It's something that a lot of male runners may not have to deal with and that's wonderful
But women do have to deal with this every time I go out on a run
I am aware and I run through scenarios
Day in and day out if someone comes left someone comes right, you know hook off the jab. That's my name
on Instagram for a reason
So I'm always running through these scenarios
But most women don't think like this until a it's too late or B
They hear something on the news and then they get all nervous and they don't know what to do
If you are constantly worried about getting injured or you don't know how to get faster as a runner and you want to continue to run
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How can females be safe while running you may have worried about this yourself or you may have worried about this as
A male runner like myself who has a wife and a daughter who enjoys running outside or you may be wondering when is the safest?
To run in certain weather terrain or darkness conditions
I have the perfect person to educate us on
This topic today coach cat from our healthy runner coaching team is back on the show to share some very important safety information
for runners who either may be fearful of some of these conditions or
Who may need to be educated on some of the safety considerations?
We need to consider as runners so we can stay safe while getting in those mental clearing miles
This will be the official running safety
101 episode so you can feel more confident and comfortable going out for your next run coach cat what's going on?
Thanks for coming back on the show to share all your knowledge
Experience and wisdom on this topic that I know you are very passionate about
Well, it's great to be back as
Everyone knows when I find a topic I like I can talk forever and if you don't know that you're about to find out
and this
And this is a topic that you had an idea on for a while now, so this has been in the hopper
We've had this plan for quite some time and I'm really excited to
finally be able to share a lot of the ideas and the tips that you have
That you want to share with our running community
so for those
You know tuning in during your run
Hopefully run is going great and really what coach cat is going to do is really educate us all on kind of safe running tips for beginners
weather safety running tips what types of terrain and conditions are safest to run in with regard to trail running
What we should carry with us during our runs for safety and how women runners can feel safest
When going out for a run so coach cat, you know how we do this
This ain't your first rodeo give all the new listeners in our community a little bit about yourself and let them know why this topic is
So important to you
well, I am a healthy runner coach. I'm also a fitness instructor and
specializing in my own personal opinion of treadmill running that is one of my specialties
but I am a group fitness instructor, so I work with a lot of
individuals from beginners who are looking to run to more advanced people and
It gives me a unique perspective on
Runners or athletes in general their mind, but one thing that has always nagged me is I
See runners who are taking
not the proper precautions and then
You know, I'm like good nothing happened to you, but they make
not so smart decisions based on
The thought it's not gonna happen to me and I'm not talking necessarily just about women feeling it
I'm talking about runners who are type A personalities who time and time again
Will do something that they probably shouldn't do but they're gonna gamble it and I want to show ways
that you can maybe mitigate some of those dangers and I see it time and time again and I've had some of my athletes
get hurt because they didn't take the proper precautions and I
really feel passionate about
You know being safe. I work actually in a construction industry
As another full-time job so in case you didn't know I have a lot of full-time jobs
but I'm really involved in OSHA and the safety of workplace practices and one thing I have found is that most
Accidents are preventable, but people don't take the time to learn what they can prevent and I want to apply that to my runners
Wow such an important topic and thanks for giving that context and yet just like I'm passionate about like all running injuries
Honestly are preventable
Because they usually do to runner error
That is an interesting perspective that you have and boy like you are seriously a jack-of-all-trades. It's just a like amazing the
the depth and breadth of your knowledge is just like incredible, but I love how you really kind of integrate
The safety stuff that you do from like an engineer standpoint
to like running and that's why this is gonna be so valuable for a running community because
You've thought about this a lot and
you've seen it
You've seen people in these types of scenarios and situations and
hopefully those that are listening are going to learn and
maybe we just haven't been aware of you know, we've been putting ourselves in those types of situations or
You know some of us that just have been winging it. Maybe we can give them a little bit more kind of insight and maybe
second-guess
You know whether or not they should be running in those conditions, but before we get into this topic
I do need to say so for many of you listening on the podcast, you know that I
am definitely I would say not your quote-unquote treadmill runner I
Haven't since I started my healthy running
Journey which is coming up on my 12 year run
Diversity when I went for my first run outside after my hip surgery and my surgeon initially told me like don't run on the treadmill
So I was always like fearful that if I ran on the treadmill it would hurt my hip
I
come to find out that that doesn't happen, but in in any case I really avoided the treadmill for
Literally 11 years. Maybe I went on like once or twice during the run
I remember last year after your treadmill episode that you did on the podcast
you know, I did give it a try and
this year I've been in a situation where I've been on a lot of
Travel volleyball tournaments for both of my girls
They've been like three-day tournaments on the weekends and we had three weekends in a row DC then Boston the Boston again
and it was really they start really early so if I am going to get my miles in like I've been adjusting my plan doing my
Long runs before the weekend, but even to get in like three miles or a four-mileer
I really didn't have time to like bundle up go explore a new area that I wasn't familiar with and that will probably go into
some what we're gonna talk about today running in the dark in like a city and
You know, so I did run on a treadmill and
Coach Kat has done like such a wonderful thing within our healthy runner coaching program right now
She's created some videos
One is like a treadmill basics video kind of letting you know what are the things you need to consider when running on a treadmill
And then she actually recorded which is like very talented by the way a
video of her literally talking us through a treadmill workout, so it's a run on a treadmill
but it's not boring and
Like I did the workout and I was just amazed like I sent Kat a text like right after I finished it
And I was like so impressed because even honestly I was I was definitely like second-guessing this whole like
treadmill workout and like
treadmill class like that you teach, you know on a weekly basis for you know the YMCA nationally and
You know, I really didn't think it would feel like a running workout like I would be like oh, it's kind of like okay
That sounds good, but hey, I did
the workout I did the run and
I can't tell you like how amazing it was number one like how
Quickly time passed because usually if I just hit like oh, I'm gonna do three miles on the treadmill
It feels like I'm doing 10 miles, right?
