Dogs

Last night's run was a little more exciting than usual. I was doing a 10 mile push run. The first 6 went well. I was running around 8 minute pace and I started to increase the tempo to about 7:20's . It was quite hard by that point and as I ran past a factory I saw four dogs come out the front gate in a mad sprint after me. Knowing that the flight option wouldn't be successful I decided to fight. The usual procedure in this case is to bend down like you are picking up a rock and then pretend, or actually, throw the rock. Since I was in the middle of the road and there were no rocks handy, I bluffed and combined the fake throw with some of my strongest swearing. Thank God they could see me because that was enough to send them retreating. The lead dog made one more charge but another fake throw sent him back to his pals. This method of dealing with dogs is internationally accepted by dogs of all nationalities. I have used it in the US many times and it always works. Some people might say I should have tried to befriend them or some other less agressive technique. I have found that packs of dogs or even single dogs that are in a chasing mood don't particularly want to be friends and really I didn't want to waste the time on negotiations. So even with two stops to defend myself i ran 7:30 for that mile and finally 7:20 for the last. Definitley a good run.