Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Safety with Running

My 2nd week into training I learned a hard lesson to expect the unexpected. I was jogging through my neighborhood and I could hear a neighbor yelling and I knew a dog had gotten out... I turned around and saw a tan colored boxer running full speed... at me! I stopped and turned so my left side was facing his direction and I yelled at the dog to stop, but it didn't stop and I turned my face and brought my arms to my chest and the dog jumped full force and I flew into the rocks and the dog pinned me down. He kept his face near my hip and my reaction was to get up (it's recommended to stay down and curl into a ball and cover your head and face) but luckily the dog stayed back until the owner got him. I luckily just limped away with a scraped leg and sprained ankle, but now a runner with slight anxiety. I thought I was being safe by carrying water with me and my phone, but it's not enough. I always think, "What if?" So now I need to be better prepared in my run. I was looking into mace/pepper spray but my husband said that won't do anything, but there is one that is a "dog pepper spray" so I'm probably going to go to Petsmart and see if they have it available. Another thing is identification. Yes, I have my phone but that doesn't give immediate information. There are some ID's that you can get personalized either by RoadID or YikesId, and can put your name, address, emergency number, blood type, allergies, whatever you want on it and you can choose between a bracelet, attachment for your shoe, or on your bike. Those are 2 ideas that I hope to implement into my running routine very soon. I also try to do a better job letting my husband know which route I am planning on taking and how long I will be out for.

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