4 Miles: Round Hill

Today, I bailed on running the Round Hill 5k (part of the Hometown Festival) and took the opportunity to help out instead. I ran from my house to the elementary school, checked in, received my orange vest, and ran back to my post (intersection of Hampton and Longstreet) to direct people to the left. Then I ran back to see the results and finally ran home to grab some breakfast before the parade started at 10:30. What a great way to start the day. And I got a free t-shirt!

45 Minutes: W&OD Trail

Another easy day. Forty-five minutes on the W&OD trail starting in Hamilton and heading westbound. My legs are still feeling fresh.

30 Minutes: W&OD Trail

Nothing fancy today. After about a week off, I eased back into things today with a half-hour run on the W&OD trail starting in Hamilton and heading eastbound. My legs felt nice and loose at the end.

1 Hour: Stamford, CT

I'm staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Stamford, CT for some work-related training. So far the stay has been great, but I starting to feel anxious about not running. Today I took advantage of a little downtime before dinner with colleagues and went out for an hour along completely unfamiliar roads. I headed west on Broad Street, then right onto Washington Boulevard, then cut through Scalzi Park, then left onto Bridge Street, then right onto Stillwater Road, then left onto Pond Road, then left onto Skyview Drive, then right onto W Hill Road, and finally a left onto Greenleaf Drive before turning around and coming back to the hotel. The run felt great. The skies were overcast and the air was cool. I love running in a new place.

1 Hour: W&OD Horse Trail ... and a Dog

Today I ran from Hamilton eastbound on the W&OD horse trail. The weather is getting warmer as the week goes by, and late this afternoon the air had the mugginess of an impending rain storm. The run started off slow as I worked out the soreness from my legs from Saturday's hike. When I neared the Route 9 crossing, I turned right on a road that arched into Paeonian Springs. I passed a house with a big white dog in the front yard. The dog stood on the other side of the fence, ears perked with complete attention, but no signs of aggressiveness. Not long after, I hit my half-hour turnaround point. When I passed the house a second time, I saw the dog jump the fence out of the corner of my eye. I stopped running, looked over my shoulder and saw a dog with head lowered, and a huge ridge of hair standing high on his back. Lassie was turning into Cujo and I briefly thought of myself as another blip in a Stephen King plotline. I turned around and kept walking backwards, careful not to make eye contact to avoid some kind of dominance stand off. I told the dog "No," hoping he would respond and accept some kind of benevolent authority from me, then told him to "Sit"... nothing happened. I tried the same thing in Spanish and French ... no luck. I walked backwards for about 50 yards until he lost interest. Along the way I looked for anything like a big rock or stick, but people in those parts kept tidy lawns. When I made it out of the dog's sight, I started running again, only a little faster on the return trip. In the end, my legs felt refreshed, my slight fear of dogs rekindled, and looked forward to seeing my dog when I got home.