My Saturday and Sunday runs were outside. Hurray! It was a little cold, and even worse when running into the wind, but it was tolerable. Due to construction in our town that will last all through this training cycle, I'm cut off from my favorite route. I could take a detour to get to some of my favorite places, but the traffic is heavier than usual on those roads, and local drivers apparently have forgotten how to drive safely. There has been a significant increase in accidents, and as a runner I don't want to take a chance! So, on Saturday during my longish run, I meandered around some different roads. I have come up with some decent routes for the long runs coming up soon.
I noticed two things this weekend that bothered me - trash and drivers.
As I run, I look ahead a little bit, at the ground though because I don't want to trip and fall again. I don't know if it's the time of year or if people are just getting worse, but this weekend I noticed a lot of trash as I was running. There were diapers (yuck!), garbage bags, fast food remnants, and so much more. One of the worst things I saw were those plastic holders for bottles/cans. Those are so dangerous to wildlife. They can get all tangled up in them or get stuck. This is what I'm talking about:
I try to pick them up whenever I can. I found that when I am wearing my pack that holds water bottles, I can hang these on the strap. When I get home, I cut them up before discarding them in the recycling. I may need to start carrying a garbage bag, but that might slow me down a bit :)
Another thing I noticed were the drivers and how much worse they have been lately. As I mentioned above, with the major detour in our town, there has been a significant increase in the number of accidents. I guess people are in so much of a hurry that they forget to pay attention? I am always so cautious when crossing a road. Drivers ignore the fact that I have the walk light, especially when they are turning left onto the road I am crossing. If it's the least bit dark (even on a cloudy day), I wear all sorts of things that light up, so I'm very visible. It doesn't matter. At one intersection I counted five cars that turned left, ignoring the sign that "pedestrians have the right of way", while I was trying to cross at crosswalk, with the walk sign.
The other time I was almost hit (this weekend) was at the driveway of a YMCA. People were leaving a church service that is held at the local facility. One car was driving slowly to the exit, I was in the crosswalk, and I knew I had plenty of time to get across, even if they didn't stop at the crosswalk like they should.Well, this car actually SPEEDED UP and blazed through the end of the driveway onto the road. The driver did not even look to their left, which is the direction I was coming from. If a car had been on the road, they would have been hit. I yelled to get her attention, and as she hurried by she mouthed "sorry".
When I run, it's always facing traffic and as far off the road as I can get - never over the white line into the roadway. I can't tell you how many times vehicles cross over the white line on the side of the road, almost as if they are trying to hit me intentionally. It's becoming unsafe to run due to drivers. Are they distracted, bad drivers, or actually trying to hit runners? It's hard to tell anymore.I've become much more vigilant lately.
When the weather improves, my Saturday runs will hopefully be on some trails. I have to drive to get there, but I think that will be safer than dealing with the local drivers. I'm hoping people get out of their winter funk and start paying attention when driving!
No excuses/Gotta Run
