Last week, my long run was a bit longer than expected. With my bad vision, I didn't realize until after a few seconds that I had been making direct eye contact with a stray dog across the street from me.

I was hoping that'd be the end of it. After a little while, I saw a shadow coming from behind me, so I moved to the side thinking it was another runner. But then, I felt something pawing at my heels and realized the dog was following me. 

I had no idea what to do, so I just kept looking straight ahead and running. After a little bit, the dog was whining next to me and then he jumped up at me. I yelled at him and he stopped, but he kept pawing at my heels every now and then.

It wasn't the kindest thought, but when I saw a cyclist heading toward us in the opposite directions, I was hoping the dog was follow him. He didn't. After a half a mile, I came up with a plan.

There was a fire station a little out of my way. I figured I could go there and ask them if they knew if animal control could be called on the weekend (or at least keep the dog occupied for 10 minutes while I ran away). 

The dog was still with me for a mile, so I went to the fire station. The dog was gone by then, but I still stopped by the station telling the firefighters that the dog was following me. As I was about to leave, the dog was nice enough to be waiting across the street for me, so I waved him over. He kindly complied and the firefighters kept him to see if animal control was available. 

Stray dogs have always been a running fear of mine. Once, I ran into an area where there were dogs, who were bordering on aggressive, but there was distance between us and I ran in the other direction. I'm not really sure what to do. In this case, it was an open area without houses or stores. I didn't see a stick or rock if I needed it. This week, I made sure to pack my pepper spray with me. But any advice on dealing with stray dogs would be greatly appreciated. My first choice of course is avoiding them.

I don’t normally invite people to join me for a run, and so far, July has been a reminder of why that is. I got stood up twice.

Person Who Must Not Me Named 1 said she couldn’t join me for the bike social but would join me for my long run the next day. When my alarm when off, I thought I had to get ready quick in case there’s a knock at the door that would wake up others.

I scrambled to get my water, reflection vest, watch, and other gear on. No knock on the door. No text. “Maybe she’s waiting for me in the front of ___,” I thought. No, she wasn’t.

I started my run, mentally planning other places we could meet if she called late. Yeah, there was no reason to do that. I never got a message. Actually, I still haven’t gotten one.

Person Who Must Not Be Named 2 asked if I was going to the Footworks July 4 Run/Walk. I hadn’t planned to, but it’s free and I just got invited, so sure.

I got there with just minutes to spare before the run started. No one was there to meet me, so I called. “We’re headed there now,” I was told. And then about a minute later, the run started. While running, I kept looking around to see if I just missed Person Who Must Not Be Named 2.

At the turnaround, I checked to see if Person Who Must Not Be Named 2 was just really behind. Nope. No one.

I phoned PWMNBN2 when I finished the run. I learned they were at a park walking. PWMNBN2 thought the race started half an hour after it actually started.

So that happened. Not actually showing up is one thing. But if anyone actually did keep a running date with me, I’d hit Issue 2 - mismatched paces.

Do you have a running buddy? Do you have a similar pace? If you don’t, does one person slow down for the other or do you all just meet up at the end?

​The photos below are from the Footworks July 4th Run.

I got to attend part of it. Unfortunately, running in cold weather causes my nose to run too. On a long shot, I asked a woman if she had a tissue, and she actually had quite a few.

I headed back to the hotel, and I felt like I was moving fast. The first part I know was because I was headed downhill. (I could've gone in another direction, but I earned the right to run down the street the easy way.) The rest was because I was trying to reach the next block before the light changed. It felt like quick sprints, but my watch confirms I was going my usual pace.

I wish I had a chance to have a longer run, but I enjoyed the opportunity to have a quick look around. ​