Run #6 - Danger

Today's run started off well enough...........
I got a late start in the day, so it was a little warmer than I would have liked, but still 75 degrees, so not bad. It was a little windy, but the first mile went really well........
As I was moving towards the 1 1/2 mile marker, a car pulled slowly behind me, and someone inside the car yelled something at me, that I didn't make out............but it did make me turn to see that there was a car full of guys following me, with one hanging out the car, looking right at me. 

DANGER.......................


FIGHT OR FLIGHT.............bells and whistles immediately went off in my head, as I decided my next move, not really sure what they were up to, but not wanting to be a part of it either.  They were on the road and I was on the path next to the road, with a parking lot directly in front of me and a playground and big grassy area to the side of me, so I went into the parking lot, where alot of cars were.  I saw a woman, who had just pulled in and still in her car, so I went towards it and stopped, with the hopes that my instincts were off and the people in the car would just keep going, or at the very least there would be strength in numbers.  Instead the guys in the car stopped in the middle of the road, starring over at me, like they were waiting for me to start jogging again.
Call me paranoid, but my parents didn't raise no fool.....................................its better to be safe than sorry!!
I immediately pulled out my cell phone and started walking in the opposite direction across the grassy area where cars can't go, making a b-line towards my car. My thought pattern being that if they were looking for trouble, I would have ample time to call the police and/or get to my car before they could drive all the way around. As I glanced back, I could see they had begun to pull away......perhaps thinking that I was calling the police or that it wasn't worth it..............or maybe I imagined it all in my head..........
Either way, the whole thing totally freaked me out. They were probably teenagers being stupid, trying to scare someone, because they think it is funny, but it left me feeling very vunerable.

I reached the parking lot where my car was located and after a few minutes of constantly checking to see if they were coming, I realized that they had left the park, or at least went somewhere other than where I was. I tried to resume my run, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone at any moment was going to jump out at me, and all I had was a cell phone, so I eventually packed it up and went home.

Since then, I have been thinking, what should I have done? Should I have just kept going, ignoring the car and the guys? Should I have stayed to complete the run, after I didn't see their car anymore?  The only thing I can say is that I did what I did, and I can't take it back now...............I am a firm believer in following your instincts, and something was telling me that these people were up to no good.

So for the future, I'm wondering how I will feel the next time I go to that park.  Will I be constantly checking over my shoulder? We will see.........

I will need to go out and run tomorrow to make up for today..........as my run was only 1 1/2 miles and it was supposed to be 3 miles.  So I will chalk today up to an extra workout :-)!!