Running with coyotes

There are moments in life when you simply have to embrace the bizarre.

I had one of those moments today.

I go running really early in the morning, and it's not unusual to see a coyote or two in these before-the-sun-rises adventures. I've never had a problem with them (again, I only fear one thing in life, and it turns out coyotes actually hunt those hoppers), and they usually just run in the opposite direction, anyway. According to the Lake County Forest Preserve, coyotes don't pose much of a threat to humans and have a natural fear of people.

But not all of them.

I was running through a residential neighborhood this morning, and I spotted a coyote up ahead in the middle of the street. I expected him (for the sake of simplicity, we will refer to it as a male) to dart out of my sight before I got anywhere near him. But he didn't. In fact, it's almost as if he was waiting for me—just watching until I reached him.

And then, it happened.

I ran with a coyote.

He started running right beside me, and I wasn't quite sure what to do. Like I said, I had never been intimidated by coyotes, but I had also never had one this close to me and matching my pace. According to National Geographic, coyotes can run up to 40 miles per hour, so he was clearly running intentionally slower than his capabilities.

I pray a lot when I run, so in this moment I started asking God to protect me during this time. I hoped this wasn't some rabid animal that was some rare breed of evil that had an affinity to attack humans. And I honestly didn't want him to run the entire way home with me, because I really can't handle the responsibility of a pet right now—especially a coyote.

Before I could process another thought, a car turned the corner onto the street and startled my running buddy, sending him like a flash into the dark and out of my vision forever. I found this almost weirder than the coyote running with me, because I have never seen a car on this street. Ever. And I run this course every week.

While the coyote was running next to me, there were so many questions and uncertainties in my mind. While I had always heard coyotes weren't likely to harm people, I began to doubt it slightly. After all, if they were truly afraid of humans, then why was one within inches of my legs? One thing I knew for certain was that I didn't want to let some wild dog ruin my run or even alter my course.

Sometimes in life, we are going to encounter coyotes. People and situations are going to come into our lives unexpectedly and make us have doubts and hesitations. But the important thing to remember is simply to trust God and His perfect plan and not let those coyotes change our paths.

Just keep your focus, and He will guide you—even if He has to send a car to bail you out.