On Wednesday, January 24 of this year I heard a chilling story of a local runner who was struck and critically injured by a vehicle while running in a bike lane along a low-traffic road. At the scene and for hours afterward, emergency personnel were not able to identify her.
Just this weekend on en route to our marathon, we were forced to take a long detour. The main mountain pass to our destination was completely closed down, a rarity since it is a U.S. Highway. While sitting in traffic and listening to AM radio, we learned that a cyclist was struck by a vehicle, resulting in a large accident that killed both the cyclist and several occupants of the vehicle.
These are stories that have come from my own backyard in the past 6 months. And they are not just stories, but are real accounts of factual events and they hit close to home. Tragic events such as these hurt my heart and make me wonder, “What if this happened to me? How long would it take for my wife to find out? Hours? Days?”
Recently I began wearing a Road ID simply because I couldn’t stand the thought of being unidentified in an accident and what that would do to my wife.
Although that was my primary reason for wearing Road ID, it also directly benefits the wearer through disseminating medical information that a person who is unconscious or in shock simply cannot give. This often results in smooth medical transactions and even saved lives. Many testimonies pertaining to these benefits are found throughout the Road ID website.
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Most runners are aware of the dangers of overtraining and have read countless articles on how to prevent them through a sensible and well-structured regimen, the “10% Rule”, and many other strategies.
However, the one downside to this focus is that it often leads runners to overlook other, important safety and health concerns. That’s why we decided to put together this basic, and yet incredibly useful, list of tips to help you beginners be more aware and prepared on your next run:
1) There is safety in numbers. Running in pairs or groups has its social benefits, but also can help increase running safety. If you hurt yourself, there’s someone there to give you the help you may need (think how much better off you’d be after rolling an ankle to have assistance getting home). If you prefer to run solo, stick close to home and consider running only in populated areas that you are familiar with. This way, help is much easier to come by.
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Now that you’ve read Part I of TFS’s Winter 2006 Apparel Guide, it’s time to learn how to protect your upper body and create an outer-layer of protection.
The optimal upper-body base layer provides breathable protection against the cold, but is also light enough to fit under a potential outer-layer apparel.
One option, for both men and women, is Underarmour’s close-fitting and moisture-wicking “Cold Gear Long Sleeve Top” (Another of our Editor’s favorites - especially the mock-turtleneck). The “Cold Gear” product line is a solid choice to help you stay both warm and dry. Under Armour’s “Cold Gear” tights and compression shorts are also very effective products.
Now that the base layer has been covered (which could be sufficient in milder, winter weather), you need to focus on outerwear.
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The mere thought of facing brutally low temperatures, face-burning winds, rain, sleet, snow, and ice is probably enough to make most people decide against that winter run in favor of some eggnog in front of the fireplace.
However, winter running can be invigorating and really enjoyable as long as you use common sense and are properly suited with the right cold-weather running apparel.
While comfort is always a concern, you need to keep the focus on staying warm and protected from the elements. When the body is subjected to extremely low temperatures it loses heat quickly. Therefore, unprepared runners leave themselves at risk and vulnerable to hypothermia, windburn, frostbite and a winter full of injuries.
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