This morning I awoke around 6 a.m. and made myself a pancake breakfast, figuring Iād give myself an hour and a half to work and digest and let the sun come up before heading out on a run with Sadie.
Unfortunately rain changed my plans, so a lunchtime workout is on the books for today.
As you probably noticed if youāve been reading this blog for a while, I prefer to workout almost immediately after I awake. When it comes to running outside with Sadie, however, I often wait until later in the day or at least until the sun comes up because Iām not comfortable running around our neighborhood in the dark.
(Classic feeble Sadie face! She cracks me up.)
I had no problem running before sunrise in Orlando because I ran in well-lit areas that were populated with lots of other runners and cars. I cannot remember feeling uneasy during a run in Orlando even one time, but in Ocala itās different.
Our neighborhood is insanely dark. Street lights are sparse and when the moon is only a sliver you can barely see your hand in front of your face. (Bonus: The stars at night in Ocala are gorgeous.) As creepy as the pitch black night is, the darkness isnāt my main deterrent. Itās the wildlife!
Bear sightings seem to be more and more prevalent (our neighbors saw one in our yard twice last week!) and Ryan and I saw a coyote earlier this week right outside of our neighborhood on our way to the gym in the morning. Iām sure the animals would ignore me if our paths crossed on a run, but since I probably wouldnāt even see them until we were within a few feet of each other due to the intense darkness, Iād rather not deal with a black bear run-in at 5:30 a.m.
It feels kind of crazy to not run before dawn because Iām scared of bears, but when you live close to the Ocala National Forrest, itās something you think about! (Someone once saw a panther before dawn in our neighborhood.) Itās a scary world out there, Iām tellinā ya!
Question of the Morning
- Do you ever run outside before the sun comes up? Do you take any extra safety precautions?
When I ran by myself before dawn in Orlando, I kept my iPod volume on low, ran with a small runnerās mace that my father-in-law bought for me, wore bright clothing and brought Sadie the Ferocious Beast with me. Perhaps now I should run with my handy-dandy bear bell?
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I’m out the door by 5:25am 3 days/week. I don’t wear any reflectors, but I run on the bike paths next to the street and I don’t listen to music. Sometimes I pass other runners who meet at the nearby rec and I try to stay on routes that are lit by the streetlights, so I feel pretty safe. But I am definitely a bit uneasy at times, mostly because of critters or dark patches where I can’t see the ground very well. Nothing like driving to work at 7:30am knowing I’ve already got in 5 miles, though!!!
I like running when I first wake up too. I find myself too tired in the afternoons to motivate myself to get out the door, and in the middle of the day my stomach is full of food and water, making me feel heavy. I don’t usually get up at 6am, either, though. I’m more of an 8:30-9:30 runner. I like to give it time to warm up a bit before I have to go outside and brave the cold!
Girl! We live in ALASKA! Talk about wildlife. The first 18 months we lived here, I refused to run outside. I was terrified because there is a constant stream of bears and moose through the neighborhood. I’ve finally started making myself get outside for short runs, but I only run is very populated areas and when it’s well lit outside. I don’t want to be that chick on the news! Eek!
alaska! very cool!!!
Motherhood and my work schedule dictate that almost all of my running happens before the sun comes up, and I have learned to LOVE it! I am quite blessed, I will say, to live in a very well-lit, safe small town with minimal risk of being attacked by a panther….
My mom is my running buddy; she lives a quarter of a mile away from me and we go three EARLY mornings a week. We run on city sidewalks so there are tons of street lights, cars and (occasionally sketchy) people out waiting for the bus. More importantly, we run with our dogs so we figure people are less likely to bother us. We’ve never had any trouble.
I would so not run in the dark if there were bears. Or maybe I would. I run when I can. I can’t avoid running in the dark right now but I do try to time it so I’m only doing a mile or so before there’s light. I always run in neighborhoods where I feel comfortable, with blinky lights from RoadID and my Siberian Husky. While I do admit that darkness lends itself to be scary, runners need to be mindful not to have a false sense of security because they are out midday. A runner was attacked on the path that ran along a busy street at 11 a.m. on a Saturday. A passing motorist actually stopped it.
I wouldn’t run in the dark if there was a chance I’d see a bear or panther either. That’s scary stuff. I do run in the dark in my neighborhood. We don’t have as many street lights as I would like but we do have sidewalks in some areas and I wear a glow strap that my husband has from when he was a Marine.
