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On safety and lights.
I went out running early Friday morning last week. We had taken the day off work because we were going away for the weekend for a weekend trip to Copenhagen (which was excellent. Saw the new national aquarium. Lots of fish, yay.) and I had worked it out that I could run early Friday morning before leaving and again Sunday afternoon after coming home.
Friday morning felt a bit rubbish, because it was early and I was tired, but I took my middle-sized route which I've used for most of the c25k program and when I came back I discovered to my surprise that it was actually my fastest ever time on that route. Well, whaddaya know!
Sunday afternoon didn't happen, because I was exhausted. All I'd done all day was sit in a train, but apparently that was enough. I did it Monday after work instead. I had the world's biggest case of Don't Wanna! but I forced myself out there anyway. Somehow. Not certain how, actually.
We switched to winter time this weekend, so it was dusk when I ran. I hadn't got very far before I decided to take the shortest of my routes, the one I used in the very beginning. It's only long enough for 5 minutes warm up walk and then maybe 25 minutes of running tops, but I decided I didn't care.
It was not a good run. Not physically, that was okay, but I felt a little unsafe. A large part of it is on country roads, so no pavements and no street-lights. I know my running jacket and my trousers have little reflective bits on them, but I also know that a person on a bicycle with no lights on can wear reflective bits and still be very difficult to see even in dusk, so reflective bits are just not enough. I can't imagine a person running would be easier to see than a person on a non-lit bicycle. Quite the contrary I suspect. So I made it as short a trip as I could. I figure that as the weather gets more hostile getting out frequently is more important than how many minutes I can do anyway.
My longest route has quite a fair bit of town-y pavement-y lit bits, but it also have a large section through some forest and some meadow-y sections, which sounds to me like an even worse idea. I wouldn't be in danger from traffic, obviously, but if I tripped and fell and hurt myself because I couldn't see the path? Even if Husband knew which way I'd gone, it'd still take him some time to realise something was up and then to find me. Plus, while I know logically that people with hostile intentions don't generally sit in the forest waiting to ambush random passers by, my imagination becomes quite immune to logic in the dark sometimes. So that route in the dark? Not gonna happen. Nuh-uh!
Husband agreed with me on all this (except the potential ambush), so we are now looking into getting me some lights. I thought about one on a headband, but I've gone off that idea. I think it would just annoy me. We saw you can get some reflective armbands that also have a light in them, so that's the current preference. I'm not sure how well they can actually light the way for me, though. I should also like to be able to see any eventual pot holes or dog leavings.
What do people here do if you go out running after dark? Do you wear lights? What kind do you prefer?
Friday morning felt a bit rubbish, because it was early and I was tired, but I took my middle-sized route which I've used for most of the c25k program and when I came back I discovered to my surprise that it was actually my fastest ever time on that route. Well, whaddaya know!
Sunday afternoon didn't happen, because I was exhausted. All I'd done all day was sit in a train, but apparently that was enough. I did it Monday after work instead. I had the world's biggest case of Don't Wanna! but I forced myself out there anyway. Somehow. Not certain how, actually.
We switched to winter time this weekend, so it was dusk when I ran. I hadn't got very far before I decided to take the shortest of my routes, the one I used in the very beginning. It's only long enough for 5 minutes warm up walk and then maybe 25 minutes of running tops, but I decided I didn't care.
It was not a good run. Not physically, that was okay, but I felt a little unsafe. A large part of it is on country roads, so no pavements and no street-lights. I know my running jacket and my trousers have little reflective bits on them, but I also know that a person on a bicycle with no lights on can wear reflective bits and still be very difficult to see even in dusk, so reflective bits are just not enough. I can't imagine a person running would be easier to see than a person on a non-lit bicycle. Quite the contrary I suspect. So I made it as short a trip as I could. I figure that as the weather gets more hostile getting out frequently is more important than how many minutes I can do anyway.
My longest route has quite a fair bit of town-y pavement-y lit bits, but it also have a large section through some forest and some meadow-y sections, which sounds to me like an even worse idea. I wouldn't be in danger from traffic, obviously, but if I tripped and fell and hurt myself because I couldn't see the path? Even if Husband knew which way I'd gone, it'd still take him some time to realise something was up and then to find me. Plus, while I know logically that people with hostile intentions don't generally sit in the forest waiting to ambush random passers by, my imagination becomes quite immune to logic in the dark sometimes. So that route in the dark? Not gonna happen. Nuh-uh!
Husband agreed with me on all this (except the potential ambush), so we are now looking into getting me some lights. I thought about one on a headband, but I've gone off that idea. I think it would just annoy me. We saw you can get some reflective armbands that also have a light in them, so that's the current preference. I'm not sure how well they can actually light the way for me, though. I should also like to be able to see any eventual pot holes or dog leavings.
What do people here do if you go out running after dark? Do you wear lights? What kind do you prefer?