Runnin, Soccer, Tough Yoga & a Bobcat Encounter!

Another weekend is in the books! Well, not so much a book, but more of a calendar.

Anyway, this weekend was extra epic because the boy had his first soccer match!

You’ll grow into the jersey.

But before that I was able to get in a short run on Friday as well as 9 miler Saturday morning. I was glad to negative split that fool despite the humidity!

After a shower, we were ready for some football.

Landsharks on three!

Unfortunately the Landsharks started the season with a loss. And as head coach, I take full responsibility. In my defense though, it’s hard to get a bunch of five year olds to focus on one thing at a time.

Put me in coach…ooh look, there’s a dragonfly over there!!!

But at least they got a lot of fan support from sister!

Go team…oooh look, there’s a dragonfly over there!

In the end, they all still had a lot of fun!

Much like soccer, some of the team are also still learning how to take a photo.

On Sunday I met up with a friend for a trail run.  After a few miles we came across a train bridge/tunnel. Good spot for pictures.

Feeling a little blurry.

This one feels sharper.

At this spot we heard a waterfall. We climbed over a barbed wire fence and could see it was on the other side of the tunnel. We’d have to climb up and over the tracks to see it. That’s what we tried to do.

Now I’ve been weary of train tracks since my last encounter with them a few months back. But this time I managed not to hurt myself.

Sometimes I incorporate trail running into my ‘training’. Get it? I know, I’m hilarious.

We never saw the waterfall cause when we got to the tracks I spotted a bobcat on the other side. Usually they run away from humans, but this one stood still. My friend snapped a not very clear pic…

She’s dressed in her cammo.

We didn’t want it to lose it’s fear of humans, so we started yelling and waving our arms to scare it off. It didn’t budge. In fact, it just sat down and stared at us like we were loco.

That’s when we heard the meow-screeches of the bobkittens. They were under the rock she was sitting on. This mama was protecting her litter. That’s why she wasn’t abandoning her den. And we could sense she was losing patience with us being so close. We decided it would be prudent to get out of there real quick like. Like my friend said, “I don’t want to get my eye clawed out by a bobcat today.”

We got back safely and ended up going about 7 miles on the run.

Afterwards it was yoga time.

The calm before the pain storm. Oooh look, the shoe lady is back!

The instructor this day put us through a tough tough session. What made it tougher is that she had to leave early, so she squeezed in an hour’s worth of yoga into 45 minutes. This was a no-joke practice. Felt good though (after it was over).

They say weekends are supposed to be relaxing, but mine always leave me sore and tired. Go figure.

How bout you? Crazy weekend? Encounter any wildlife? Any tips to ensure we don’t lose another soccer match?

-Scott

The Running Dead & The Armadillo Alive

Since I’ve upped my game a few weeks back to running 6 days a week, I’m a little more tired. Funny how that works. Add to that the Texas heat, which forces me to wake up before the sun has a chance to be fully erect in the sky.

That early I’m usually half asleep when I start my runs. So I kind of feel like a zombie – The Running Dead.

From a recent Halloween. I’m a zom-bee, get it?

Also, I gotta say, our town is pretty much overrun by bunny rabbits. On any given run, I’ll probably pass by 30+ of the little carrot eaters. No different this morning…But this time they brought a friend.

As I rounded a corner I could see a couple rabbits up ahead next to the path I was on. But one of them was bigger. As I got closer, I could tell it wasn’t a hare, but it was too dark to make out exactly what it was. I hoped it wasn’t a small bobcat.

Stolen from a friend. These cool cats are around here too.

To be safe, I made some loud grunting noises and clapped my hands. Normally that scares them off (and gets me sidways glances from neighbors). But this animal was giving zero F’s. It paid me no mind (too bad cause zombies eat brains).

Fearing it might be a rabid raccoon (yes, we have those here this summer – and yes, they go up to humans when rabid), I moved off the path. But then I saw what it was – an Armadillo! He/she was digging for grubs to eat.

I still kept my distance because they have sharp claws, but it was cool to see one alive. Usually when I see one, it’s roadkill. I also didn’t get too close cause she/he wasn’t as fun loving as the ones I see in local bars.

Yes, they sell these in stores here.

This wasn’t as cool as the time I saw a real unicorn on a run, but it was still kewl (my street lingo is totally hip).

