Notes
The bad week continues today...
Long run on my own so I'm attempting a big loop in Fairfax. Unfortunately there aren't many great connections across highway 151 but I found 1 loop that would get me nearly 15 miles. The first 4.5 miles were into a fiercer wind than I anticipated. But that happens when I'm out in the corn fields with minimal hills. Still, I was enjoying my podcast and just knowing I would be running for a while made the miles go by pleasantly.
I turned onto some gravel roads I hadn't traversed before. More of the same though. Some smaller hills and the occasional house and more-than-occasional car (for whatever reason). I was enjoying the wind at my back and approaching the highway/halfway when a German Shepard started running parallel to me. It was still in its yard so I didn't pay it much heed, more so trying to ignore it and make it clear I wasn't interested. It slowed as it approached the end of house's property and I returned my focus to gauging the highway. Before I knew it the dog was on the road and I only had time to yell before it twisted its head and bit me in the right calf. It ran off immediately. I later learned the owner had an invisible fence. I suspect this was why dog slowed before going wild upon realizing it made it outside the fence.
I let out a loud expletive before trying to start thinking this through. Another dog had showed up and was just watching me from the yard. That was reason enough to not approach the house and no one was coming out. My self-assessment was that I could run, certainly adrenaline was helping. So I decided not to hitch a ride but also to not do the full distance. In that regard I was fortunate I only had 4 miles back (which I had planned as a bailout option if I wasn't feeling good).
The 9th mile would be my fastest (still an easy 7min) ran mostly on anger. I cooled off the final 3 miles and mostly worried about what to do next.
I made it home and Naomi helped clean the wound. There were 2 clear punctures that had broken the skin. After several calls we eventually got a game plan (having this happen on a Sunday while having covid made things more difficult by a magnitude). We made a police report, they went to the house and, mercifully, the owner was present and had the vaccination records. No rabies for me. Still, Naomi was concerned about infection and our at-home treatment so I went to urgent care the next day. They weren't disturbed in the least, they said to let the wound breathe with light bandages and infection from dogs was very unlikely. They gave me an anti-bacterial nevertheless.
So after 40,000 some miles, estimated 6,000 of them on gravel, I finally got a true dog attack. I should count myself lucky it wasn't any worse. I'm not sure how I'll react next time I see a dog running free, though I'm sure I won't be trying this road again.