I actually just discovered and blogged about this app called StaySafe. I think it’s a must for early morning runners! Now that I know about it, that is š http://shar.es/cjnq6
I wear a reflective vest, but I’ve never feel safe in the dark. I get too absorbed in running to pay attention to traffic. Heck, I’ve had some close calls in broad daylight. This is one of many reasons why I have a gym membership – the cost of dues are low compared to the cost of an accident.
I run in the morning and often times its very dark. It’s nice an quiet and I think my adrenaline makes me run faster. I take both dogs, a chocolate lab that only looks intimidating and a beastly lab/pit mix that is very aware and protective of me. Attackers beware of my “wolf pack”
LOL!
i hate running in the dark. i live in a town right outside of NYC so there are plenty of runners at all hours of the day. my problem is that its dark in the morning and by the time i get home from work and put on my sneaks its dark then too. there are no bears/wild animals in the city so I should just suck it up š
Lucky for me I hit the snooze button one too many times so I always end up running when it’s light out haha running in the dark creeps me out though even though my neighborhood is lit pretty well– there’s lots of woods and I’m always creeped if someone is lurking in them
When I go out for a run, dark or not, I take my 90lb German Shepherd, Jersey, with me. That girl won’t even let a fly near me. you should see how protective she is over my kids. I love it. Everyone in my neighborhood knows not to even look at me while she’s around.
german shepherds are adorable – and yes, quite intimidating, too! awesome running buddy!
I hate running in the dark. It gives me the heebie jeebies, and I don’t have a dog to ‘save’ me. So treadmill it is! (but I can read & watch stuff, so I’m just fine there!)
I am also too afraid to run in the dark. I have tried to do it once, and every time I saw a dark shadow on the path my heart started to race…not the most enjoyable feeling. It is a pain that the sun comes up so late this time of year, because I am like you, and truly enjoy waking up and working out first thing in the morning. The best running for me is at 6am in June when the sun is shining bright!
I run before dark on a well-lit, paved trail behind my house. It’s always full of people, but I still sometimes get nervous on my own!
I run super early but not outside. We don’t have street lights in my neighborhood so it’s a bit too dark to safely run.
I have never run before the sun comes up but I ran once at night when it was too dark out and it freaked me out. I kept imaging crazy things! Now, I stick to daylight or the treadmill!
I love running when nobody else is out but I won’t run in the dark. I worry about ankle sprains and being attacked. My favorite time time is shortly after sunrise.
I almost exclusively run in the evening. While I’m in my subdivision I try to maintain awareness of my surroundings. However, I do most of my run in an elementary school parking lot. It’s generally well-lit, I can vary my course, and I can see into the distance. I don’t have to worry nearly as much about being startled by cars, dogs, people, or tripping on the dark sidewalk.
Whoah, a panther?! Girlllll you are living in the jungle! That’s madness. I’m afraid of running in the dark and I live downtown Toronto hahah. I’m afraid of a whole slew of probably ridiculous things (being kidnapped is one of them), so I definitely avoid running outside alone in the dark as well. Safety first š
I run at a ridiculous time in the early morning so I definitely take a lot of precautions. 1) I run with a dog most of the time and if I don’t have either dog with me I carry a big stick. 2) I only wear one headphone and always with the volume low (this is also my iPhone which is critical because I can make a call quickly if needed since I have the Yurbuds Ironman headphones with microphone and quick buttons. 3) I wear an Amphipod Xinglet that is highly reflective. 4) I either run in my gated neighborhood or on a street just outside of my neighborhood that is well lit and has plenty of vehicle traffic at all times of the morning.
But the one thing I do NOT have to worry about is wildlife. That would definitely be a deal breaker for me too! LOL
We live in a rural area and I’m a little bit terrified of running into a coyote so I always run in pure daylight. I even have a hard time finding a route where no dogs run out because so many neighbours have dogs out that are loose — I don’t want to get bit and I would feel terrible if a dog got hit on the road because he was chasing me. Running can be a dangerous sport I tell ya!!
I’m the same way… I won’t run in the dark. I find that the poor lighting in general is dangerous and even running in neighborhoods in the morning – people are always in a hurry to leave for work, etc. and the last thing that’s on their mind when they pull out of the driveway is a runner!
