Marathon Training Hazards (Read 549 times)

While training for my first marathon back in 1995, I got caught in the rain on my way home and chafed my nipples until they were bleeding. While training for my second marathon I nearly got clipped by the mirror of a minivan when it was passing a car on a rainy highway. And yesterday 8 miles into my 16 mile training run for marathon number 3, I had a german shepard bite the back of my left thigh. I running down a gravel road near where I live when I saw a neighbor out walking his four dogs off leash. Individually his dogs aren't too bad, but when all four come at you they behave as a pack. I could feel the dog that got behind me try to bite, but didn't think he did. I didn't realize I had been bitten until I after the dogs were gone and I was down the road. The bite was pretty minor, so I continued my run and should be in good shape for the marathon. I was still pretty ticked off. If those dogs hadn't been able to out-run me, I would have kicked them in the ribs. If the bite had been worse, I would have kicked my neighbor in the ribs instead. When I was done my run, I reported the dog bite to the police. My question is: Does anybody else have similar marathon training hazards? I've had close encounters with cars and dogs before, but it seems that when I'm doing my long marathon runs everything gets worse. What will happen if I train for marathon 4? Will I be abducted by hillbillies for having a "pretty mouth"? I'm at the point where I'm about to swear off marathons. Should this be my last one? Or does bad luck really run (no pun intended) in threes?

Answers to your questions (in order) #1 - Yes. Unless you run exclusively on a treadmill or private ranch, you will eventually get chased by dogs. #2 - Don't know #3 - If you're lucky. Sounds like what you've been hoping for anyway. #4 - Probably #5 - No.

Glad the bite wasn't bad and hopefully the neighbor will leach the pooches. We all have lots of training stories about mishaps. Will you add some for marathon four? Most likely. Maybe tina is right and having this leads to better race times. Who knows. Remember marathons and marathon training is a test of endurance through thick and thin. Improvise, adapt, overcome. Or as they say around here HTFU and bite the dogs back or use them for fartlek work.