Slacker

It's been very difficult to get back into running since returning home from vacation. With the birthday party last weekend and the darn heat I just can't seem to find the motivation. I drug myself out this morning bright and early after getting only a few hours of sleep. Our anniversary was yesterday (11th!) and it turns out we have an awesome babysitter right under out noses. Rich hung out on the couch while the kids slept and Sean and I escaped to feed on snow crab and catch a movie. We were able to stay out as late as we wanted on a Saturday night. We couldn't remember the last time we went out on a Saturday night. It was pre-kids...so at least 5 years. Boy it was nice. But we got home in the wee hours of the morning and those kids are up bright and early regardless of how much sleep we got. So I figured I'd drag myself up and out the door.

Today's run was a far cry from running in the mountains. I surprised myself and got 11 miles in while on vacation. It took a day or so to acclimate to the altitude in which I speed walked but didn't have any problems with the altitude. The cabin is around 9500 feet I believe. Can't really beat this view while breathing that cool mountain air (it sure beat the 90 degree air at 8:30 this morning).

About half way through the trip I got back to the cabin and was talking with my Dad. The conversation went something like this:

Dad: "Did you have a good run" 


Me: "Yeah. Ran down and walked up the mountains"


Dad: "Good. I was talking to one of the neighbors up here and they were telling me about the bear."


Me: gulp "What bear?!?"


Dad: "There is a resident bear in the neighborhood. But don't worry about him, he'll go out of his way to stay out of your way."


Me: "Oh goody."


Dad: "He's not really what you need to worry about, it's the mountain lion that will get ya."

And that ended any future running in the mountains for that vacation. From that point on I kept it to the hotel treadmill on the way home. My dad thinks I should carry a small handgun with me while running, not just in the mountains but here in the flat lands as well. A friend of my in-laws carries a gun while running down in New Mexico. They have mean tusked pigs that roam wild called Havalina and she's prepared in case she runs into one. We don't have to worry about bears, mountain lions or havalina around here but out in the country, where I run, we do have pit bulls and other dogs that run around in packs. I haven't ran into any mean dogs in the past year of running but it's probably only a matter of time.

So I've been researching holsters for our little Ruger and there are tons of ways to carry a gun but not many that are meant for running / jogging. The forums have people saying the thigh holsters rub, the belly holsters jiggle and the under arm holsters rub your arm raw while exercising. I'll have to keep doing my research but I'm starting to think I might have to haul out the sewing machine and make something out of cotton that straps to my back (that's what I see when I think of a running holster). Hmm....I think I just hijacked my running post and turned it into a gun post.