Run Safe

With less than 2 weeks to go before my big race in Denver, the taper down has started.  Coming off a week that was finished with a strong run, one would think that this week would be a breeze in comparison.  Well, let’s say it’s been an interesting breeze week.
I’ve come to be known among my friends as the “one that runs with head lamp”.  Along with my reflective vest and the hand sized vile of pepper spray I carry, the head lamp is more of a sense of security as opposed to a way to see in the dark of 4:30am.  Not really feeling ambitious to start my taper week in the rain, I moved my early run from Monday to Tuesday.  As I started to find my rhythm that Tuesday morning, the strobe light attached to my hat picked something out of the darkness of the morning. 

On a park bench along the trail, I saw a pair of white heeled shoes attached to a small heap covered in a green poncho.  After a quick hesitation, a full on half mile sprint in the opposite direction ensued.  If I normally kept track of the time it took me to run to the gym, this run would have been rewarded with a new PR.  Not all was lost from this startling experience.  I ran a mile on the treadmill until I remembered why I hate treadmills.  I ultimately completed my run for the day by running circles in the gym. 

I always knew that a day like this may come.  It was bound to happen right.  So what’s next?  Continue what I do?  Maybe with a brighter light, a whistle in my sneakers that is sure to wake the neighbors?  Or maybe it’s time to take my running indoors.  To a treadmill?  No way!! If I must go inside, I’ll just have to wear an oval path around the gym.  I suppose there is the option of running in the evenings as my wife suggested.  A change in routine may not be a bad thing, but then again, why change from something that works already?

Whoever was on that park bench on Tuesday was still sitting there when I cautiously made my run home from the gym that morning.  I’m sure they had no intentions to harm anyone or anything, but I was not about to find out.  As for my routine, the good news is that I now have a couple of weeks to think about it and will see what it looks like after Denver. 

Here’s to running safe!