How bout you? Seen any different animals recently? Are you a morning person? Would you party with an armadillo?

-Scott

Runner vs. Coyote

I’ve written before about my run ins with dogs and such on my runs.  In fact, it almost happened again this morning.  A man was walking his dog without a leash.  He didn’t see me, so I made some loud coughing noises to get his attention.  When he heard me, he ran over to his dog to grab the collar.  It’s disappointing how much I have to use that trick.

Anyway, after that I got back to my neighborhood and there was a beautiful coyote that was also going on a jogabout.  Unfortunately, when most people here come across coyotes or bobcats, they bust out their phones to take photos for Instabook.  This is wrong as it teaches them not to be scurred of humans.  Ya heard?

Stolen from a friend. He took this near his place here in Dallas recently.

What I was told to do by an urban wildlife expert is “haze” them.  This doesn’t mean you strip them to their undies and make them drink a bunch of beer at the frat house kegger. What it means is you try to scare the animal with loud noises and motions.

Stolen from another friend here in Dallas who saw these guys in his yard.

The coyote was about 30 yards away and it seemed like it wanted nothing to do with me, and would’ve jogged off on it’s own, but I decided to take this chance to teach him a little sumthin sumthin.  I turned towards him and chased after him while yelling very loudly with a deep voice and flailing my arms about.

This accomplished a couple things.  1.)  My neighbors surely now have confirmed their suspicions that I belong in a tree…because I’m a nut.  and 2.)  It spooked the coyote something fierce, and it took off sprinting without looking back!!!

So there ya go.

What about you?  What do you do when you encounter wildlife – take a selfie?  Do you ever cough or give some other warn people you’re coming up (when you’re too far away to say “on your left”)?

Wildlife Run

Unlike most people, I like to run in scenic places.  Problem is that I live in a suburb of a city and it’s not very scenic.  So I try to run in parks whenever possible.  Occasionally I’ll run at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.  I like it there as there are both paved and non paved trails.  They wind all over and there are endless possibilities for routes.  Also, there are usually lots of other folks out there being active too.  Only thing is that it’s a nature preserve, so there are wild animals out there.  I have no problem with that, but I will tell you one thing – it keeps you on your toes.

There have been several times I’ve been out there running where I’ve had to jump over a snake on the trail.  That’s freaky, but that adrenaline keeps you running, I tell you!  After you jump over a snake, every single stick and root on the ground looks like another snake in my mind!

A couple of times I’ve been there either early in the morning or in the early evening when it’s dark out.  There are no lights on the trails, and if there’s no moon out, it can be hard to see what’s around you.  But what is freaky deaky is that you can hear animals scurrying about.  Chances are most of them are rabbits, but there could be bobcats, coyotes, snakes, or even mountain lions (I’ve been told).

I tell you this because in each of those experiences, I definitely picked up my pace.  I read a Matthew McConaughey story one time where he recommended running in perceived dangerous locations to keep your adrenaline pumping and your feet moving.  Let me tell you, it works.

This is all on my mind because last night I was running through a park near my house and I came upon a wild bobcat.  The sun was setting and it was getting dark.  I was on a paved trail that went through a wooded area.  I saw a few rabbits take of frightened into the woods as I startled them.  That was jumpy enough for me as I didn’t see them until I was right on top of them.  But then, I turned a corner and apparently startled a bobcat that was on the trail right in front of me.  It shot off into the woods.  But I could see it’s glowing eyes looking at me from the woods.  I didn’t know what to do, so I stopped.  I decided not to continue on that path as the bobcat could be up ahead.  Luckily there was another path to my right, and I took it.  The rest of the run though, I was looking over my shoulder to see if it was behind me.  I know that I scared it more than it scared me, but still.

Don’t get me wrong, it was cool seeing one in the wild, but freaky.  And I definitely picked up my pace a bit to get out of the wooded area as soon as I could.  I also made it a point to make loud noises the rest of that portion of my run, hoping that it would warn them I was coming and hopefully they’d be gone before I got there, if that makes sense.

So there you go, if you want to run faster than you are, just put yourself in a scary situation.  Most of the fear is going to be all in your head, anyway.  I’ve actually heard of an app that puts zombie grunts, footsteps, etc. in your ipod when you’re running.  They noises gradually get louder and more frequent until you’re at a sprint, then it calms down and starts over again.

Something to think on.