It's just like amazing how when you're not seeing different scenery around you when you're on a treadmill and you're just running at the same
pace the whole time
It just feels like forever for me. So this
workout that you created which is
like great because
Time flew for me, but the other thing I really loved about a cat is that it's totally scalable
Because it's not dependent upon like hey put the treadmill at 6.0 speed now put the treadmill at
7.0 speed right like the way that you framed it
It's all scalable depending upon like your level of running
so no matter how fast or how slow you run like you can get a good workout and
Actually feel like wow like I accomplished something and and it was fun
So thank you so much for creating this this video
And I have a newfound respect for all of the treadball classes that you do
Which I should have respected by the way because I know coach Lewis done them many times before in the past
so
But now having done it personally
I know this is gonna be super helpful for those in our coaching community. So thank you for doing that
Welcome, I love it
Yeah, no, I can see why you do honestly I
Can see why you do and for those who have been maybe even on the fence about like
Taking action in you know considering our healthy runner coaching program and if you're are a treadmill runner
Number one we usually have those that are primarily treadmill runners work with coach Kat because she's our treadmill expert
As your one-on-one coach
But for everyone in our community now to be able to have this resource
For either those that you know
Our force to kind of run on the treadmill once two times per week if you have to get in an early
You know morning run and you don't feel safe going outside or it is too cold or the weather is not good
So the things we're gonna talk about today. I'm sure
Then having this resource available is amazing
And if you want to learn more about our coaching program, then you can click the link in the show notes
To this training or schedule call with me today
If you go to spark healthy runner calm you can get all the info
So really as we get into today's topic
Coach cat has really
bucketed these
Running safety tips into like five main categories
So the first category is gonna be like general runner safety and then we're gonna get into weather safety
We're gonna get into terrain safety
daytime nighttime safety and then more like female mother runner, you know specific safety
So I'm excited to learn about this and to hear what you have to share
So what are some safe running tips?
For beginners and I guess this will go into that kind of general runner safety category or bucket
The first thing I always recommend is you carry some sort of ID on you and
the reason why is if
God forbid something does happen
Where you are not able?
To express who you are or what if you have some kind of ID
They can usually then get somebody in your immediate
Family who can help you you know you go out you don't want to be that Jane Doe and
You want to have some ID if you need to you also
want to carry and I know that people on the podcast can't see this but on my phone
I have a little pocket in the back of my phone and other than a Dunkin Donuts gift card in there
I have a
little bit of cash
Because what if you get stuck out there and all of a sudden you do need
Water like literally you are you need water you can run if there's a store nearby
I carry maybe five dollars with me always good to have a little bit of cash on you and it doesn't have to be physically in your pockets. I
Also suggest
You tell somebody where you're going
When you go out for a run approximate time and location
you don't have to be so specific but
In our phones I have ice an emergency contact where if somebody grabs it they can figure out ice
It's who is an emergency contact
but if you get stuck somewhere and you have only one emergency contact and they're sleeping or they don't answer the phone
What are you gonna do?
Make sure you have another person that you can contact
You know you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket and I'll talk more about that as we get on
But just general safety rules carry an ID carry some cash
Be smart let somebody know where you're going
Approximately and if you are allergic
I'm allergic to bees I carry an epipen if you do have an epipen
I know they are uncomfortable to carry carry it
You know don't don't mess around if you have an allergy and if you do have an allergy
You might a severe allergy they do have those
ID bracelets they could put on your sneakers you could put it in the back of your phone
You know with any kind of allergy or medical situation that if something happens the EMT or somebody needs to
respond quickly they will know this is the situation
Yeah, that makes sense and I used to actually have one of those run ID things. I feel like
They're a lot less popular. I don't know why nowadays, but maybe I don't know
It's because most people do run with their phone and now our phones
Do carry so much information in them in like the wallet of a phone like the digital wallet of a phone
But yeah, that could be something helpful right those run IDs or bracelets
I suggest if you have a medical situation where if something happens and you can't communicate
If an EMT needs to work on you
They will know what if you have an allergy to something an allergy to penicillin, right?
You know an allergy any medical allergies or any bee sting anything
That an EMT might need to know if something happens to you
I suggest you put it on an ID bracelet, you know just
You don't have to if you're if you're a regular runner and you have no issues
You might not need it, but if you do have a severe situation. I suggest you carry
some way of
Letting an EMT know what you need right right yeah, and I guess you know generally speaking
It's probably helpful for all of us runners right so like someone could identify your name
Like you said if if you didn't have your license on you
But yeah, I'm thinking of definitely like diabetics like that be super important
You know because you were out somewhere and you would want EMT to know like hey
There's a diabetic maybe you know their levels are really low or high right?
So yeah, really good general safety tips
Makes sense, and I've definitely been in that situation where I've needed to buy water and I didn't have money on me
so
That's a really good tip and now I do keep a little emergency cash. I do have in the back of my
Phone because now most of the phones to her like magnetic in the back
Which is nice and I have a little wallet to like just sticks to it
So if I'm carrying my phone on my person I could just take the wallet off easily like with the magnet
So that works out pretty well where I keep a couple of cards in there and some like cash like you mentioned some emergency cash
So it's always kind of on me, but yeah excellent tips
so what do we have
You know with regard to weather safety running tips
Okay, this one is my pet peeve
because runners
Do not listen to the weather they just run they don't they don't want to know half of the time if it's going to be
In-climate weather because God we have to get our run in and I hear you
But I'm going to suggest a couple of things
thunderstorms
On your phone you can download a lightning strike tracker. It's on any weather
It's on I know we don't represent weather bug. It's on any one of those if there is a thunderstorm
alert or warning and please be aware if there is
Look on your phone and see where the closest lightning strike is
You would be amazed at how if the lightning strike is 50 miles away
You're okay for a bit, but if that lightning strike is five miles away. No and
I
Know people say well lightning is probably not going to hit me that may be true
But thunder and lightning storms also have high winds and if you are out on
On a road or like in Connecticut the Farmington Canal Trail. There are trees that have gone over and
You can get hurt by debris people don't always think they think thunder and lightning. Oh, I'm not gonna get hit by lightning
You probably won't
But what about the winds that accompany these brief storms and the debris and the trees that could possibly hit you
so if
You can't wait for the storm to be over
My suggestion is do you run on a track?
