Training: Staying safe in the winter

As we turned the clocks back this weekend, a funny thing happened. For many of you that run after work, you suddenly started running in the dark. Gone are the remains of daylight, the darkness of the early winter sky left in their place. Here in the Portland, that one little hour made a dramatic difference: it’s pitch-black now at 5:00PM.

So as I was cruising down the side-walk last night, I thought it might be a good time to review some safety issues that go along with running in the dark. And, just for fun, I thought we might give a little preview of getting ready to run in cold weather.

Running after dark
The keys to staying safe after dark are staying visible and staying alert. You need to be easy to spot out there on the road and, unfortunately, you also need to take the responsility for taking action if someone doesn’t see you. In these first few weeks of early darkness, remember that drivers who have been commuting in daylight are now suddenly driving in the dark, just as you are now running in the dark. And as they go through this transition, remember that they may not be paying attention as well as they should, if they’re on the way home from a long day at the office. (While this isn’t your fault, you’re the one on foot, so you have to deal with it.)

Here are some steps to take ordered generally from running in the most lighted areas to the least:

Step 1: Pick clothing that contains reflective material - Look at your running hats, gloves and shoes and you’ll find that some of those pieces have strips of reflective material on them. Choose these pieces over something that doesn’t.

Step 2: pick bright or light colored clothing - Wear a white hat, for example, instead of the black one.

Step 3: wear a reflective vest or reflective strip - if you’re going to be running on streets darker than a typical urban street, you should really be wearing a vest. You can buy either a vest or a reflective strip (a band that goes around your shoulder like a crossing guard would wear) at sporting goods stores. You shouldn’t need to spend more than $20 to get a light-weight vest, which you won’t even notice once you have it on.

Step 4: run with a light - if its going to be dark enough that you can’t see, then you’ll need a light. You can either carry a flashlight or use a light-weight head-lamp, such as those made for climbing. I’ve raced in pitch blackness many times and this is the one thing that can save you from stepping on something wrong and busting your ankle.

Step 5: wear your identification tag - if you don’t have a shoe tag, get one. Heaven forbid you get hit by a car, you want people to be able to contact someone and know who you are. Always make sure to tell someone where you’re going, in case they need to come looking for you.

Step 6: pay attention to your surroundings - you may need to make other changes to your behavior depending on your location, such as running with a buddy, leaving your earphones at home, or changing your routes. The bottom-line is that you need to take responsibility for staying safe from both dangers seen and unseen around you at night. And make sure that you’re running on the correct side of the road.

If you take some of these steps, you’ll find that you can be safe running on the streets at night. Just make sure that you really watch the drivers around you, especially at stop lights when you’re crossing in front of right-turning cars. If you aren’t sure that a driver sees you, don’t run in front of them.

Staying safe in the cold
As the weather gets colder outside, you’ll want to also take precautions to keep yourself safe from the cold and slippery conditions. For a seven point list of things to consider when getting ready to run in bad weather, click here. Although the article is couched in terms of running a race in bad weather, the list of steps for dressing for cold weather applies here as well.

The keys to staying safe when the weather gets bad are really to stay warm and to make sure that you have sure footing during your runs. Staying warm is important to make sure that your body functions well in the cold. Cover your skin as the temperature drops below 50 degrees and then keeping laying and adding clothing as it gets colder, wetter and windier.

In terms of keeping sure footing, you may need to switch to different routes or switch to a weather-proof shoe to run in snowy conditions. This really depends on where you run and how much time there is snow on the ground. There are plenty of great shoes now for running in inclement weather. Many of them are called “trail” shoes, but look for a show in your brand’s line-up that features water-proofing or a Goretex liner. These shoes will also typically have a more rugged sole that will keep your feet from slipping around on snow or mud. For a review of two trail shoes, click here.

Stay safe out there this winter! You will enjoy running in the cold if you keep yourself warm and dry. As soon as you get cold and wet, it usually all goes bad from there.

Related Articles:
Racing: what if the weather is really bad on marathon day?

Training: which side of the road should I run on?

Product Review: two shoes go head-to-head at Hagg Lake

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon USA