I had just started a 12mi trip around Feteresso Forest last Thursday when at the first junction after the initial rise I saw a beardy guy on a bike and his Alsatian dog coming from the other leg of the junction. I assumed that they would be heading down to the car park, so was a bit surprised when a minute later the big scary Alsatian dug was running beside me. I like dogs, [I have two], but somehow Alsatians always seem a bit more threatening when you don't know them personally [despite my wife's protestations that they are just big cuddly bears as she had two as a teenager], so it was a bit worrying having this one running right beside me. After a few yards it went off, but soon reappeared. This happened two or three times, with the owner seemingly oblivious to it. Then just after I assumed it had gone of for good I felt something strange. Couldn't quite put my finger on it so to speak, but something wasn't right. I couldn't see the dug, but something was definitely odd. After a few more yards of this I glanced back to find the dug was running just behind me which is why I couldn't see it, but I also found out why I felt something was wrong. Not only was this big scary dug running behind me, it was licking the back of my shorts as it did so and must have been there for 20-30 yards!
Cripes I've had a few slightly odd experiences while out running, but never ever have I had an Alsatian lick my butt before, and to be honest I'm not that keen on repeating the exercise. One quick loud "f**&^%% sake" later and the dug was gone. Of course during this Mr Beardy mountain biker was still oblivious to what his dog was doing and as he eventually over took me at a speed that made post office queues look fast the dog took off and ran with him for all of 50 yards before stopping. I was understandably not best inclined towards this pair now, so pushed a bit faster to get past them and thankfully never saw them again all night. What was not so good though was the largish patch on the back of my shorts where the dug was licking. It felt truly horrible, like that cold damp feeling you get when you sit on a damp bench. It took the best part of an hour before the sensation disappeared.
Anyway apart from that, and getting a bit lost [ended up in a field when I should have been in the middle of a forest], the run was pretty good and rounded out as a decent 12 and a bit miles.
For the weekend I hadn't really planned much mileage as on Saturday we were across at Oban getting the boat ready for the season. Brilliant sunny day and we all had a great day faffing around and playing in the boat and rubber dinghy. Will be good to get sailing again this year and I must get the Int Canoe ready to sail too. Managed to get out for a brief 3miler round Aberuchill with the dogs when we got home though.
On Sunday it was the Glen Lednock 8 mile road race which starts a whole 100yrds from our house. I was not for running in it in order to protect my knee from the steep downhill return leg and opted for bacon and eggs for breakfast and watching a cracking turnout of 13 Harriers take part though. Phil T was first Harrier in [4th O/A] and it was good to see him return to form after what seems to have been a testing start of the year for him. As Gregor had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon, I got the chance for an unexpected run in the afternoon. Thought about doing a last minute Crianlarich - Tyndrum and back but decided didn't quite have time for that and headed out for somewhere around 8-10 miles. Ended up doing 17 miles of the Tour De Strathearn, going Comrie up to Braefordie and along to the Turret dam. Walked/ran down from the dam to the base of the hill [knee again!] before running past the Famous Grouse [what a lovely smell from the kitchens as you go past on a Sunday] and out along Lady Mary's Walk to Strowan Road, before the perilous last few miles along the A85 to Comrie. Absolutely parched in those last few miles as I ran out of drink with 2-3 miles to go. So it was with some relief then to finish the run at the Costcutter where buying a juice, a coke and a bottle of wine allowed me to cover all possible options as far as my thirst was concerned! Good run, but I was absolutely puggled in the evening. OK - so Sunday's fueling was not exactly of the elite variety - bacon/eggs for breakfast, no lunch and only 3 coffees for drinks before my run which did not exactly set me up properly, but I was immensely knackered Sunday night.
What was more surprising is just how tired I was on Monday too. I went out for my run, but struggled even to do 3 miles. Just could not have gone further, so went home and ate a huge portion of emergency pasta in the hope that I could run decently again on Tuesday. Did it work? - Yes. I'm just back in from 8 miles round the forest, and while it was not my finest run ever, it was OK, and it was 8 miles. Conclusion? - I'm rubbish at this dietary stuff!
