (we'll see tonight after I get outta class) and I think I'm gonna take the day off from my planned weight lifting workout and maybe do it later this week, because my left arm is still a bit sore from my recent tetanus shot. I have hardly felt much from the bites today, so hopefully it stays that way as I recover. I thank God that I was not hurt that badly and hopefully I did not hurt the dogs either in my efforts to fend them off and make a get-away.

All right, thank you for reading up on my current update. Hope to still be running strongly in the near future. Take it easy and have a great night!

Running Events I have done this year as of Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Maryland

Allegany County

- Spring is Here! 10K - Sunday, April 6, 2008 - Cumberland - 7th overall (20-29 age-group division winner) - 41:40

Anne Arundel County

-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course :)

Baltimore City

- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)

Baltimore County

- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34

Calvert County

- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47

Caroline County

- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)

Carroll County

- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)

Cecil County

Charles County

Dorchester County

Frederick County

- First annual Great "Dead Man's Hill" Downhill Mile - Friday, April 4, 2008 - Brunswick - 4th overall - 4:50 (fastest mile-time in a while and my fastest mile-time off of a track :)

Garrett County

Harford County

- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11

- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia, MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #9: Elkhorn 10K – Sunday, March 30, 2008 – Columbia – 13th overall – 43:42 (clock), 43:39 (watch) – Ran negative splits: 21:53 the first half! :)

- 16th Annual Mt. Hebron High School Viking Backers Viking 5K - Sunday, April 13, 2008 - Ellicott City - 2nd overall - 18:52.20

Kent County

Montgomery County

- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51

Prince George’s (P.G.) County

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:

- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9

- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5

- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:

- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15

- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)

Queen Anne’s County

- A Day at the Races – Saturday, March 29, 2008 – Queen Anne’s County High School, Centreville:

- 5K (on the high school cross country course) – Winner – 18:59 (probably a little shorter than a 5K, somewhere between 3 and 3.1 miles)

- 1,600 meter/1-mile track open fun run – 3rd overall – 6:34

Saint Mary’s County

Somerset County

Talbot County

- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)

Washington County

Wicomico County

- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35

Worcester County

- Ocean City Half-Marathon 5K - Saturday, April 12, 2008 - Ocean City/West Ocean City - 2nd overall - 19:11

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County

New Castle County

Sussex County

District of Columbia – Washington

- 410th Tidal Basin 3K – Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – Tidal Basin, Washington D.C. – 9th overall – 10:46

Virginia

Accomack County

Arlington County

- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:

- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0

- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5

- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8

Northampton County