My main squeeze wont allow me to run in the dark anymore but luckily he is a runner and we run together about 4 days a week. However, I used to run around my hood all the time in the dark by myself…always creeped out, but I still did it š Miss you already!
I live in Boston, so you can go for a run practically anytime of the day and see other runners. Plus there are street lights constantly around. I can’t imagine running where so much wildlife is present – it’s like lions and tigers and bears – OH MY! š
Yeah! On a college campus, there are enough lit paths to make a decent run. But nowadays, I use a head lamp (the kind you have for camping) and a reflective vest and make sure to stay on the sidewalks when it’s dark out.
never ran before as exercise! but i have been wanting to get started! any tips? i am a mother of 4yo twins with not alot of free time and very low motivation, help!!!!!
i dnt need exercise to loose weight but i need it to be heatlhy! any sugestions?
I usually run in the mornings before work, and it’s pretty dark out there. Some areas in DC are better lit than others, but I take the dog with me (some people here seem more scared of dogs for some reason?), and I don’t wear headphones so I can be more aware of my surroundings. Still, it’s not my favorite. I’ve fallen a few times, and that scares me!
I rarely run in the dark. We don’t have a lot of street lights and I’m too afraid of being attacked. We live in a safe neighborhood but there are a few sketchy places within a 1/2 mile radius of my house. i just wait till the sun comes up and take my kids with me in the stroller.
I will not run inthe dark. I have actually even gone to the running trail we have that always is well populated (even in the dark) and gone about 50 feet before turning around and going back to my car to sit until it got lighter. I just can’t do it!
Yes, I was out at 6:40 this morning, which is about 30 min earlier than I totally feel comfortable with, but I had 6 miles on the books and I needed to get it in before work! My ‘hood in NYC has some shady characters roaming around early in the am, but luckily no one ever seems to be paying any attention to me so I usually don’t feel scared. It just makes me run faster, too!
I love running in the mornings. I leave for work at 7:15, and I get home around 6. So I would much rather work out in the morning. I run around my neighborhood some time between 5-6 most mornings. It doesn’t bother me. I don’t put any earphones in. I just let my music play, or I run without it. Its so peaceful!
When I was a runner (jogger really) and was training for races I would wake up early to run and run in the dark. I LOVED IT! I was living in Oak Park Illinois at the time which is a great suburb of Chicago but very close to the city (just a 20 minute EL ride, yes that’s considered “close” to me ha!) And I felt completely safe when I would run that early. I did, however, have the volume of my ipod turned down pretty low so I could hear people/cars coming. I stopped running in the dark when it was reported a jogger in my hood got killed by a car…So yeah that put a damper on things.
Obviously I would run on the sidewalk but sometimes I’d run in the side streets. I think the earliest I ever ran was 3:30am to run a 16 miler so I could have time to go to work that day. Most of my long runs were on Saturday mornings so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting up THAT early. But yeah, just turned down iPod, wore super bright clothing and once in a while wore a glow in the dark vest that someone bought me.
What was scarier to me more than cars was Deer and dogs. I always ran past this one house that had some huge dog that would bark his tail off to anything/anyone that passed by and I would nearly have a heart attack because he was hidden behind a fence. Another time I literally almost ran into a deer. Like literally almost ran INTO it. Stupid Bambi not only scared the bejeezus out of me, she wouldn’t MOVE!! Just stared at me. CREEPY.
I’m typically an evening runner. In fact, I ran last night in the dark and was thinking I need a light to carry with me!! Now that it’s getting dark around 7, I need to take more precautions š I was trying to use my I-pod as a light but it wasn’t that helpful š
I live in Washington, DC, and lately, the sun isn’t up until 7:30, so I am always running in the dark. I actually enjoy the solitary/anonomous feeling of it, but I have had to change my route for safety reasons (to different neighborhoods, or better lit parts of the national mall).
I never run in the dark. San Antonio is a bit of a sketchy city and even with my dog I wouldn’t feel comfortable. Unfortunately once the time changes next weekend, my evening runs will most likely take place as the sun goes down so I might need to invest in one of those reflective vests.
And since you mentioned carrying mace, was it just a bottle you carried in one hand? There are a TON of stray dogs in San Antonio and I’ve started to get super nervous that one of these days one will try to get a little too close when I’m out running with my dog. I looked it up and apparently mace also works on dogs so it was something I was going to look into, but I’m not sure I want to have to carry it around in my hand for my whole run.
yep! it has a little handle, so it’s not as awkward as carrying a can of mace since it slides onto your hand and can rest in your palm OR on the top of your hand.