And the reason why is because your car is a very close distance to you if you need to get to it and
Generally, there's no trees. There's a lot less debris at a track and you can still get your run in
But you can get to your car if that thunder, you know starts to
Get close and I've done that I've gone to the track because there's a chance of thunderstorms
I see that storm coming in it makes me run faster
I get the run done and I go to the car. So that is one way to get around running in a thunderstorm
you know
If you can't wait and some runners can't but if you can't wait go to a track where you at least have some protection
Another thing I will not run in ice storms
That is probably the one place I won't
If you live in that area like Alaska or someplace where there is a lot of ice
You probably have shoes or sneakers. I know a lot of people run in them on a regular basis
but if you don't and you're
We get an ice storm here or there
Don't try it because if you
Even yak tracks any of those things your gate is gonna be off. It may not be worth
Falling that might be worth when you
You know want to consider a treadmill?
The other weather is snow which luckily in Connecticut for some people we have not had a lot of and
I know runners love to run in the snow. That's all well and good
But snowplows can't see you. They do not see you. Their line of sight is not there. So if you're running in the road
You know even if you've ever seen a snowplow come at you in a car
Imagine what it's like while you're running. They're not seeing you
So wait until the storm is over and the snowplows are gone. I
Know that a lot of people are freaking out because they're like I have to get my run in and and I say this
In I say this a run is not worth your life or getting injured
It really really isn't and it may happen no matter what per questions you take but try to eliminate
some of the the more
Obvious dangers and a snowplow or cars even coming around a snowbank. I can't see you
They don't see you on a normal day. So imagine how it is with a little bit of snow
middle of the
Middle of the day the Sun blinds you on the snow
so it might be the middle of the day and they're still not going to see you because the Sun
reflecting off the snow and
These are things I think of all the time and the last one weather is extreme hot and cold
Which is I've done an entire podcast on cold weather running and I've probably done a podcast on hot weather running
they're very different but be aware of
The conditions before you go out and take the precautions for either or
Yeah, and just making sure you're prepared right in terms of dress
Hydration electrolytes obviously for the heat stuff, but for the cold stuff layers
Make sure yep
Absolutely
Those are the basic weather there might be other weather events. I don't live in the Midwest so tornadoes are not an issue and
I don't say that lightly because I you know that could be an issue
But generally the thunderstorms around here is my biggest
Pet peeve with people who running them because they're like oh, I didn't get hit no you're not gonna get hit by lightning
Well, actually I don't know my father did but let's that's another story. Are you serious? Yeah?
He's funny was fun. We were camping. It's another whole story. Oh my goodness
So but it's why I don't like thunderstorms
But the biggest thing for me is that debris from the wind that is always accompanied by thunderstorms
You're more likely to get hit by a tree branch
You know just blowing or even leaves or sticks. That's a consideration
So a simple solution go to the track just go to the track don't try to run on the trail go to the track, please
Yeah, no, that's a that's a very good point and
You know, we always like to add a little spark to our running, but not that kind of spark, right? Yes
Yes, and yes, I do remember fondly one run that I was doing during Mary I know training last year and
It was definitely not a great idea
However, I did track my weather app and when it did say that lightning was like really close to me. I
seek shelter
Yes, so I waited a good 10 15 minutes
While kind of the eye of that little storm or front kind of pass through
But yeah, that was definitely a little scary as I was out there for that long run
And that's you know that I think those are the ones that you really have to be mindful of is
Weather can change quickly, especially
You know in the summertime when you have those like, you know warm fronts that just like come through and you know
It's really humid outside and you get these random, you know thunder and lightning strikes here and there
These little cells that pop up
If you're out there for a long run, right like the weather could be like totally different
From when you started your run, so that's a that's a good one and I will
I will defer on
The
Video you're gonna see me post from this morning's run
I will mention that I'm glad you didn't see it before today's chat
It was it was the smartest
That I could have been and I when I was halfway out there
I kind of regretted it because and and this is to be like quite honest is you really need to consider the surface and
You know if it is a little slippery then
You are increasing your risk of having a fall and like Coach Kat said it only takes one fall for you to fracture a risk
fracture a hip
Especially if you're a little older
Especially your more at risk of your female if you have family history of osteopenia osteoporosis
Things like that you guys need to really be careful
Because it only takes one little slip and then like you said you get one of those me major traumatic injuries
You ain't running for at minimum eight to twelve weeks
Because that that bone's gonna have to heal so definitely prevention is the best medicine and you can't stay healthy as a runner
if you're not being safe, so
great great tips
for running in the weather, so let's
Talk a little bit of terrain and I know you do some trail running. So how do you stay safe?
while running in the trails or doing trail running?
well this one is
This one is a little more tricky because it does depend on
what you view as trail running and I know Kim
From a previous podcast went into all the beginner basics of trail, but
How do you say safe is you know what you're getting into?
