I think we all tend to start taking ourselves too seriously sooner or later. Best proof: me freaking out over doing IM70.3. It’s great to be passionate and driven in our pursuits, but I think we need some comic relief every now and then. So here is one 😊
When you decide to train an endurance sport, you are guaranteed to run into animals, some wilder than others. Let’s see…
I do vast majority of swimming in the pool, but during open water swims, I sure have encountered some wildlife. And some I only imagine running into (but I have vivid imagination).
When I was a teenager, I went for a trip to the Maldives and they had an abundance of sharks, albeit tiny ones. They didn’t bother us at all and frankly, I believe they were scared of people. I am yet to meet a large, dangerous shark, but I have heard of triathlons cancelling swim portion due to shark sightings. So if you are ever swimming in the open water, I have a feeling this is what’s going through your head (assuming you can form a coherent sentence):
It’s unlikely that this will happen. Usually people stay away once they are warned about shark sightings. But they are hardly the only marine wildlife making life of a swimmer less fun.
I think that the most common encounters are with jellyfish. I was lucky – the ones in the Baltic Sea I swam past during my Ironman 70.3 are mainly gross to touch, but harmless. I have heard that it’s not so with the ones seen in the US. I am planning on doing Ironman Maryland next fall and I was told that jellyfish can be brutal. Oh, well, I guess I will look like this:
On the other hand, when I was talking to other triathletes, I was told a number of stories about stingrays slapping people during the race:
Yeah, somebody mentioned that after a race, they thought that they got kicked by another swimmer until they noticed a huge welt on their leg. Yup! It was a stingray. Of course it’s not like we can even get mad at marine creatures – I suspect they don’t see that many crazy people swimming by.
Fortunately, majority of us won’t ever have to face off against beasts of the open water. And even if we are running that risk, it’s rarely more than once or twice a week during open water swim season. However, we get to meet the animals on the trails on a more/less daily basis. You don’t even have to run or ride to have interesting encounters (although they are so much more ‘fun’ when you’re zooming over 20mph on your bike!).
I think that I most often run into dogs. I know that so far, I have been talking about wild animals. Sadly, some times dogs are the worst behaved critters out there. Well, them and their owners. Just recently, I nearly lost my temper on a guy who didn’t see anything wrong about his dog on a VERY long leash going to the other side of a bike path. It was on a hill, so I was zooming down. I was hitting my breaks yelling for him to pull back the dog. He told me to calm down and wasn’t really pulling his dog back. I seriously considered getting off the bike and slapping him… I am not proud of it, but I suspect that a few people around would have cheered me on.
It’s surprising how many dog owners don’t get this! Then there are these guys:
Maybe not the scariest looking dog… But to me, he’s Cerberus, with eyes glowing red and blood on his fangs. I really don’t care how friendly he is. I have been chased by enough shady dogs that I don’t trust them. I have also been bitten by a dog before. And again: it’s bad enough if you are running, but biking makes it so much worse! No dog approaching you while you’re cycling is safe. They can accidentally knock you over or make you ‘do an ill-advised maneuver’. Oh, and god forbid something happened to the dog. I have a feeling the owner would be yelling at you and demanding that you pay the vet bills.
One of my coworkers actually asked me what my issue is with dogs. I don’t have issue with dogs. It’s their owners that can be a problem. I usually love dogs! I enjoyed saying hello after asking the owner if that’s ok. I’m friends with pretty much every people-friendly dog in the neighborhood (if I’m not, it’s because I haven’t met him/her yet). How about the owner asks if I’m ok with their dog comes over to say hello? If you do it nicely, the chance of me saying yes and playing with your dog is pretty good. But please give me a chance!
Rant finished! Back to wildlife that nobody is in charge of out there, yet let’s stick to chasing and racing. Every now and then, I spook a bunny hanging out in the grass by the road. Their first instinct is to run, except they go in the same direction as me, so it’s kind of like:
At least these guys don’t jump in front of me! In that department, squirrels rule supreme:
I mean: who doesn’t love squirrels in the middle of the road, debating whether to run left or right? They are so cute… And sweet… And for some reason, they just can’t make up their minds! Although, to be fair, I have not hit a squirrel yet or have fallen off a bike because of one. But let’s not jinx it!
At least squirrels try to move out of the way. Not like these jerks:
They just stand there, thinking they are cute! Let’s be honest: tiny squirrel is a lot less dangerous than a deer so accustomed to humans that it won’t move. Or a spooked deer that will try to introduce you to the horns. There is a good reason the saying is ‘deer in the headlight’. I have deer in my bike’s headlight regularly. And guess what? They have forced me to change my path or get off the bike plenty of times. They are just not scared!
So all of these guys are cute and the worst they do is inconvenience you. Somehow, it’s a bird that has caused me the most danger:
Yeah, true story! I learned to wear a hat or a bandanna really fast! I thought that it’s just this one crazy bird by my house, but the other day, I saw on Instagram a post showing cuts on some guy’s head from being attacked by an owl. Knowing this really does happen to people out there, I choose to always cover my head while working out outside.
I am starting to get scary flashbacks, so let’s end with the least scary animal I see all the time:
