Friday night, I pretty much made the decision to run the White Rock Marathon in December.

Given my history, I was expecting challenges. I was ready.

I went out Saturday for a 4 mile run. It was cold. I had a rough start, but kept going. I planned to go slow to get the distance in.

I had planned to go all the way down the street and back twice- each way was a little over a mile, so the whole thing would be a little over 4 miles. By about 10 minutes in, I felt good. I was proud of what I would accomplish.

So, after turning around I’m running downhill, feeling good, when this little, harmless looking beagle comes out from between some houses. The dog went into another yard, and I thought that may even have been it’s home, so I kept going.

Suddenly, the dog started running after me. I just thought I would run faster, but it caught me and took a big chunk out of my leg. I yelled obscenities starting with “What” and “the”.

For a brief moment, I considered shaking it off. I had to turn and scream at the dog to get it to leave me alone. I looked down and there was blood and a little skin. I figured I’d better limp home.

I called my husband (thank goodness I always have my phone since it’s my music player) and told him what happened and that I was on my way home. He met me at the door and took a picture (I won’t share it- pretty bloody), cleaned it off, and then we loaded the kids in the car and went to look for the dog before going to the ER.

Here’s a pic I took in the waiting room:

Anyway, after a long day in the ER, I finally made it home (thanks to the help of some good friends), got a tetanus shot, some antibiotics, and we’re putting off the rabies shots until they observe the poor beagle.

We did find the dog’s “home”, and the people there claimed it was a stray they were just feeding. The way they acted towards the dog, it was obvious they didn’t care about it. They even said they were going to take it to the pound to get put down.

It’s a sad situation. I don’t want to be the cause of a dog’s death, but at the same time, what if that had been one of my kids? I don’t want that dog terrorizing our neighborhood.

I thought for a minute it was another obstacle in my running career, and I was highly irritated I didn’t get my 4 miles in today, but I talked myself out of that kind of thinking quickly. I think if I rest for a few days, I can pick back up with the running. And, I’ll probably have to carry some pepper spray….

Here’s the last shot I’ll make you look at. It could have been worse :-)

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