Remember earlier, in July, when I was complaining about how if we go hiking at St. Edwards Park, we never see a deer wandering through the forest, walk across a mountain meadow or catch a glimpse of a glacial Lake? Well, last night I was forced to eat my words a little bit.
{Derpy Run Pic of the Day…Still so innocent… I had no idea the horror awaiting…}
We were in St. Edward Park last night, just minding our own business, taking a hike, running parts, walking parts, coercing our dog through parts… Our kids were still away for a little while,and we were hustling through the woods as fast as we could, trying to get back home in time to meet them. We were pretty distracted with Martha. While she was doing really good going down the hill to the water’s edge, our 12-year-old ‘puppy’ was having a difficult time making her way back up the hill. We were rounding the corner, about 3/4 of the way up, when, all of the sudden, we heard this man shriek out! Bradley sprinted forward in time to see an owl clinging to the back of this runner’s neck! The guy smacked it away and asked what had attacked him? When Bradley told him it was an owl, the guy looked at us like we were crazy (I’ll admit to a look of disbelief, quite possibly, as well since I had not seen said owl), until Bradley looked through the trees and spied the thing. The owl was suuuuper creeeepy! When we all finally saw it, I expected the owl to get spooked and fly away. Instead he got closer to us, and we realized that we were now being hunted by him.
Seriously!
{Moments before the attack}
The original victim took off again on his run, and we headed up the trail to our car, thinking once we got out of the owl’s sight, he’d chase down something a little more appropriately sized for his supper. Nope. The owl followed us, so we started booking it up the trail as fast as we could. That owl continued to hunt us from above, until finally we came across another runner and we told him of our adventure of being hunted by this owl, who we will not call Jason Fredrick (get it??). At first, he, too, looked at us like we were crazy, until he looked right above us and that owl, I kid you not, was looking right down on us making this weird hiss/growl/buzz/moan sound. While looking at us. Right in the eye. The runner we ran into let us know that this is, indeed, a thing at that park, that, indeed, the owls do attack. Shiver. And with that, the runner dude got excited about practicing his Kung fu if the owl attacked (not making that up at all) and we separated. Bradley and I continued to sprint the trail and managed to make it out unscathed. We think the owl started chasing the Kung Fu master instead of us. Just in case the rangers were collecting data or anything, we let them know what happened, but it was like telling it to Spicoli or something. He was all like, “Duuuuude. It happens at, like, this time of year. They’re laying their eggs and get all, like, protective ‘n territorial… Glad you’re ok… Peace.”
🙂
I love living in the greater Seattle area.
It’s amazing what a creepy owl hunting and chasing after you will do to your speed. Correct or not, my Strava said I ran up that hill at 9:10 MPH. Ha! Thank you, owl, for the great workout! It must be noted as well, because I get to hoot, I mean toot, my own horn, ahem, that we did that hike after I ran for 30, ellipticalled for 30 and lifted for 15 earlier in the day. I’m pretty much a goddess.
{Uh-huh. A goddess. Can’t you tell? Derpy II)
It occurred to me that I assumed my readers know that we do have a treadmill now. We bought it right after I said we would, about a month ago. It’s pretty awesome. The garage is always cooler than anywhere else in the house, and I’m telling you what, if you want to train for consistent speed, this is the way to do it. The machine is relentless. I mean, duh, but when you think you run at about 5MPH and you decide to run at 5MPH (which is not that fast) for 30 minutes without any hills or anything, it gets to you! That metronome is exhausting and gets my heartrate just way high and holding there! I find that I have to be super honest with myself and recognizing what I’m truly capable of, not just what my personal bests are, and sometimes I have to walk for a sec or run slower for a bit. I really rely on hills and slowing down my pace to give myself a break, without even thinking about it. It’s a good tool to use if only for learning more about myself as an athlete.
Barry was attacked by an owl one morning a year or two ago on a run and there’s another one that is wild in A-Town. For all the owl decorations in stores these days, I think owls are creepy and mean. Glad you made it safely through without contact.