Getting back on the saddle…

or why we should face our fears head on.

This morning I went out for a walk/ run on the soon to be bike trail here in Whittier. There’s lots of activity and some trees and shrubbery have been cut by the city workers. We’ll see how things move along in the summer.

In any case I have been thinking about the dog incident a few weeks ago. I finally gathered the courage to go again. I picked up a couple of good size rocks and had them at the ready just in case. I also carried my small monopod (good for steadying the camera and holding off dogs if need be). At around 9:00 am I went out, it was already hot. I started by walking and picking up the pace until I broke into a run.

As I got closer and closer to the area where my four legged friends had escaped and accosted me, my heart begun to beat furiously. I observed the area and to my dismay, the wooden fence was now completely down this time. Oh boy, here we go again. I decided to keep going, come what may. As I got closer a sigh or relief could have been heard if anyone was around. The owner had put a chain link fence where the old wooden fence stood before. There were no dogs barking so everything seemed in order. I relaxed once again and ran past the area. It felt good to be out and about. Other dogs barked but there was nothing to fear now. I got to my waypoint and started back again.

Passing the dreaded area again, I could not help but to have all these evil thoughts. I imagined myself facing the dogs again and ...well I woke up and kept running. The heat was really something. My average Hear Rate beat was 119. Max was 177. I burned a total of 1118 calorie on this run. I took 20% off for accuracy and settled at 894 calories for this hour. I will sleep better because the nightmare is over. Although, I will carry my monopod or a walking stick from now on. Let’s see. Now I ware my gloves all the time, cause I fell last time and I’m not going through that again. I carry my fanny back with water, phone, other items just in case plus my monopod. What’s next? The important thing is that Jack is back!

There is another reason I push myself to keep running. This picture should tell it all. That was four years ago at around 280lb. Never again dogs or not!