If you are a very new trail runner
Look at the trail beforehand and make sure it's not so technical that you might have issues
with
the train but
I'm sorry cat. Can you just say first beginner trail runners or don't do it. Oh, can you say technical? What does that mean? That means?
gravel
You can gravel if you're in Connecticut the gravel alongside the Farmton Canal trail
That could be considered a trail material that is milling that is a trail material on some trails
But then you get something like a pure hiking trail which has rocks and sticks and stones and
You know river crossings and elevation that is more technical than
something as a like flat
course milling
situation and
just be aware because
You may want to consider if you're not an experienced trail runner staying away until you get more experience
because you can
twist an ankle roll an ankle very quickly and if you are trail running if
You are by yourself
You are going to have to hike or get out of there
It is not like being on a busy street and that brings me up to the other stuff what you should carry
but you are
on a trail
Usually it's less populous, which is one of the reasons I love it
but the negative is
There's very few people around so if something happens to you
You're gonna have to kind of take care of yourself and that is where it is vital you let somebody know where you're going if you are doing a trail run
You have to let them know where it is approximately how long it is
If you get lost on the trail at least they will know where the approximate location you are
but one thing I
Invested in and I know it is an expense is my Garmin watch
and this also will cover in like women's safety, but my Garmin watch it's a forerunner it has an out-and-back function
so what happens is
You put the run on and if you hit the out-and-back
If you're lost it will kind of show you where to go to get back
Which is a on a road?
Generally speaking you don't need to but if you are doing trail running that is a situation
I also on this one it has an emergency assist. I push a button it alerts
Somebody my emergency contact their phone that I'm in trouble
They can text me if I don't respond it automatically gives off my coordinates of where I am
So if I am injured and I cannot talk
But I can push the button my coordinates will be available and the forerunner has a different system a backup system than just GPS
So it will pick up
It's overkill probably for the road, but I invested in that because of the trail situation
That's that's an amazing feature by the way and just
From someone who has had this feature on my watch and have yet to use it
We actually talked about this at our holiday party if you remember
How does one actually do that whole out-and-back like does it automatically happen before?
Like when we go for a run or do we have to like set something before we go out for our run at least a mine if I hit run and
It'll start recording if you push the button a lot of times
It'll show you your path people don't know that just push the one
Center button it has all different screens
It'll show you the path and I don't know off the top of my head
I have to play with it, but it is
Back and it says back and you push the button and it'll kind of direct you back
Nice and I know I really need to try that feature because I have that
It's good if you are in a foreign place. I know and I'm always getting a lot like I know
discovering DC I was discovering Boston and I literally pop up my phone and pull up Google Maps
So I figure out how to get back and I'm like an idiot because I should just use my garment watch
But yeah, I have seen your runs and I kind of chuckle but
That's awesome
Yeah, they're probably like
like all over the place
Yeah, no, I am not a person who goes out and like plans like the perfect loop run
I never have I never do that and
That's that's fine. You just have to take the precautions, right?
But the other thing I want to mention and and I'm trying to keep this brief because we all know I can talk for hours
But the other thing I want to mention is when I'm trail running
I do tend to carry a lot more stuff than when I am road running and that is because
There's more there's less populace. So what do I mean by that?
If I'm road running my cutoff is usually about an hour where I don't need fuel
If I'm road running, you know back and forth
But when I'm on a trail I pack food and extra water just in case I get lost because like Kim from the
Inspired tools podcast said you sometimes are out there a lot longer than you intend to be and
That could be because you got lost. So make sure you carry
You know extra fuel and water if you're doing that the I carry a tiny tiny first aid kit when I run out there and
People laugh I carry KT tape strips or I used to carry duct tape
But because duct tape is great for putting over blisters in a pinch and it's waterproof
So if you get a blister you put the duct tape on put your sock on you can go over water. It's fine. It's an old runner's trail
It's a little old school. I now feel like that's like an old Italian thing
Why I like KT tape and if you've never seen it, it's kinnes
Help me here. Can you see your tape work?
You see allergy tape. Yep, I cut strips and it is great for fixing anything
I had sunglass is fall like break you could wrap it
But it's also good for if you're chafing, you know, you could put it on
It is a very lightweight tape because I want to be light and I also carry a small small small sample of aqua for
Which is great for if you have a blister or you're chafing really bad and it's really uncomfortable
It's really be really really really uncomfortable as we know I put the aqua for on
But carry a couple of extra things fuel water and it doesn't have to be a lot
It can be a granola bar. It can be a package of gummy bears
I
Whatever you want to carry even
Where's Brooke? She's gonna heal
Something quick if you need to but carry that first aid kit just in case you do need a band-aid or
You know, you do need something I go a little overboard in my pack. You know my pack
I
Have multi-use tools. I have gloves. I have every like rubber go anything you could think of
But that's a little overkill you have like antacids, you know, you have everything
You're like the person like someone wants to run with like you want to go for a run
You go for a long run you want like coach cat with you because she's got everything
I'll put snacks here anybody want potato chips you want to
But why really will but just the basics
For beginners or not even beginners for people who don't want to carry a lot, you know
If you are a trail runner chances are you're using hydration best
So you want to carry extra fuel and water a small first aid kit
Duck tape if you're comfortable with it or KT tape, you know, and
Maybe some aquafore tiny samples of it, you know, the first aid kit's gonna come in very handy probably in ways you didn't know
If you're road running I carry it just because it's in my pack
So I just throw the pack on whether I'm road or trail, but you generally want
Carrying a small first aid kit or aquafore or something for anti-chafing is probably a good idea
Because you may not get injured, but I've come across runners on the trail who need first aid kit
You know, I don't need it
But I've seen somebody who actually needs my first aid
Right
And they had a horrible cut in their arm and I have the rubber gloves for that reason
But I also have anti-biotic ointment and I band aids and I put it on for them
So it might not just be you, you know, it might be for somebody you encounter
You know, I've luckily never needed it
But I have had to help people and that is one of the reasons I carry those rubber gloves just for hygienic purposes
That's a bio in me
Yeah, so that was some really good tips on like what we should carry while running for safety
Definitely I think for trails, but then also like your road runners on the long runs, right? When you're out there, you know
Anything over an hour, right? Some of you are out there two hours some people out there three hours
you know, it could be
You know, you could encounter one of these scenarios and situations
And if you're having a vest anyway because you're bringing your hydration like you have some pockets on that thing, right?
