busboy meets main dish (another mountain lion encounter)

So, remember how I thought it was SO cool that I found the deer leg and kept running anyway? Well, I am not. Because yesterday, my friend, saw the mountain lion! Yup, and the mountain lion saw her, she swears he licked his lips. He was probably 25 yards away. She spotted him, he crouched down, tail high in the air, eyes locked on her. She grabbed 2 rocks, held them above her head and ran backwards from where she came. Neither broke gaze until she was safely( i am using that term loosely from now on) back outside the gate. Now, I am impressed. I like to think I would be that cool and calm but, truth be told, most of my runs back on the trails, I am too busy looking at me feet to see the hungry lion lurking in the pastures. I am too concerned with falling on my face or finding the right song on my ipod that I would not even see or hear my death approaching.

I think my only way to solve this new problem is to find new running friends, ones I don't like very much so that we don't spend an hour laughing when we could be astutely listening for a predator. Or maybe some that are at least slower than myself so I can out-run them when the need arises?

Either way, the next day, when we were running together, re-telling the story of the mountain lion encounter, from around a corner, a huge, blue eyed, black beast came sprinting around the corner, we screamed like it was the Chupacabra coming for our souls instead of the furry, face licking dog that it was. I then realized, like our Fido here, maybe it wasn't a mountain lion she saw after all, maybe it was just a fox playing with a field mouse. Yup, that must be it, I'm going out there again tomorrow!

running or dreaming?

Today, a friend of mine thoughtfully pointed out that the act of running produces much of the same effects as a nightmare... alone, in the dark, sweating, heart racing... I found this to be the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. It is true for many, my dream of running is a nightmare. He reminded me that, not long ago, all of those things would signal a "save your life, run away" reaction. So what is it exactly that I am fleeing from? My kids? sure. The monotony of life? Of course. So what brings me back, repeatedly? Most days, I choose to get up before the crack of dawn and drive my body into a sweaty, heart pumping, legs aching, exhausted state. When I return home my heart is still racing, i am dripping in sweat, and it is usually still dark. Maybe I should try and figure that out tomorrow morning... for now, when the kids wake up with a nightmare, I'll just tell them everything is okay... they were just going for a run.