Music is great. It can keep you motivated on a run, or help you maintain a certain speed. Plus having music can help the time go by quickly. But please, please, please, be aware of your surroundings. If you’re running outside, stick to the sidewalks in well-lit areas, or leave the headphones home. This story is really sad, and while yes, most people don’t run on train tracks, it’s just as dangerous running on the side of the road with music blaring.
The news is a few days old, but I thought about it on my run today; I try to stick to sidewalks, but all the snow and ice has led me to run along the road more often than usual. In a few spots, it’s tight, because the sidewalk isn’t cleared and the piles of snow on the side of the road have encroached on the shoulder as well. Since we’re due for still more bad weather before this winter is out, it’s a good reminder of safety rules: Always run into traffic so you can see the cars coming, wear bright and reflective clothing, and either skip the headphones or leave one bud out so you can hear what’s going on around you!
I mentioned this a few months ago with a different unfortunate story, and the poll results showed a majority of readers run with headphones. So please, please be safe, and stay off train tracks!
1. Run on the left side of the road (where people drive on the right; the reverse if you drive on the left) so you see traffic coming.
2. Pull out the earbud on the road side of you head so you hear what is coming behind you, in case somebody crosses the center of the road behind you.
3. Do not use noise-cancelling, canal-filling earbuds when running on roads.
4. If you enter a race where they tell you that you cannot use headphones or listen to music, and you agree to it when you sign up, don’t be a jerk – live up to your word and leave the electronics at home.
Pretty good rules if you are going to do it. That’s the way that I do it, actually. For ice and snow, if you must run, you may want YakTrax Pros.
YakTraks are good, but if you’re cheap (or you don’t get a TON of snow), there’s always screw shoes. Buy a bag of 3/8in sheet metal screws from Home Depot, drill ’em into an old pair of shoes (watch out for air/gel pockets if the shoes have them) and you’ve got traction for winter! I use a pair of XC flats with screws in them, and they work great on freshly plowed/icy roads. I don’t recommend it for deep snow or trails though.
RT @GearDiarySite: GD Quickie: Be Safe Out There! http://goo.gl/fb/OpND2