Might as well use them might as well fill those pockets up
Oh, they're filled!
So I don't have room, I had to invest in a different vivest to get more pockets
Hehehe
Now let's take a quick pause from this episode in which I hope you are finding value from to talk about
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We recommend it to all of our healthy runners in our coaching program and you will never feel more confident that you are safe
While running now, let's get back into this episode
And I do have to go back to trail for I forgot one aspect of when we're done of course
animals
animal safety
If you are trail running you do have a greater chance of running in an animal not
Necessarily, but bears. I've never really had an issue. I know people have so just be animal aware
Be aware of the animals that might be in the area you are going to run and I know that some people carry bear spray. I have never
But just be aware of the animals that you are potentially going to encounter in trails and
If you are concerned there are there there's specific ways to deal with each of those animals
Which I do happen to know of but I'm not going to get into it because that's a whole nother podcast
Cougar versus beer versus raccoon versus skunk you possum you name and I know what to do, but
So run with me. There's your solution. Yes
And going back to previous episode the possum is the most
underrated animal out there right miss misunderstood animal the possum is my spirit animal
I mean it is so misunderstood and people are like that's so ugly
No, it's more ticks than any other animal out there is so and it's kind of cute when you look at it from my point of view
But I love possums, but anyway side note
No, if that nobody's ever heard me before they're really thinking this is crazy guys. I told you she is a wealth of information
I
Know every topic out there animals safety engineering treadmills
farm equipment
But cars but just be aware of animals that might be in your area, which is very localized so
New England may be very different than Alaska or Midwest or California
So just keep an eye out for those type of animals and any
When you're trail running for the most part. Yep
Yep, no great point and I think Brooke
I believe runs with bear spray in Alaska and I know Whitney has had some encounters with I believe
Coyotes I want to say and I'll and she has to deal with snakes right where we don't really have I
We do have two poison the snakes in Connecticut, but do you want me to name those two? I won't even get into a clue
I
Hopefully
I
Told you I worked at the Bronx you for a while too in the reptile house. Oh my goodness
I love my reptile house. I mean Samantha the bokeh structure
How do I like literally learn something new about you still after like knowing you for like three years and all the conversations
I continually learn new things about you
I did my undergraduate in New York
It at a college in New York and my internship for three years was at the Bronx Zoo
So I did my thesis at the Bronx Zoo and I learned a lot of animals at the Bronx Zoo
But that is a whole nother story
All right, so we covered trails we covered kind of what you know to carry with us for safety
Yeah, so let's talk about this kind of how to be how do we be safe while running in the dark?
All right, here's another pet peeve of mine and everybody in the healthy runner group has had the same complaint
You're driving at night and all of a sudden you slam on your breaks because you see a runner
And they're in all black and they're not running against traffic
Run against traffic and don't wear all black if you do
wear all black use
Nox gear or a reflective thing Nox gear is great and there was a whole podcast. I believe a Nox gear about why
they're
their system works so well for distracted drivers and and it flashes at a there's a scientific reason but
Why Nox gear is so great?
But a lot of times people start their run at maybe four o'clock
And they don't realize that it's gonna get dark, but not sunset is until six or six thirty
But people in cars can't see at dusk and that's where the most deer get hit for a reason
Because you can't really see so if you're going out and you know you're gonna be out for a while put the Nox gear on
I wear a headlight and gloves that light up
But the headlamp is so I can see where I'm going and the Nox gear so other people can see me and even if it is not dark yet
But you might be out there when it's getting to dusk. It's not gonna hurt to put the Nox gear on
It's just an added layer of protection
You know and maybe you do have a longer run than you anticipated and then it is dark and
You can't see and people can't see you so if you're running anywhere around
Sunset an hour before just put the Nox gear on it doesn't take any it's lightweight
You know you could feel like a superhero
I do when I put it on the back and I have the gloves on that light up and the head
I mean I've actually had I've run on the trail
I have specifically put all my head gear on and I've run on the canal trail when it is a little darker than it
Probably should be and I've had people come at me and say you're blinding me
That's how bright everything is
So you want cars to be able to see you at night?
So if you're gonna wear black
Put some reflective stuff on and run against traffic so many times
and
They don't they're just even today, you know
Careful and crosswalks make sure if you're at a crosswalk
Don't assume the cars are gonna stop for you. They do not
You have to make sure you have to take responsibility for yourself at times sometimes and a crosswalk is one of those
Yes, you're supposed to stop
We do as runners. We will stop for runners other people will go right through and if you they don't care
Maybe they're not looking up at the time. So be very very careful in crosswalks
Driveways cars pull out. They don't see you if you're running in on a sidewalk in a suburban area
There's a lot of road safety that you just go out and run and don't even think about but you need to be aware you need to be
There's been a lot of pedestrian
accidents recently in Connecticut and
You know for whatever reason cars don't see them now whether that's but you need to take as much
Responsibility for yourself as you can and make sure
Everyone can see you but be aware of cars, you know, just be aware that that's really all I can tell you
Don't look down the whole time look around see cars coming at you
Really that's just my best suggestion for that type of night running or street running
Wow, this is so important guys and for those of you who are newer to running
This part I think like this is neat to know information
You really can't mess around
if you're newer to running I
think the crosswalk, you know point is
Amazing because this will happen to you at some point if you don't do it
And this is was me in the beginning
I thought everyone stopped and I just run through and then you soon learn that people you thought saw you didn't see you and
or
They think they have the right of way because they're in a car and you're not and they don't stop so
Like literally has happened to me this morning, right?
