Trail Running

Living in the country presents a unique opportunity in the form of miles upon miles of fire roads that seem to go on indefinitely. This provides ample running (and exploring) terrain to cover with the not-so-new trail runners. The picture to the left is the end of my property and the other direction is nothing but open dirt road -- which is a lot easier on my knees then the gravel/paved road around the neighborhood loop which is usually my route of choice.

Usually when running around the loop, even on a not so dry day, all that has to happen is for a car to pass by and, if they're not feeling rather neighborly enough to slow down to a crawl, they'll end up throwing up enough dust to stop you in your tracks until it clears. I doubt when this happens that the culprit even sees me give them the finger - just due to the smoke screen.

Dust bowls created by cars (or jacked up trucks as the case may be) becomes an non-issue when running on the back roads. This was enough to make it a tempting lunch time route and off I went - into the wilderness. It was nice jogging where the chances of running into another human is slim or none -- solitude at it's finest. But this can create another set of issues - what if there is some unabomber type mountain man that's living in a shack deep in the woods? What if there are a whole pack of them? What if there are wild animals who are coming out of hibernation and haven't eaten since last fall? What if I hear banjos?

The solitude of running, without a phone, GPS, or flares, bring these types of thoughts to the forefront of the mind. Not to mention I'm already tired from running by the time these speculations start rolling through my head, so if something or someone jumps out from the bushes and yells "boo," my chances of a fast get-away doesn't look good. I'm slow with a few extra pounds on the old backside that weighs me down.

This, of course, leads to "running protection" options. Other than packing heat -- and let's face it, I don't think they make a running pack that's equipped with a holster, I need to find another "just in case" weapon of choice. I wonder if someone can make an iPhone application for that.

Lucky for me, I'm not the only person with this need. At the local store today we found mace - in a nice pink case small enough to tuck into any pocket or even my hand. I don't know if I should be happy (or concerned) that the local store sells this type of stuff, but it will give me a little more peace of mind when I'm out in the great wide open running around where no one is in rescue distance. Unabomber beware. Now I just have to remember to spray downwind.