Mexican Juju & a Suburbian Shank

So I take a few days off and there is soooo much to catch up on. First, I took a few days off because my body got pretty angry with me and threw a little hissy fit. Saturday I could barely get out of bed. I had some serious cankles and sausage fingers. This weather change and fluctuation really does a number on me, but the weather is stabilizing and my body seems to be acclumating well. Fingers crossed that is the last episode for the fall. Being out of commission on Saturday caused me to miss a  big 6 mile run this weekend. : ( My runhers ladies had a great run without me, but at least they asked about me. The weekend wasn't a complete wash though. Sunday I got to meet up with a few of those ladies for a kayaking experience with Team USA's Kaitie McElroy, who just returned from the USA Sprint Natl. Championships with 3 Gold Medals. She was super nice and super patient. : ) It was a really cool experience. 

 

My hands didn't wanna fully cooperate with me, which made paddled interesting. It was still worth it.

Then tonight, I got back on the horse, so to speak. I was due 5 miles according to the training schedule. I got in 4.75, which is not bad considering that I could barely walk just 2 days ago. It wasn't me feeling bad, per se, that made me fall .25 mile from my goal. It's a long story, so of course, I'm going to share it with ya'll.

 

Tonight I headed out with my running partner, A, took off on a 5 mile route that we had done before. It's a little hilly, goes along a busy street, through a neighborhood, and through the park. So it's pretty well lit and only a few ackwards spots where you don't have sidewalk, but it never hurt anyone to do a little off-roading, right? So we are running and running. A, is naturally a little faster (ok, a lot faster) than me so we soon begin to separate, but I can still see her. There is a creepy spot on the way back that is a heavily wooded area right up against the sidewalk. It always gives me the heebies. A, was well past me when I got to the spot. So I took  out my one ear bud and took off sprinting past. But since that sections is also uphill, I'm not sure that I moved that quickly out of the danger zone. All of a sudden it was like the lights were turned off. It went from daylight to dusk to the darkest of night within a few moments. I rounded the corner and peered into the darkest street I have ever seen. My Mexican Juju was going off and telling me something wasn't right. (For those of you who don't know what Mexican Juju is, it is what my best friend dubbed that feeling I get when things aren't quite right and I know before hand. It's also how I'm 10 for 10 of naming the sex of friend's babies before they know. That kind of thing. Now you may doubt the Mexican Juju, but you shouldn't. Just ask the Aussie. )  So the Mexican Juju was screaming at me and.... I pretty much sprinted for nearly a mile to get back to our meeting spot at the park. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sprint when you are crouched down in a ninja stance?  As if I wasn't already on edge, on my way I had a punk kid in a huge truck swerve AT me and then swerve back and then honk. I had a guy throw a bottle at me. Lastly, I had a huge black truck, pull me next to me and then lay on his horn and then squeal off. I did have to slow down at one point to cross a bridge and I stopped and picked up what I thought was a big stick. I ran (sprinted) the rest of the way to the park holding onto the big stick. I met up with A, and we finished out our miles, still holding the big stick. I even carried it home with me. My hubby inspected it when I got home and detailed my little adventure. It turns out it was a skinny piece of pvc pipe cut off into a point. My hubby said "Leave it to you to find a shank on the side of the road in suburbia". Hey, a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do! I know, I know. I live in a nice Southern town where some people don't even lock their doors (which I think is crazy). But isn't that how all those scary news reports start out, with them interviewing someone in a small Southern town who says, "Well, golly, I never wouldn't thought something like that could ever happen here. Everyone knows everyone. I don't even lock my front door." So tomorrow I am going and getting some pepperspray that is, if  my legs are working tomorow after sprinting so much tonight.

 

Peace, Love, and Mexican Juju.