So if you guys envision you're running down the street and let's say a car is coming from the left
And they're gonna make a right onto the street that you're running on most people now don't stop
They roll through their head is looking left because they're seeing if a car is coming
so they're never looking to the right which is where you are because you're running against traffic and
They rarely ever see you and they always make that right
Basically when you're approaching right like that street at a 90 degree angle
So now even when cars stop for me like I appreciate that but I always run behind them
so I never ever run in front of a car because
Honestly, it just takes one person to you think they saw you and they're stopping for you
Meanwhile, they were just like giving a little like baby stop and they're looking left and they're gonna go
right, so I think that's a huge huge thing
Because it happens all the time where cars just go through
Basically, you know the intersection
So I never trust them never trust them even if they wave at me whatever I say thank you
I run behind them. I go out of my way. I make a right angle turn
That's fine. It adds a little variability to my run, so I'm not running completely straight plane
So I pretend I'm like you on the trails
I'm just dodging a car, but I'm running behind the car. So that's point number one point number two is
In case they didn't understand what you said about dawn and dusk. It is a fact
It's actually even though we perceive it as being lighter outside because we're running and we're like oh
The Sun's starting to come up. It's like dawn. It's more lit outside. I don't need as much lights on me
For cars the visibility is actually less
It's like a difference between the whole like when it's pitch dark and there's street lights overhead
Like you can see better than when it's dawn or dusk
So that's a good point because sometimes we like perceive it as being a person outside and we're like it's lighter outside
I don't need as much reflective gear and then third point
You know knocks gear in case you guys haven't knows they've been a partner of the podcast way from the beginning
We did an episode with them brought on the creator of the engineer
it does deal with light science and
How our eyes perceive light and it's basically for those who haven't seen it before it is a
Little vast and it does have reflective like any of the other reflective vast
So at minimum get a reflective vast that like when headlights get on it it will actually see you
but
The problem with that is that I learned is it's not changing the light source for like the headlight
And it has to wait for the headlight to be on you whereas if you're running with knocks gear your lights are flashing and it's changing colors
So then someone driving is going to be able to see you
You know even though their headlights aren't on you so if you're running through the crosswalk
They're going to see you before their headlights actually light you up
So it's amazing product. We've been using it for over three years now and they just released
You know a couple months ago their tracer lamp that actually connects right to the vast which I absolutely love
I like it better than any of the headlamps that I you know used to use just cuz not like bobbing on my head and
It the the beam of light and I actually run on the same
Trail now cat before my gym days and yeah that thing lights up the trail. It's like
This whole game. It's like pretty cool because you know it's like a dark path and there's like trees on each other
And this thing's like light in the way. Yeah
So yeah, both of those products are amazing. I'm actually gonna have
They'll be linked to this episode definitely cuz it makes the most sense because that is our partner for safety
Yes, and so you guys you know it can get 35% off using your healthy runner discount by just going to
their website
Amazing products like even if you know, whatever they didn't support the podcast
I just think they're amazing products and like any of you who are running in
Dawn dusk dark conditions like need to be running with it
I feel very strongly and passionate about that
for safety wise, so thank you for all those tips and yeah, let's get into
You know this tip and usually I
would say we start to think about this when we hear one of these horrific stories of
You know a female being abducted or right like runners going out for a run and
You know you have someone that just does harmful things right and
you know
really safety for women and you know, we have a lot of female runners that listen to this podcast and
Like I said my wife runs my daughter runs
you know, this is something that you know many of us think about and
I'm sure you've thought about this a lot
But how can our females?
You know be safe while running like what are some tips that can really you know help females?
Feel more confident and be able to get out there and
feel a little safer
Okay, when I do want to preface this by saying that
My I have a background that's a little different
Then a lot of other women. I was an amateur boxer
I have a third degree brown belt and I took Krav Maga for a number of years, so I have a little bit more of a
self-defense background, but
having said that I
do not mess around with this stuff because it doesn't matter and
It is a serious issue that I want males to be listening to this part too
because believe it or not they can help and
Before I get into any of this I just want to tell males if you are running and you see a female approaching you
You know running in your you are a runner wave to them, you know because
It just kind of takes the edge off but be aware that as a male runner when we see just a single male coming at us
If they move over to the side don't take offense
really, I just want to stress that and
You know
It's something that a lot of male runners may not have to deal with and that's wonderful
But women do have to deal with this every time I go out on a run
I am aware and I run through scenarios day in and day out if someone comes left someone comes right, you know
Hook off the jab. That's my name on Instagram for a reason
So I'm always running through these scenarios, but most women don't think like this until a it's too late or
Be they hear something on the news and then they get all nervous and they don't know what to do
so
First I'm gonna tell you
check your run settings on your Strava account or
Garmin connect or any map my run
set it to private because if somebody is stalking you or
because there are
women who have this problem or
Somebody just all of a sudden is stalking Strava. They will know your roots and we're type A personalities for the most part
We run the same route over and over and over
They will know the time you ran how long it takes you
They will know more details about you just by your running than you want anybody to know
So set it to private and only accept friend requests. I don't know how it works on Strava. I don't have a Strava account
I have Garmin connect, but just accept people who you are comfortable with knowing your runs
Go in there make sure they are still private because sometimes updates
People don't realize if there is an update sometimes it will set it to the factory settings
So that your safety privacy are not on anymore
So after every update make sure you're checking your privacy settings. There's no reason
Even if you're part of a big group, which I know people do the competition
still always be aware that who is looking at your runs because that can track they can track very easily that way
And that's also we tend to run the same routes all the time
You know, we know what an eight-mile loop a five-mile loop a three-mile loop is
