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Great run in BOSNIA!

October 21, 2018 (Night)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Went for a nice run in Stijena Potok Park today (I'll let you translate that) and was again almost eaten by wolves. One wolf actually. This seems to be happening a lot lately. This creature looked shaggy and mangy and gray, with very long hair and was about the size of a pony - at least seemed that way when it came bounding toward me snarling and bearing its fangs. I happened upon it grazing by a stream, and at first, I wasn't sure really what it was because it was tall enough to be a deer and canines aren't really grazers. But then I noticed it had a bright LED light hanging from its collar, which would be a strange thing for a wild animal to have on. I mean, it could have been part of a scientific wildlife tracking program, but the light seemed like the kind of thing someone would provide for their pet. It looked up as I approached, but then ignored me (or so I thought) and returned to grazing. I called "Hello! Anyone here?" very loudly but no one responded. Strange. Who lets their pet stray so far from home without a leash? I tiptoed past. Just then it whirled and came at me barking, galloping like a stag. It occurred to me that unlike dogs I've encountered of later guarding peoples' homes, this one had no territory to guard and thus there was nowhere I could safely retreat to. I reached for a branch to fight with and began barking back as loudly and angrily as I could. To my surprise, the barking intimidated it. It turned heel and ran away up the trail. I, in turn, scampered out of those woods as fast as my legs would carry me, back to the intersection of Zapadni Avenia and Mudar Put (again, you can translate those) from whence I took off toward home at a brisk tempo.

My calves felt really sore the whole second half of the run, which was uphill but not as uphill as many of my runs in Sarajevo. I'm not sure if it's because I had a bad cold this weekend and that's been sapping my strength or because of the 5 hours I spent sitting in a car earlier in the day. Hopefully, it'll be gone by tomorrow, cause I'll be meeting my Bosnian friend Antonio for a run.