Have you heard this story yet? The one about a woman in Arizona who went jogging and was bitten by a fox? She is fine, which makes the story a happy one but what's truly amazing is that the girl continued running -- yes, she kept running -- for another mile, with the fox dangling from her arm. I don't know about you, but a fox attached to my arm by fierce and sharp teeth would serve as a pretty good excuse to give up on a workout. Heck, a cramp in my side is enough for me to stop. This gal is clearly one fit cookie.

Why'd she keep running? It wasn't exactly because she wanted to finish her workout. It was because she wanted to make it back to her car, where she could pry the fox off her arm, toss it in her trunk, and get the thing tested for rabies. Which is exactly what she did, after she was treated at the hospital first, of course. Incidentally, an animal control officer was also struck by the fox when he tried to remove it from the trunk. Both he and the jogger have received post-exposure rabies vaccinations.

Makes that quiet jog through my neighborhood seem like not such a grueling task. A cramp in my side -- yeah, I'm thinking it's not really worthy of much whining now. And what implications does this story have for you? Well, perhaps you need to add one more item to your outdoor workout safety list: Beware of rabid animals.