Augh! Skunk!

Coming soon ...

OK, my Wordless Wednesday post is scheduled to go in about 12 hours, but I wanted to post this real quick just because, I guess, this is my fitness blog ... mostly.

I ran tonight. I skipped my race last Saturday. I wasn't feeling my best. Even so I thought I could have done it and would have done OK. I ran tonight. This is my first run since the Cotton Row, whenever the heck that was ... months ago? So I'm accustomed to the first mile feeling like hell. And I didn't walk as long as I usually do to warm up because it is getting dark sooner and I didn't want to go to the gym and run on the treadmill. I ran my neighborhood, complete with wild animals, as the sun was going down. I think I went a mile and a half, maybe 2. It wasn't a long run by anyone's standards. A paraplegic could run farther and probably faster. I had no energy, no speed, and no lung power at all. Blah. I was wheezing like a beginner. I never really fell into a good groove like I usually do. For a moment I thought I was going to, but the sun going down convinced me to turn for home early. As I did I had to jog (I hate that I'm a jogger now instead of a runner) up a small hill. It was no big deal. I mean, for a decent runner this hill wasn't even a pimple in the road. But I was wheezing along like an asthmatic old pensioner. And most pathetic of all, even as I told myself that I wasn't going to stop at the top of the hill and instead go on to the same spot where I started running I stopped and walked. I didn't even get up to the top of the hill. I was like 3 feet from the top when I stopped. That is TRULY pathetic. I love hills. I love conquering hills. I couldn't even keep going long enough to reach the top of this tiny bump in the road.

And then I saw the reason all the animals in my neighborhood have been so nervous and on edge for the past few weeks. As I passed a driveway I saw something  coming out of the pipe that crosses underneath the driveway apron. It was a big old black skunk. And there was something odd about it. It was standing  there facing me, but it's tail was still sticking out of the pipe. No wait, it was two skunks! No wait, it was a family of skunks living in the pipe! Aaaaah, now I get it. My cats can smell these things and know they're around. This is why they don't want to go outside anymore. And this is probably why no one has reported seeing the bobcats in awhile. Ah well, it's a trade-off. The skunk looked at me and hunkered down like he was getting ready for trouble, but I guess he could tell I was wheezing like a soon-to-be-dead moose and decided I was no threat. I kept walking. He ignored me.  And I went  home to take a shower and die.

I have the Warrior  Dash coming up in 3 weeks. 3 weeks!!!! I'm so totally not ready.

Mom, is that you? Maybe we should follow you home just in case.