Running with Goats

On Thanksgiving I was running like I always do, and I was on a busy road, yuck, when I ran into a goat. He was just chilling on the side of the road eating some grass. When he saw me he started to follow me. I was worried about him being on a busy road so I stopped for a second to see if I could see where he belonged but as soon as I stopped he started head butting me with his horns, not in an unfriendly way, and the only way I could get him to stop was to start running again. Hmm, Joel is behind this perhaps? The goat started following me as soon as I started running again but fortunately he was out of shape and only made it about a hundred meters.
This was not the first time I have run with goats. When I went to Evergreen in 2007 or 2008 I was running to practice when I passed a little backyard farm. All of a sudden I hear "baaahhh!" behind me. When I looked back two little goats were running after me. They followed me for about two miles! They were both panting and I was scared they would give themselves heart attacks or something but they kept following me down the Evergreen parkway, past the dazed onlookers in buses, bahhhing all the way. When I was almost to school I got worried as obviously they could not come into school with me and I was still worried they would collapse and die but luckily some guy came by in a truck and exclaimed- "those are mine!"
Whenever I get a bit lonely out running I think about my goat friends and pretend I hear a little "baaaaahhh" behind me.

First Call Veteran's Day Marathon

Saturday I ran in the First Call Veteran's Day marathon for the third year in a row. I had a good time and finished first in the field again although my time was slower than the last two years where I ran 3:15:58 in 2011 and 3:12:22 in 2010. This year I ran 3:17:45.
It was below freezing at 7:15 in the morning when I got out of the car to "warm-up." I wore three jackets and my rain coat on my mile warm-up and didn't get that warm.
My time difference comes in the first half of the race. The course consists of two out and backs along the Sammamish river trail that are 6.55 miles and 6.55 miles back. In 2010 I ran my PR for a half marathon in route to my PR for the full in 1:31:30. Last year I was 1:34 something, this year I was 1:36:40 something. I run more consistently and I have way better endurance but I'm not as speedy. In 2010 I used to do lots of speed work and 21 mile hard runs. That was before I was a 50 miler or 24 hour runner. I ran the first 18 miles of the marathon at about 6:59/ mile pace and then crashed and ran about 8:00s, or in the 30 mile time trial I did that year 9-10:00s. I do not die like that now, or get nearly as sore afterwards as I did then but I would like to have some more of that speed I had so maybe I should go back to 21 mile hard runs. Sigh. Sometimes I wish I picked an easier profession.
It was weird to think when I was running that I was running only my third actual official marathon. I have done four 50ks, also four 10ks. It goes by a lot quicker than it used to. And my quads are not even sore at all so maybe the wall sit is actually helping!