I run outside in the mornings around 4:30. Luckily for me, I have a crazy friend who runs with me. I meet her in her neighborhood and we run in the streets keeping our eyes open for anything suspicious. We have had a few scares, but nothing major enough for us to stop.
We wear bright colors and she carries mace (I need to get my own). Most of the areas where we run have a few street lamps, but other areas are pitch black. :/
We don’t listen to music but we do talk while we run. To take an extra precaution we should probably switch up our route every once in a while.
Good luck with all the wildlife!!
a bear! OMG! I run in the evenings in San Antonio and the most I’ve seen is a bunny, grass snake, deer and once a skunk!! I almost got sprayed! It was up on it’s feet ready and everything. Luckily I backed off, it went on it’s way and I hauled booty to get away quick!!!
I always have my SIL with me (she’s faster but we’re never far away). And when it’s close to dark my hubby goes with us on his bike.
When I used to commute into downtown Los Angeles (early in the morning), I would take the side streets to avoid freeway traffic. I’d frequently see people walking with sticks, golf clubs, etc. for protection
Come to think of it, maybe it wasn’t for protection…..it IS LA! Hahaha! (Just kidding – these were elderly folks or women that I would see semi-regularly.) Maybe you need to have a stick and/or pepper spray with you….?
Wow, that reminds me of Jumanji!! I live in Memphis, and I haven’t had the nerve to run in the dark, even though it would make running outside this time of year much easier. These shortened days are a little annoying, in that sense.
It’s pretty cool to think that you are so close to such amazing wildlife. Be careful though! Having a bear that likes to hang out in your yard must be unsettling, to say the least!
I don’t like to run, but I do brisk walks before the sun comes up while it is cool outside (plus it means that my workout is done for the day before dawn even arrives). But we have night security in my neighborhood and most of the neighborhood is well lit.
I live in an area in Michigan that is smack dab in the middle of a fairly safe college town and a not so safe scary town. Depending which way I take my run I can go through either.. I LOVE running through the safe town, lots of friendly neighbors and people out and about…except for the GIANT HILL that I cannot avoid that way.
Regardless of the location, I ALWAYS run with pepper spray. I went running through my mom’s neighborhood, which is in Saline, MI, probably one of the safest towns in the U.S., and encountered a very angry pit bull! That was the scariest moment of my life thus far, and I am so thankful I had that pepper spray with me. I didn’t end up using it, (the owner ran outside and was able to drag him away from me), but it just reminded me to take precautions no matter where you are!
Also, I realized in that situation that I fumbled with the spray quite a bit (trying to point it in the right direction and unlock it), now I always run with it in my hand ready to spray. If I was in immediate danger I don’t know if it would have helped me!
I always run in the dark, at least during the week. Being a teacher means getting to work between 7 and 7:30, and when I get home I’m never in the mood to run (plus now I’m trying out CrossFit too!). But, my neighborhood is pretty runner-friendly and there’s always people driving or out running/walking. I did see a couple coyotes the other day, but those don’t scare me like a bear would!
Oh, and I always carry pepper spray, even in daylight, even though I live in one of the safest cities in the US. Better to be safe than sorry!
When I was on holiday in Queenstown I ran in the dark early and I didn’t even know the place- it was crazy but the time difference had me messed up so I couldn’t sleep.
I try to avoid running in the dark because of both animal and evil humans out there, and so I don’t fall into a hole that I can’t see. I run with a stun gun that is lighteight and easy to carry, and I never run too far into the trails alone. It’s sad we have to worry about being a target, but it’s not keeping me from getting out there. As for the animals, I’d err on the side of caution, too, and not rest on the whole theory that “they’re more afraid of you. “
I run in the morning before the sun comes up and it is around a lake located in a subdivision so there’s very little lighting. The main reason I go is because I need to run my dogs before I go to work. I’ve gotten to where I trust their reactions since they can see/hear better than me. I also carry a kuba-ton, which is attached to my keys and have my escape routes planned out like which houses I can run to in case of an emergency.
I try to wait until there’s some light outside for my morning runs….but even during the day I have to watch out for dogs roaming around (some of our neighbors don’t have electric fences and their dogs scare me half to death!)