Safety Dance

We can dance if we want to...we can leave this world behind.

No seriously, there are a lot of saftey rules I follow when running. One, I only run during day light hours. I actually learned this the hard way when I was running in the dark and took a big spill because I couldn't see what I was doing. Two, I never jaywalk. I do this because I've had two warnings from police officers and getting a $60 ticket is not high on my list. Three, I try to stay on paths or at least on roads with wide berms. This one is hard to do when you live in a small town and there are no sidewalks. But, there is one safety predicament I seem to find myself in that I don't know what to do about.

Yesterday I did my run on a path I probably run 2-3 times per week. I was having a difficult run and was walking. Behind me I heard a russle in the field beside me. I turn around and there was a HUGE dog charging at me. I yelled "OH SHIT" and screamed at the dog "NO NO NO!" Luckily the dog stopped right at the edge of the path. The owners yelled for it and I told it to go home and it did. This isn't my first run-in with very large dogs. It seems to happen to me every couple of months, and I don't know what to do about it. I don't want to carry mase because I'm afraid that it will accidently go off and spritz me and with my asthma I think that could be really bad. I wish people would keep their dogs securily in their yards or on a leash. I could have been killed by that dog yesterday.