"Beware of Dog"

I haven't blogged in a while, at least since the week after Chicago. I feel that this information truly is blogworthy and may be of some help to some other poor unsuspecting soul out there running in unfamiliar territory.
I went to see my daughter in Hot Springs, AR on Thursday. I haven't seen her in a while and Clark could not go so I headed out ready for a fun filled two days of shopping and visiting. I had had a bad week training after running nine miles on Saturday. The run was great but since then I had not done anything. I was really feeling guilty so I thought if I take my running tights and my new sugoi jacket I will be more inspired to run when I get to Hot Springs. Jill lives in a rural area and there are a lot of roads with not much traffic. There is a mixture of houses in her area - million dollar homes on Lake Hamilton and also some that look like shacks about to fall down.
Jill and Chris left for work on Friday morning and I fought with my little inner voice for a couple of hours until I finally gave in and got dressed for running. It was very cold outside. I set out with Jill's dog on a leash and went a little way up from her house. Rook (the dog) didn't seem too happy to be out in the cold being pulled on the leash so I decided to take him home. I took him home and set out again in the other direction. I was walking mostly with a few running intervals and had gotten about 1.5 miles from her house. All of a sudden, out of the bushes in front of a shack with a "Beware of Dog" sign on the front porch came four dogs, two large white dogs and two smaller black dogs. They took one look at me and started charging. I did not have time to do anything, not even think before they were on me. They were growling, barking and biting my legs and knocked me to the ground. All I could think of was that I had to get up, if I didn't they would kill me. I somehow managed to get upright and I started walking. They were constantly biting my legs. All of a sudden they stopped and left me alone. I don't know why they stopped but I was very glad. I was so scared that I could not turn around and see where they were.
I immediately called my daughter. I will never be without my cell phone after Chicago. She left work and took me to the ER. I have stitches in my left leg at my knee. I have a deep puncture wound there and a pretty deep cut. I scraped a lot of skin off of my right elbow from my fall on the road and had to have stitches there also. My right arm has been really sore. They took xrays at the hospital but they were okay. I am having problems with mobility of that arm so will have more xrays today at Chris's office. He said I may have a radial head or neck fracture that is hard to see on xray unless you are looking for it. If so, I will be limited in how I take care of patients at work. My legs have several scratches and deep tissue injuries that are only evident by bruising. I believe that my CWX tights saved my legs from being injured further with more bite tears. They are pretty shredded and so is my jacket but I am glad to be alive.
A deputy sheriff came to the ER and took a statement from me. They picked up the dogs and are impounding them for 10 days to make sure they don't have rabies. After that, the owners can get the dogs and prove they have put up a fence or get rid of the dogs. They have to pay a fine and there will be a court date.
I have been given all kinds of advice for "future" attacks that I would like to pass along. Always carry pepper spray or mace. Carry dog biscuits. Hit the dog in the face or under the chin. All of these are good advice and great for what I should have done but I believe in this situation I handled it the best way I could. I did not look in their face and I did not fight back. I walked away. I honestly did not have time to react and by the time I could have gotten mace, pepper spray or dog biscuits out of my pocket I would have been on the ground anyway. The best advice I can give is not to run in unfamiliar territory. If you do, always carry your cell phone and always be aware of your surroundings.
I will be on the treadmill for a while until I recover from this trauma. The Saturday runs are okay since I always have friends around for protection. I am beginning to think I have a dark cloud following me around! It is always something!