USA Road Trip 2020
October 4, Day 123: I did a Sunday morning run at Eagle Lake, on those marvelous chat-rock carriage trails that wind through Acadia National Park.
I parked and made the short walk across Duck Brook Bridge to the carriage trails. I intended to run around eagle Lake, a total of about seven miles. It was a cool and wonderful fall morning, perfect for a run.
I huffed up some hills and overlooking Eagle Lake and, per the map, reached the ½ way mark. It was then I realized this is going to be much more than a 7-miles. Thank goodness the last part was mostly downhill! Final tally – about 10 miles. I managed to keep an 8½ minute pace over the whole route and felt very good about that.
The run was only marred by a dog. As I neared the very end of the run, three people stood visiting on the carriage road ahead. Their pitbull decided I was game. He barked, chased, and nipped at my heel. The owner yelled at him to come back or “you are going to get yourself kicked.”. About the same time, I stopped to confront the dog. I made eye contact and walked towards him to show him who the boss was. He backed off, and I had turned to run when he came after me again and bit my leg. Angry, I obliged the owner and kicked the dog in the ribs. I was exhausted from the 10 miles, so it was a weak attempt. It was enough; the dog ran yelping back to its owner, and I finished my last quarter mile.
Damn it! I could have kept under 8:30 a mile if it hadn’t been for the dog!
