Some Days Suck

Ever have one of those days when you felt like the universe was out to get you?  That was yesterday.

It all started around 12:30am. After getting my first full night's rest in over 4 weeks on Sunday I laid down optimistically at 10:30pm. Could it really happen two nights in a row? I fell asleep rather quickly but, unfortunately the night was over almost before it started.  I awoke around 12:30 and, despite my many valiant efforts to fall back asleep (more pillows, less pillows, no pillows; side, back, stomach; couch, guest bed, Moe's bed; warm chocolate milk and Girl Scout cookies...) it never happened.  Or at least not until 7:15am when the girls marched out the door for the bus stop.

A two-hour nap is generally not a good way to start your day. You obviously don't get anything done during that time (besides some much needed rest, I guess) so you literally start your day two hours behind. You spend the rest of the day attempting to catch up, knowing it's not possible. Today I'm convinced that moving backwards would've gotten me further than whatever I was doing.

After accidentally dumping out a fresh pot of coffee, hitting multiple dead ends at work, and realizing we were out of laundry detergent on laundry day I gave in to the sad eyes Scout was giving me and leashed him up for a run.  I really needed to start checking things off the day's "To Do" list, but seriously, how could anyone resist those eyes?

It was another beautiful, unseasonably warm February morning in Charlottesvile so once we were out and about I felt great.  This ended abruptly at mile two, however, when out of nowhere two large, unleashed dogs came barreling toward us.  Scout immediately went on the defensive setting the larger of the two - a beautiful pit bull mix -  into attack mode.  Suddenly I found myself reaching between two fighting dogs to pull Scout out of the teeth of the other and up into my arms.  The other dog continued to jump on me and nip at Scout for a few minutes while I attempted to call out commands to him like "Sit!" and "Stay!" in hopes that he would comply and let us sneak away.  That didn't work, but fortunately a woman with a dog came walking toward us and offered to help.  Upon her arrival the pit bull settled down and walked toward her with his tail wagging. I reluctantly set Scout down and the two proceeded to sniff each other like dogs do and apparently come to some kind of truce, ending the fight as quickly as it started.  

Scout and I are both okay, by the way, and I don't blame the other dog for what happened.  He was just a dog doing what his instincts prompted him to do.  We called the phone number on the dogs' tags but there was no answer so upon my return home I called Animal Control. These dogs had been spotted running around the neighborhood over the weekend so I feared they were very lost and hungry - and knew they were not safe running on their own.  Animal Control works with the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA (CASPCA) to return dogs to their owners in these situations, so don't worry, they are being well taken care of.

This ordeal ended my first effort to today but it didn't stop me completely. With the race drawing near I knew I'd have to make a second attempt.  Sparked by my recent run on the Saunders Trail I decided to switch things up again.  I parked the car about a mile from one of the Rivanna Trail trailheads near our house and headed down the road for what I thought would be a fun, easy trail run.

In hindsight it may have been a good idea to check out the trail prior to running it. But, like they say, "hindsight is 20/20".  Unfortunately, I'm blind as a bat.  


The first mile on the road felt great.  The beginning of the trail was even better. But after less than 5 minutes the nice, even path became extremely rocky and uneven, making navigating it while running quite difficult.  Though my pace was somewhat slower than I had hoped I kept on going until something even worse happened.  The trail suddenly ended and I found myself face to face with an enormous, never-ending, steep sloping street. My nemesis had found me once again!

I won't lie - I ended up walking a fair portion of it, but at least I kept on going. When the GPS showed 2 miles, however, I abruptly turned around for the glorious gift you receive after climbing a mountain - the downhill.  Once again I found I quite enjoy running down hill, rocking it at a little under 8.5mph and was back at the trail before I knew it.  

I knew from the first half of my run that the trail, though somewhat difficult to navigate, would offer me no further surprises.  Or so I thought.  Within a mere minute after a woman walking the opposite way said, "Stay safe!" I was tripping over what I assume was a large rock (I obviously didn't see it), sending my iPod flying through the woods, landing sharply on my hands, knees and face, and twisting my ankle.


I usually wear my workout war wounds like a badge of honor - they prove, as a friend on Twitter said tonight, that I am  "badass".  If she could see me right now - ice on my ankle, heating pad on my back and Dora band-aids covering my cut up knees -  I'm not not so sure she'd have the same reaction. 


Oh well, tomorrow's another day.  And it's bound to be better than this one!