5 Weeks and Once Bitten

It's hard to believe that the NYC Marathon is in less than 5 weeks! I have been training my heart out for 11 weeks now and haven't let anything stop me. I ran through the entire month of August sick as a dog with a sinus infection. I ran the past couple of weeks with lower back pain and praying that my current regiment of icing and stretching keeps it in check. This week Daily Mile congratulated me with an Epic week of training!

I hit peak training a couple of weeks ago, but since I had the back pain I had to scale back my runs during the week in hopes of hitting my long run mileage.  So far so good even though I haven't hit the 30+ total miles for the past 2 weeks.

With this past week being another modified running week, I have managed to keep my back pain in check with icing 2 times a day and lots of stretching. My long run on Sunday was only suppose to be a 10 miler, but since I was feeling so good I turned it into a 13 miler!

I really wanted, and had the energy, to hit a total of 15 miles but I stopped at 13 because I ran out of hydration. I only planned for 10 and managed to make what I brought with me to last the extra 3 miles. I came close to hitting the 31 miles total for the week, just 2 shy.

I really love completing my Sunday long runs up at Rockefeller State Park Preserve. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place to be. I've said in past posts how I have seen chipmunks, turkeys and many a deer! 

I also see a lot of dogs! I love dogs. I have never met a dog that didn't like me. Well at least until this past weekend and one bit me. Yes, you read correctly. I had a dog bite me on Sunday. I am still shocked from it because it was not my fault and I don't see how I could have done anything different. Let me just say I am fine. No skin was broken or blood drawn on my arm. I am just bruised and sore on my tricep and bicep where the dog got a hold of me.

I am really upset at the owner of the dog. She was barely concerned and acted like it was no big deal. I wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be out on the trails with 3 dogs she can't control where there are many runners and children. 

Here is what happened...

I was running along the trail and noticed this woman with her 3 dogs. There was a little white dog, a little brown dog and a big black/brown dog. As I am running towards them I notice how the little white dog and big black/brown dog are tugging her to the left of the trail and how the little brown dog is tugging her to the right of the trail. I am thinking to myself as I am running towards them that this might be a problem for me because I felt she wasn't really in control of her dogs. As I get closer I am formulating my plan of action of how best to pass them. The owner is aware of me. She has looked back at me and can hear me coming. She knows I will be passing her and her little collection of doggies. Another 2 runners come from the opposite direction and pass the dogs with no problem. Not one of them pays the runners any attention. I am thinking this is good for me and they will be like all the other dogs I have encountered in the park. 

So I am getting closer and getting ready to pass the dogs. I have moved myself to the far left of the trail to get as from away from them as possible. As I am passing the little white dog looks at me and jumps out towards my legs/feet, thus pulling the owner and the big black/brown dog towards me on the left of the trail. I react by skipping more to the left to avoid being tripped by the white dog when all of a sudden the big black/brown dog jumps over little white dog and next thing I feel is a paw on my right shoulder and a pain on my tricep.

The owner of these dogs manages to pull her dogs off of me and says she is sorry and asks if I am ok. The way she reacted was NOT one of "Oh My Gosh My Dogs Are All Over You And One Just Bit You Are You OK?". She was so nonchalant that it was like her dog had done something like this before. My reaction was to access my arm to make sure I wasn't bleeding, which I wasn't, and then to tell her "Yes I think I am ok, but your dog just bit me!" Her response was, as long as your ok!

Fortunately for me I was wearing a long sleeve shirt because it was a bit cold out at first. If I had decided to just wear my short sleeve shirt I believe the dog would have broken skin. When I got home and looked at my arm, you could see the place on my tricep and the place on my bicep where the dog had gotten me. The spots are pretty close together and that just tells me how big the dogs mouth was because it grabbed my arm from behind under the tricep. Right now I have 2 bruises that are very tender to show for the dogs loving affection for me. I'm suck a lucky girl!

Here's to another week of training!!!