Running in the Rockies

3.4 trail run in ~11 min avg pace. 

I think I may have bruised the ball of my right foot yesterday running on the concrete for 13. I usually do longer runs on the roads because the concrete is so unforgiving for me. It was either that, or the fact that I wore 'nice' shoes to work after my run.. with smallish heels. I'm not good at walking in heels.. so maybe it was wearing those that bruised my foot. Not really sure. It's not too bad, slightly tender. But I thought it was a good enough reason for a trail run. We've been watching our friend's dogs for a few weeks and will have them until Oct. 15th or so (they are in africa-so jealous), so I took them, plus my pup, and we headed out to the trails near our house. My pup did his usually- take off at mach 5, until just out of sight and then come racing back when I called him- so much energy! The other two move more at their own pace.. and get side tracked by smells, sticks, squirrels, etc. But we all managed to stay together pretty well.

 About half way through our excursion, we found a leg of an elk or very large deer laid over the trail. It was much larger than a normal deer leg, and had a much deeper brown colored fur. Looked pretty 'fresh' still had some skin on it. The pups of course were overly interested, but luckily I got them to leave it after yelling at them each a few times. Yuck. It could have been road kill and something carried it back to the trails (a dirt road where people drive WAY too fast isn't too far away and I've sadly seen many creatures killed as they attempt a crossing), or it could have been a mountain lion or beer. Made me realize that it's probably not a good season to go out running alone in the early morning or late afternoon.. at least not in the woods- too many creatures trying to gather 'food' for the winter. I'd rather not be dinner for someone just yet.

 Anyways, around mile 3, I realized that the older of the pups (~9-10 yrs old) was breathing very fast and somewhat shallow.. he's a bit overweight and although I know his people take him out running pretty regularly, I didn't want to push him. I would feel terrible if something happened to him. So we stopped for a short rest and then just continued on home. I think maybe walks with the pups is in order for the next week or so. After we got home, it took him almost an hour to stop panting so heavily..but now he's sleeping soundly (they all are), so I think he's probably okay. Poor old guy. But an inspiration nonetheless. I hope that I am as happy as he is and still willing to give that solid of an effort in my older years.