Hit me!

Sometimes I feel like a moving target. Have you ever felt like that? You know how a moving target is more of a challenge and gains more points. I had to veer off the road three times in less than a mile on my run this morning. I imagined the drivers of those vehicles were all part of some secret pool to see how many runners (maybe cyclists too because the complaint is the same for them) they could run off the road. I wondered what the pot was.

I felt like I was wearing a race bib with "HIT ME" written in bold and visible to everyone but me.

Maybe I, and any runners or cyclists who frequent the open road (instead of using the beautiful trails created just for us by community development teams of the past), deserve this treatment. For one thing, by running in the street shoulder (against traffic, mind you) instead of using the beautiful trails, I am cramping the space designed specifically for cars and other motor vehicles. I am also putting myself at considerable risk because of this. I am not meant to be in that space.

But I can't help that I like the straightaway of the street, with the ability it provides me to see and to set a target to strive for. I prefer it to the undulating paths where the furthest target is really no more than a few yards away. Furthermore, most race courses are on everyday streets and avenues. Training on the open road more closely matches the situation of a real race.

While the beautiful trails created in many cities and master-planned communities are meant to protect us from the hazards of running on the road, they expose us to a danger of another kind: easy cover for attack by criminals. But who thought of this 20 years ago when many of these trails were being built? Crime of the nature we see today was not an issue back then, at least not outside of major cities. However, in this day of crime and aggression, even in "safe" communities, the beautiful trails have lost the intended serenity and security.

Any decision has trade-offs. One must accept some risk in one area in order to gain advantage in another. The decision to run on the open road instead of on the trails is no different. The streets are populated by cars and provide a certain security, the security of being seen and not hidden back in the trees and bushes. The trade-off is that I have to be vigilant and put up with the effects of distracted, possibly irritated drivers in 5000+ lb. vehicles (velocity not factored in). Believe it or not, the most courteous drivers I experience are the truck drivers. They are the ones who are most likely to move to the left side of the lane, sometimes even cross the center divider if they can, to give me more safe space.

By trading off the security of the trails for the security of the open road, I am still a target, particularly to truly distracted drivers who insist on texting while driving, reaching for misplaced items in the back seat, and applying make-up or eating breakfast. After all, I am cramping their driving style by using their buffer. I suppose they pose the same risk to other drivers on the road by doing these things. But the other drivers have the advantage of being wrapped up in their own steel padding!

I did some research on statistics for traffic accidents involving runners being hit. Not alot out there. Most data that is out there does not extrapolate data for "runners" and instead lumps it all into pedestrians. Let's suffice it to say that is not a frequent occurrence. I think I will continue to do it.

I can still complain a little...