Safety Tips and Tweeting Owls

Though we're expecting a mild, temperate weekend here in DC--happy Super Bowl, by the way--it is still very much winter, which means that runners, joggers, bikers, walkers, all of us, really, are still working through cold temperatures, limited daylight, and potentially hazardous sidewalk and trail conditions.

It is in the spirit that we are posting a handful of links to solid safety tips for winter running and nighttime running.  Give them all a read:

• RRCA's General Running Safety Tips
• Active.com's 9 Tips for Your Night Runs
• Runner's World 10 Tips for Running in the Cold

Full disclosure: I was a former headphone wearer.  I've been doing this running thing for a long time, and all of us were enamored with the Sony Walkman (ever hear of that thing?), back in the 80s and 90s.  I can't stress enough how dangerous it is to run with environmental sound drowned out.  It lowers your general awareness overall, and that can be particularly problematic for busy urban areas and quiet wooded areas alike.  If you're a headphone user, I recommend the treadmill until it gets sunnier again.

Also, for the hikers among us, it is not a bad idea to employ those skills when running through dark, quiet, wooded areas, particularly late at night or early in the morning.  As goofy as it seems, I actually do make a habit of shouting or clapping or even singing (sorry, fellow trail runners) when I'm in wooded areas after the sun goes down (or before it comes up).  It's a good idea to let the wildlife know that you're around, because that's better than getting attacked.  

That owl is particularly vindictive, it seems.  He gloats on Twitter.