Wednesday, November 18, 2015

WWU - 9 Miles, Armadillo Adventures

What happens when you go on vacation and don't run for 10 days, and then, less than 12 hours after you return, you run 9 miles?  Let's just say it could have been worse...but boy howdy, I sure was feeling this run toward the end, and especially afterward.  Now, it was great to be back with my running crew - CC, Loretta and I had a lot to catch up on and the run was fun in that aspect.  It's just that my legs let me know that they didn't like going from zero to nine miles without a little bit of build up.

Funny thing though - this season, more than any in the past, I barely check my Garmin while I'm running.  Mostly I'll glance at it to see what mile we're on, for fueling purposes (although Loretta is usually spot on, within a tenth of a mile, for knowing when it's time to refuel, which I think is really great - she's very intuitive in feeling when her body needs more fuel), but I don't look at our pace.  However, as we crested the last uphill slog and I exclaimed out loud that I was dying (slight exaggeration, but runners know that feeling), I checked it and saw that we were at mile 8.25, which reassured me that I could survive for another 3/4 of a mile.  Later on while we were at breakfast, I looked at our mile splits and saw that we'd run the last four miles faster than the first five - no wonder I felt like I was dying.  And that last mile?  Fastest than our first mile by over a minute!  That was a pretty sweet accomplishment - Loretta and I high-fived over that one.

That afternoon and the next day I was pretty sore, but between taking some Motrin and using my BFF Buffer, I felt decent enough to run on Monday morning.  Loretta came over and she, Jeff, and I had a nice shake out run at 5:15 am.  Afterward, Jeff went inside the house while Loretta and I talked for a few minutes on the driveway while Paco was outside, running around like the crazy dog he is.  At one point he started barking aggressively at the gate on our side fence, so I put him back in the house - it was dark and I couldn't see much, but I figured he was just barking at a sweet neighborhood cat, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who gets picked on by all of my pets but persists in hanging around. 

Turns out, he was barking at an armadillo, and scared it into our garage.  Of course, I didn't see this happen and I went back to talking with Loretta until she had to leave to get ready for work.  She left, and I went in through the garage, hit the button to close the door, and turned to make sure it was closing all the way (sometimes our cats will bum rush the garage and cause the door to pop back up)...and that's when I saw a huge armadillo about three feet from me, walking under Jeff's car!  I also saw Kip in the garage, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I shrieked, ran inside my house, slammed the door, and yes, I trapped my cat in the garage with an armadillo. 

Now, the sane person would have cracked open the door, reached out and hit the button to reopen the garage door, but HECK NO WHAT IF THE ARMADILLO WAS RIGHT THERE AND TRIED TO COME IN THE HOUSE???  Not. An. Option.  The other choice was to go outside through the front door, open the garage door using the keypad mounted on the side of the door frame, and run like hell back toward the front door.  Luckily, I had a third choice, which was to go make Jeff deal with it.  Also not ashamed of that...he's not always home, but when he is, I will gladly surrender any and all dealings with wild animals to him.  With the help of our Webster (good for sweeping cobwebs, ceiling fans, and armadillos), he got the armadillo out of the garage.  Whew!

And that's how I got a double cardio workout on Monday.

20 comments:

  1. Armadillos gross! I don't blame you for letting Jeff deal with it!

    You really are in pretty good shape to be able to pull off a 9 mile run like that!

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    1. I hope all this running has been good for something - but I wouldn't recommend going from zero to nine very often.

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  2. Your armadillos are my skunks!

    Great job on that run. I bet you did better than you thought because your legs were well rested. Sometimes rest actually does a body good.

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    1. I kept telling myself that having the time off would be a good rest for my legs, but I couldn't believe how sore I was after that run. Might have been a trade off, I don't know...

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  3. You are amazing to be able to run 2 days in a row after your long vacation!! Go you!! As for the armadillo....ewww! I'm glad he didn't get you guys, or get in your house! Yikes!

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    1. It would pretty much be ABANDON SHIP if an armadillo got into the house!

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  4. Great job on the run! These days I don't check my Garmin much anymore either. I'm not interested in pace anymore but just in the run itself and finish it.

    Oh boy those armadillos are gross, had to look them up because they don't live here. Apparently there aren't many places where they live anymore but hey, you are a lucky one :) And I would totally rely on R. too to deal with it.

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  5. That armadillo story is funny! I never saw one when I lived in Texas, and I would have loved to see one. Not in my garage :) It seems so strange that such a wild creature would be wandering around in a regular neighborhood.

    Good job on that run!!!

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    1. I told my neighbor about the incident, and he said we are living in their habitat...sorry, but these houses have been here for over 20 years - it's time they move on!

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  6. UGH!!

    I had a skunk in my garage. I was scared, My cats didn't care. Luckily he neve sprayed and left on his own.

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    1. Ugh, skunks! They could disappear off the face of the earth (along with fire ants) and I wouldn't miss 'em.

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  7. I only saw an armadillo once "in the wild". We just watched it for awhile from a purdy darn close distance and then left. I had no idea they were scream/run worthy. Do they bite?

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    1. I saw one hiss at Paco a couple of years ago when they had an encounter in our front yard - scared both of us!! Not sure if they bite, but I don't want to take a chance!

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  8. Is it wrong that I'm laughing hysterically at trapping the cat in the garage with an armadillo? I totally would have done the same thing!! I'm all about nature, but not so much wild animals. I've never seen an armadillo in real life, do they move quickly? Because that would freak me right out.

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    1. They move slowly, until they seem to go at light speed coming right at you...or so it seems, usually in the dark!

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  9. I just tried running 8 miles this weekend after not running for about 10 days. It was not easy! I remember seeing an armidillo when I was much younger when we lived in Texas and I didn't know what it was. I kept thinking it was a really weird turtle.

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    1. How funny - I thought Texas schools indoctrinated children with all the Texas critters early on!

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  10. Am I the only one that likes the armadillo? I love how they walk on their toes. We have a neighborhood skunk that circuits around several of our houses and he\she can really make it stink. Now that I wouldn't want trapped in my garage!

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    1. You might just be the only one...no, I used to like them, back when I only saw them at the zoo. ;)

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