Safety

$                   Before You Leave - Check the weather forecast.  Tell friends or family where you are going.  Go with a friend if possible and stay together.  If you are by yourself, consider running or walking with your dog on a leash (you=ll have to keep comfortably within the dog's endurance limit).  Know where telephones are on the route.  Pack a wireless phone or coins to make a call for help if you encounter difficulty.  At least know a phone number you can make a collect call toBnot all phone booths allow the use of calling cards however. Wear a medical ID tag.  Carry a driver=s licenseBsmall pouches can be bought to attach to your shoes at the lace which also will hold keys.  Don=t wear jewelry or carry much cash.  Don=t leave packages or other things people might want to steal in your carBnot even in the trunk.  Check with local police for information about criminal activity in an area before going.

$                   On the Trail - Stay alertBDon=t zone-out.  Actively and confidently watch your surroundings.  Don=t wear headsets or you won=t hear approaching attackers, bicycles, skaters or cars.  Consider carrying a phone.  Avoid unpopulated less traveled places and darkness or run in these routes with a group.  Run clear of parked cars or bushes.  Ignore verbal harassment.  Look directly at strangers but keep your distance and keep moving.  Trust your intuition.  Be careful if someone in a car asks you for directionsBkeep at least a full arms length away from the car.  Vary your route.  If you think you=re being followed, change directions and head for stores or populated places.  Try to have your key ready before you reach your car or home.  Use can use your key to help fend off an attacker.  Don=t get in the car of a would-be abductor.  Call police immediately if something happens to you or someone else. 

$                   Dehydration - You lose water through sweat, breathing, digestive processes and sicknesses (diarrhea and vomiting).  Without adequate water your body can=t cool itself effectively and your core temperature rises.  At first, you sweat and just performance is affected.  Other symptoms of dehydration that follow are: less urine output that is darker in color, pale and clammy skin, higher pulse and breathing, thickening of the blood which strains the heart, failure to sweat more, nausea, vomiting and delirium.  It=s much easier to avoid dehydration than recover from it.  In the early 1980's, delirium caused two experienced Washington area runners racing in the Herndon Ten Miler to leave the race course at different places, wander off into the woods and die.  One of them came within 50 yards of the finish line but missed the last turn.  He wasn=t found for several days. 

Trying to hydrate before a race or run will not help much.  It will only make you urinate more.  You must learn your limits through experience.  Limits vary greatly but a relatively safe margin for most is to stop every two miles for a drink.  Try to drink often during long events.  Do it before you feel thirsty.  Even though you drink during a run or race, you likely will lose more fluid than you can replenish on the route.  Only rest and fluids will get you back to normal. 

$                   Dogs - When running in both populated unpopulated places you might encounter a dog or dogs running wild.  Most parks don=t permit this but it happens anyway.  Dogs can get more wild, defensive and aggressive outdoors.  They will act on defense of their territory, themselves or their mastersBoften to the astonishment of their owners.  Be mentally ready for them at any time.  If you see a dog, avoid an encounter if possible.  If not, and you see the dog first, whistle and announce your presence to avoid startling it.  Keep whistling if you can and pass on by.  If the dog runs up to you, stop and/or try calmly and pleasantly putting down your hand with the palm up to let it smell you.  If it=s acting aggressively however, forcefully yell at it, tell it ANo!@ while shaking your finger at it.  When in an encounter, keep looking directly at it.  Dogs can sense fear and will take advantage of you showing it.  Your stare might let you take advantage of the dog=s fear.  Practice your stare and body language.  Turn to face the dog if it gets behind you; stop or carefully walk backward to get away.  If there is one dog, you might be able to frighten it into keeping its distance by pretending to pickup a rock and feigning a throw.  Two or more aggressive dogs will instinctually surround you.  Look for a tree to climb, a stick or other defense before they get up to you.  Your decision to seek shelter, put-up a verbal front, fight or submit to their curiosity may be better made by knowing how close by an owner or other help is.  Avoid fighting if possible as large dogs can generally overwhelm a person who is on foot.  If on a bicycle, a bicycle pump is an effective scare device until you can out-ride or tire-out a chasing dog.  If you must stop bicycling, put the bicycle between you and the dog.

$                   Lyme Disease - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describe Lyme Disease as an infection caused by a bacteria that is transmitted by the bite of deer ticks.  Early symptoms are: fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes, and a bullseye-like skin rash.  Later, arthritis in the knees, nervous system abnormalities and more rarely, irregularities of heart rhythm can occur.  One of the highest incident zones for the disease is from Massachusetts to Maryland.  Trail runners passing through wooded, brushy or grassy places are exposed to ticks.  The ticks get on passers by when they brush-up against the tips of shrubs or grassesBnot trees.  Ticks don=t jump.  Once on you they crawl to hidden or hairy areas of the body (scalp, groin, armpits), then attach themselves.  In some stages of growth, ticks are no larger than a pinhead.  May, June and July are high risk months but you may encountering them at other times of the year.  Recommendations to avoid them include wearing protective light colored (for detection) pants, long sleeve shirts, socks and hats; spraying DEET on exposed skin and clothes.  Inspect yourself during and after trail runs.  If you find a tick on you, it doesn=t mean that you will get Lyme Disease.  Remove the tick completely, being sure to remove the small head.  Use tweezers if necessary.  Keep a watch for the symptoms and/or consult your doctor.  Contact the CDC at (404 332-4555) for more information. 

$                   Hypothermia - Hypothermia occurs when the body core temperature gets too low.  Typically brought-on by cold temperatures, it is also not uncommon for it to occur to people in sixty degree wet weather conditions, and during long athletic events such as marathons.  One of the first symptoms is uncontrollable shivering.  Slurred speech, disorientation and worse may follow.   Cure yourself by immediately seeking warmth, drinking warmed liquids, and getting into dry clothes.