Mix it up. I run the canal trail in Connecticut, which is fairly safe a lot
But I don't run the same time
All the time and I don't always run the same days
I'm on there quite a lot, but I try not to follow pattern. I start at different locations
I don't always start at Todd Street
I'll start at Sherman Avenue and I know if you're local
You know what I'm talking about or lock 12 or Cornwall Avenue
I don't just start at one run one location run and back. No, I'm always mixing it up
You know
Be hard it's actually hard to find me anyway, but you know you mix it up
That's my suggestion for you. I know we have our routines and our roots
But don't do it at the same time if you can you know
Just always be aware of that
That is also
About the treadmill, you know
If you feel unsafe or you're uncomfortable, you can use a treadmill if you don't have access to a treadmill
You know, maybe see if someone will run with you, you know
There's safety in numbers, so that may make you feel better
But again, let somebody know when you're going out for a run if you have the Garmin
Which you can't see because I thought but the Garmin you have your emergency assist
So a lot of times I hear women carry pepper spray
Which is all well and good. I carry it for animals actually, but
if
The pepper spray is in your vest
Or in your belt you are not gonna have time to grab it if someone grabs you
You do not have time you have to react instantaneously
And if that is not in your hand and they have runner pepper spray
And I wish I brought it in I have like four in the car if someone needs to borrow one
It's you put it around your palm and you carry it
If it is in your hand you will then use it if you need to
But if it's in your vest or somewhere you have to have it immediately you cannot be risking
you know
You won't have time to pull it out. I you just won't you're gonna have to use it instantaneously and
Even just the threat of it, you know
It will help you
Yeah, sorry to reject
But I think that's a great practical point because I feel like there are many runners that probably have it in their belt
behind them or in a vest and it
Practically speaking I think you bring up a great point that it probably just provides a false sense of security and
If they were actually in a situation where they needed to use it
It's not really functional
For how they are placing it. So thank you for bringing that up and a lot of these are going to be very practical tips
I have very long hair. You'll never know it because it's always in a bun. I
Put my hair under a hat
and
That's so nobody can grab my hair from behind now again
I am the person that is thought of almost not every but almost every scenario so you don't have to
This is really what I do in my spare time when I'm running guys
I think about what could happen and how to prevent it
So I wear my hair up under a hat nobody you can't grab your hair because if someone's behind you and you don't hear them
They're gonna try to grab your hair
If you don't wear hats just try to put it up in a bun so it makes it less grabable
another thing okay
This is going overboard, but if it if it ever reminds you if you ever need it you'll have it
You wear a hydration vest they always buckle in the front somebody grabs you from behind
Unbuckle it all they're gonna get is that hydration vest and run
You know think about things like this if someone grabs you from behind if you can unbuckle that
I don't know if you will because it depends if they grab you in a bear hug
It's different than if they just grab your path, but if you can get that unbuckled they'll be left with just that hopefully
Which brings me to my other point do not engage
Do not engage an attacker or anybody who you feel threatened by we're runners I
Would hope I think for the most part we can outrun people
This is when you ignore everything your coach tells you and you do
RPE 10 you fly you get and you don't have to outrun them too far
You have to just get to civilization you just have to get to a road to flip signal a car
You just have to get to a house or a business
Don't engage somebody
My first see how I get all hyper there my headphones fell out
my first
reaction
It might be a little different, but I would still highly highly encourage you if you can run
Do not engage do not because you don't know if they have a weapon you don't know anything about them
you don't know what skill set they have and
One just just just run. I mean sprint even if you're not a sprinter now is the time to develop your inner Usain Bolt
Just one just I can't stress that enough because
99% of the time that should do it if they pursue you you have to go to plan B
We go to plan B which brings me up. I hear a lot of women also say I took a self-defense course
Great you took one self-defense course all day
That's wonderful. You may have learned some great techniques
Eight months down the road one year down the road are you gonna remember any of those?
If you don't practice this every day and you don't think about it
it can give you a very false sense of security because
As a boxer I can tell you
You have a plan and think my place into this, but you everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face and that is accurate I
Know how to absorb a punch. I know how to punch, but when somebody punches you you're
For a second there you're like
It has to be instantaneous reaction you have to be able to come back from that and if someone grabs you and pushes you to the ground
Somebody is in a bear hug
Are you gonna be able to remember what you learned in a one-day self-defense course?
you might and if you do great but
It should be something that second nature that is why I tell people to not engage and to run
You know run away because I don't want people to get a false sense of security and that can happen and
You know you don't want to be in that situation where you're trying to remember what to do and if you are in that situation
Scream kick do whatever you have to do play dirty
It doesn't matter you do whatever you have to do to get out of your situation
And I don't want to be a downer here because this may not happen to 99.9% of the women out there
but I hear it and
It's a small small small percentage, but I hear so many women afraid
So I want to express to the women, you know, I I feel better having all these things
I'm not scared. I'm not trying to be a downer. I'm trying to empower you to know what to do so that when it happens
You're ready to go and if anything you can remember I tell you run just just
Stick that in your head no complication no tricky techniques no pepper spray
No those cat ring things that have sharp points that you could stab so no no no
Just run that is the one thing I will tell you is run and to bring it all back
Don't put yourself in a situation to begin with and a lot of us say well, we don't well how many times have I seen?
posted people going on vacation and
Women exploring runs and running in different areas which I know we want to explore
New areas, but you have to be careful
Because you don't know the area you could go from a very safe area to a very bad area one block and
You do you are not familiar with the area the canal trail
I know that inside and out. I know where someone can hide and I mean I there there's no way the canal trail
I'm pretty comfortable on
But if you're in a new area, that's where I suggest maybe I hate to say it unless you're running with somebody or you
Ask the running community for safe running routes or you hook up with a running community a lot of
towns you could look in Facebook. They have running communities you go there
You look up those running routes. You say hey, I'm visiting don't give the specific date, but just say hey
I'm visiting
Is there a safe area to run in?
