Baby, It's Dark Outside

I've had a few interesting experiences on the heretofore undiscovered section of the prairie path. Seems like this fall is going to be full of weird runs...

Monday, for instance, I was nearly Bambi'd on my run. I was about a mile and a half into my run when about ten feet in front of me appeared Bambi's father. And he didn't move. He just stood there in the middle of the path. Staring at me. Now, prior to the the start of this run, I had a dentist appointment to have more fillings done. And got the bad news that I'd need another crown. In case you were wondering, I'm pretty broke right now. It was a bad day. And so the sight of a rather large woodland creature with pointy antlers staring me down was not the pinnacle of my day.

So I did what I had to do. Did I turn around and run home? Nope. I talked to the deer. I became the deer whisperer. Here is what I said:

"Hello Mr. Deer. I know you are bigger and better than me. And God created you before me. I'm cool with that. But I've had a really bad day and I'm hoping it won't get worse. Please don't stab me with your antlers. I just want to run 4 miles at my race pace."

And with that, he walked off the path.

Tonight's run took place in darkness. It was a different kind of darkness than what I'd been used to in the city. It was perfectly silent. I decided at the last minute that I would run on my hidden path, forgetting that there would be no lights. For a little while it was fine. And I mean a little while. I started to hear funny noises and odd shadows. At about 1.3 miles in, I abruptly turned around and sprinted back to the main road. It just didn't feel right and I wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. Garmin paced me at about an 8 minute mile! Maybe that's the secret to speed...scare the shit out of me! I made an extra loop once I got back to the main road and decided that with the shortened daylight hours, I would be forced to give up my new-found soft path for the suburb streets. Oh well. Better than doing something that my gut says is a bad idea.