It's been a long week.

This was by far the strangest week I have ever had in my running life. I had one of those tough runs on Tuesday. It was in the 80's, which I am perfectly fine with, but I struggled with my first run in the heat. I had an amazing run on Wednesday. I decided to run in the morning because I wanted to beat the heat. It was nice to run in the cool of the early morning under the stars. It reminded me of the great runs I had in the evening last summer. I also decided at that point that I should try to start running in the mornings in general now. It is so much easier to run in the morning when I haven't used all my energy at work all day.

On Thursday, I set out on my run in the morning as I had previously decided. I am a teacher, and I do morning tutoring, so I have to be at school at 6am. I do my morning workout at 4 am. I had no idea that I was setting out on a run like any other I had ever experienced. I was only about two blocks from my house when I made the first turn on my route. I noticed a woman crouched down on her porch smoking a cigarette out of the corner of my eye. As I jogged past her house, she suddenly jumped off her porch yelling, "HEY, HEY, HEY!" as she ran through her yard in my direction. I looked over and said, "What do you want?" The woman was wear big Jackie O. sunglasses, a white nightgown, and she had no shoes on. She didn't answer, and I kept running. Well, so did she. She ran down the street behind me yelling out, "Get back here, Get back here, Get back here!" over and over. I was so freaked out. I sprinted all the way down the street to my next turn, and the woman was trailing behind me for about three blocks just screaming at me. I realize in retrospect that she probably would have stopped chasing me sooner if I had turned sooner. Duh. I had to stop and walk a bit to clam myself, and I was so nervous the rest of the way. I was so scared she was waiting somewhere, and she was going to follow me back to my house.

Now, for this story to be in complete perspective, you need to know that after my amazing run on Wednesday morning, I stepped out of the shower to local first responder in my living room. The man argued with me for a bit about whether or not I had called 911. I had not. And I am still trying to overlook the fact that I apparently look like I am 30 when I am wrapped in a towel. I do generally keep my door locked, but apparently I had not locked it when I came back from my run, and the man thought that the supposed emergency was hindering me from answering the door. In all actuality, it had been my music and the show running that hindered me from answering the door because I had not heard him knocking. ::sigh::

So back to Thursday, I immediately locked my door when I got home. I didn't want any variation of a repeat from the day before with the woman who chased after me. I was on edge all morning as I got ready. I didn't have time to fix breakfast, so I stopped by a convenience store to grab some breakfast on my way to school. I was startled by someone crouched down by the building smoking, and then I told myself to calm down. I couldn't believe I let my imagination run away when I saw a worker on a smoke break. I went in to get my food, and then I heard the voice! It had been her crouched down by the building!!! I was so freaked out. I talked to a co-worker that day who lives across the street from the house where she had been. He told me that she has schizophrenia. I am still debating as to whether or not I should change my route. I am beginning to think that the trail of dogs behind me wasn't so bad after all.