last week, i was running happily about my neighborhood (or at least as happily as i could run given the oppressive heat). i turned a corner after my favorite hill and felt something on my head. i thought that perhaps my ponytail holder had snapped so i reached up to check its status. it seemed to be intact, so i assumed something fell out of the tree and hit me. two steps later, same thing. now i’m sure my pony tail has snapped and is holding on by a mere thread.

two miles later, i loop around to the same corner and run up my favorite hill. now i feel something akin to someone hitting my ponytail and it flipping around. i decide this is more than a little odd.

upon arrival at home a mile later, i decided i was attacked by a bird. we have a lot of blue jays in our neighborhood and they are notoriously angry and violent; the vlad the implaers of the bird family, if you will. (been watching too much history channel)

i ran a few different routes in the following week, before returning to this route yesterday. when i approached my favorite hill, i was in a state of heightened awareness, but not actually scared. i mean, i never actually saw the bird. and what are the chances it would be there again, and be agitated again?

as i ran up the hill, i could see my shadow ahead of me. and the outline of a bird near my head. curse words. because the shadow lacks the depth perception i need to determine how long before i’m attacked, i turn around and to my horror see a bluejay about 10 feet behind my head. i’m a slow runner, but have now found that the secret to an easy sub 9:30 minute mile is to be chased by a blue jay.