You know, do you guys have a running group where you maybe meet every Saturday that I could join you?
You know that might be a better option for women who run solo than just going out and exploring the new area
If that's not an option and you're in a hotel treadmill hate to say it
But it's better to be safe than sorry
ask the hotel staff is there a safe running area, you know or
You just have to take these precautions ahead of time and I know women we love to run and explore new areas, but
if you
Think about it. Maybe logically
Find people who already run there and in the healthy runner community you can put out. Hey, I'm gonna be visiting
Manassas Virginia area, which was where I went a while ago is there any safe running routes and for the most part
The running community especially the healthy runner community will say hey, this is a good place or hey
Maybe you should run here. You don't have to give specific dates
And then if you see somebody who you know who happens to live stay there hook up with them to run
but these are all things concrete solid ways to not be afraid as a woman runner to run and
Let somebody know where you're going, but just be aware headphones
I do wear headphones
But I also don't keep them very loud. I know people wear those at
Is it the aftershocks? Yes. Yeah, now they're called shocks shocks. Okay. I I don't run with those
They just they just don't work for me, but
If you are in a new area, how many times do we go on vacation? We take our music
We use our music on a run in a strange area. No, no, no
You know be aware of your surroundings everybody just be aware of your surroundings and
That covers basically 99% of safety
You know, it's all a lot of it is preventable. Don't put yourself in a position where you are
Going to have to react
It might happen no matter what precautions you take
But eliminate as many as you can and again for women. I don't want to be a downer
99.9% of the time it won't happen to you, but why take that chance, you know
Just just take these precautions and remember
Run
You can hopefully out run somebody. I always joke that yeah, I can outlast them
But they'll get tired after about like 10 miles. I don't know
So those are just and I'm very very passionate about this very because I am a woman runner
But I see it in my athletes my athletes and runners who come to me and say hey
I had this experience, you know
I see it on social media and I just really want to emphasize don't get an over sense of security
Don't be overly paranoid but take sensible logical
Concrete ways to prove to help yourself
Yeah, and that's what I get out of this is that a lot of this is sensible and easy to implement
So thank you for sharing that and I know
That is something that is a pet peeve yours and it is something that you are passionate about so
Thank you for sharing and you've been very thoughtful about and you know, I think your
Background is somewhat unique because even though you have you know the experience you do have from like a self-defense
standpoint and a boxing standpoint all that like
You're your overall messages like you're still gonna run right?
You're not gonna engage. I will I will not engage even if
Even if I probably could I am not gonna engage unless it is the last resort because
again, I've been in the face you you like
It you can recover
But it'll throw you for a loop so I
Will run I will not fight if I don't and I don't care if I have to yes
Just like you will too if you have to but you don't want to do that just get out of there get out of that situation
Yeah, no, it's super helpful and as we're coming down the final stretch here if you could change one thing about the misconception
about runner safety
What would that be?
That you have to
That it's everybody else is responsibility
If every one of us as runners take responsibility for our own safety
We wouldn't have a lot of these issues and we always don't assume it somebody else's fault if there's a car or
You know you trip or something. I'm a train
The misconception of runner safety is that it is other people no we are in charge
We are in control. We can take the precautions ourselves and
It doesn't have to be scary. That's the one thing I want to say practical logical
Non-emotional for the most part, you know, don't let it be scary, you know, just do it and enjoy running
You know 99% of the time. I don't think any of us will have a problem
But next thunderstorm if I see any of my runners
Who are running in the middle of the thunderstorm and it's not on the track you might hear from me
Coach Kat is watching. No, this has been super helpful and I love how you said that we could be proactive
Because you know a passion. I'm about being proactive in injury prevention
So just kind of recapping this guys coach cat shared a lot of helpful tips really kind of sharing five really running safety tips or buckets
We talked general runner safety weather safety terrain safety
daytime nighttime safety and then female runner specific safety
If you want to hear more from coach Kat from some of her previous trainings that have been super helpful
She alluded to the treadmill specific episode
You can simply click the link in the show notes to get all of coach cats
wisdom in her previous trainings that she shared and
Also, you can learn more about working with her personally in our one-on-one signature coaching program to help you get the structure
you need to meet your running goal and
you can also head to spark healthy runner calm to find out about that and you know just like one of
coach cats athletes said that
She actually and if you go on our Google page and check out our reviews you'll hear many of the runners mentioning coach cats name specifically
Kristen is one of them. She said I love the one-on-one coaching
From the healthy runner coaching team. I work with coach Kat who is so responsive to my beginner questions and tailored a plan
Specific to my needs it was great being able to tap into Dwayne's knowledge as physical therapist as well
the strength training part of her training plan was key and
Need it was made very accessible
She went from a clueless beginner frustrated runner
With aches and paintings to feeling empowered and having the confidence to push herself
She says worth the investment in herself
So if you guys want to get some of the goodness that Kristen got you can simply head to our website
And you can schedule a call with me and we'll see if you're a good fit to work with coach cat or
Whom ever would be the best fit for you on our team and coach cat. Thank you so much
always a
insightful episode
So much knowledge in that brain of yours
Thanks for sharing it and educating our community about runner safety today. I
I'm glad I was able to I hope somebody
Take something from this. I'm sure they're gonna take more than one thing honestly and thank you guys the listeners
Whether you're catching this door to run on the podcast or watching the video version on the Spark healthy runner
YouTube channel
I appreciate all of you and if you're liking this training then you will surely like the next if you're listening on the podcast
Cue up episode 159 to learn all about how to grow as a runner in six easy steps or just click the video
I have here within YouTube. Let's maintain a strong mind a strong body and let's just keep on running until next time
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