HBBC Week 4 and Jingle Bell Hell Run

All I'm going to say about HBBC Week 4 is that I'm disappointed in the points, but not in myself. Life just got in the way this week. I couldn't make up for the day I took off with knee pain on the treadmill since it's closed up and shoved against a wall right now but that's ok. This week was about starting to get our house put back together and getting this semester finished off.

At least I started HBBC Week 5 off right with my version of XLMIC's Jingle Bell Hell (Virtual Fun) Run. While I didn't run the full 1/3 marathon distance, it was a long and very interesting run for me.

Here are the nitty gritty details from my Garmin, if you really care: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134966829

How the trail looked when I was starting. Snow was
just starting to stick to the trees and longer grass.

Anyway, I had planned on getting up early and getting in my last LONG slow run before my New Years double 5k adventure (yep, that's how I'm looking at it now) ... preferably before the snow started this afternoon since the weather guys were disagreeing on how much we were going to get and when it was going to start. Well, I slept in 2 hours past my alarm (it was only 10:30 when I got up, give me a break) and woke up to find the snow had already started, though it hadn't started sticking to anything but the trees yet. Ugh. I scarfed down a packet of oatmeal (I normally eat 2 but didn't want to feel sick while running) and half a can of Diet Coke (I need the caffeine, dangit!), threw on my normal run gear (plus my bright orange raincoat with the logic that I didn't want to get wet, forgetting that I was going to drenched in sweat by the time I was done anyway), and headed out. And guess what? I actually took my cell phone with me so I could get some pictures (shocking, I know. I don't like running with my phone. I know it's a safety thing, don't lecture)!

I knew my 6.25 mile run wasn't really going to be "HELL" since I was sticking to the paved Wabash-Cannonball Trail (and this is NW Ohio ... we don't have real hills unless you want to run the man-made sledding hill in town. lol), but I decided to make it slightly more challenging for me to judge distances (I don't like looking at my Garmin while I run) by running WEST from Whitehouse instead of my normal EAST. I also stuck my iPod on my Christmas playlist (this will come into play later, trust me). Within the first half mile (and JUST out of "downtown"), I came across an older gentleman walking with his 2 overweight labs (who weren't on leashes *ahem*). The dogs were big babies and woofed at me so I bent down to pet them as I went by. The guy had been talking pretty constantly on his phone as I ran by, so I didn't really think anything of it when he raised his voice once I was past him ... until the chocolate lab ran into the back of my leg and almost took me out. Apparently he took off after me when I passed him and the poor old guy had been trying to call him back. Oops. lol. I ran back to the guy so the dog would follow and he decided it was probably a good idea to put both dogs on their leashes for the rest of their walk. Uh, yea. haha. Things were pretty uneventful for the next couple of miles if you don't count the occasional branch or twig getting knocked out the trees along the trail by the wind. Running the trail this direction my be more protected from direct blasts of wind, but that just means there are more projectiles that could get "thrown" in your direction. I'm aware of 3 smaller twigs landing on me, but it could have been more and I just didn't notice.

Right before I got the crap scared out of me.

One thing that was nice about running the trail this direction, I got to run past my good friend's house. Now, you should know that K and I have a history of pulling pranks of each other. We've been doing it as long as we've known each other (since kindergarten, basically). When I ran past her place on the way out, she was outside working one of her horses (the one that I normally ride when I go over there, actually) and we waved at each other and kept on our merry way. Thinking back on it now, I really should have been more warry on my run back. Not long after I turned around (just past 3 miles), Trans-Siberian Orchestra kicked on in my playlist. I had turned the volume up a little bit before my run since most of my Christmas songs are a little quieter and I wanted to be able to hear and enjoy them, so when TSO started, it was pretty much blasting in my ear. When I hit K's property again, I could see that she wasn't out in the jumping ring any more and I didn't think any more about it. The trail was pretty in this area so I decided to slow to a walk and get a picture of me. I had just started running again when I felt something grab my hair braid hanging out from under my headband and hat! Of course I spazzed and spun around freaking out. That brat K had jumped her horse over the creek, snuck up on me (easy to do with my music being that loud), and encouraged Shotzi (yep, thats the horse's name. Long story.) to nibble at me! Once I knew what was going on, I just about fell over laughing, but THEY SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME (a real possibility since I hadn't relieved myself before leaving on my run and had already had the "is this a fart or do I need to pull a SUAR and start looking for a secluded spot" thought train)! The funniest part (for K, at least), was that Shotzi was so darned proud of himself. He was prancing and tossing his head as if he was thinking "Ha ha! I got you! Did you see me, mom? I got her!" Yes, in my mind, he has the voice of an excited little boy. He usually acts like it too. lol.

The rest of my run was (thankfully) slow and uneventful. And I realized my brother was home as soon as I ran up our driveway ...

I guess since we aren't really putting up Christmas decorations this year with all the renovations going on, little brother decided it was necessary to at least decorate the front porch. Yep, Santa rides a Harley at our house. It let me end my run on a smile, at least. :)