Running in low-light conditions, especially during fall and winter, even in milder latitudes like in South Florida, can be challenging and potentially hazardous. As runners, our safety is ultimately our responsibility.
Regardless of who might be “in the right,” the goal is to avoid harm. Staying visible, alert, and prepared is critical when running in the dark.
Making sure you are seen while running in the dark is your responsibility (Photo: Alex Fu, Pexels)
Trust your instincts when you are out for a run in a poorly lit area. Treat it the same as if you were in an unfamiliar area or out of your comfort zone while walking out of town. It is always better to end up being overly cautious than to find yourself in a less-than-desirable situation with an on-the-spot decision to make.
Here are ten essential precautions to keep you safe during your nighttime or early morning runs during the shorter daytime months.
1. Prioritize Visibility: Invest in reflective gear or wearable lights. Whether it’s a reflective vest, flashing LED armbands, or clip-on lights for your shoes, making yourself visible to others is non-negotiable and 100% your responsibility. Also, consider visibility at the end of your run, not just the start.
2. Stick to Familiar, Well-Lit Routes: Running in the dark is not the time for exploration and adventure. Choose routes you know, have sufficient lighting, and minimal interfering traffic. Avoid areas with uneven terrain or unexpected obstacles. This is not the time to fall and require help.
3. Face Oncoming Traffic: Run against the flow of traffic so you can see approaching vehicles and they can see you. This allows you to react if a distracted driver veers too close. Always adhere to traffic rules and stay as far from the road as possible.
4. Reconsider Headphone Use: Nighttime running demands heightened awareness. Avoid using headphones to keep your senses sharp. If you can’t run without music or podcasts, opt for bone-conduction headphones, use just one earbud, or use a low-volume setting so you remain alert to your surroundings.
5. Run With a Phone: Always carry your phone. Use it to share your live location with a trusted contact or call for help if needed. Modern running belts or armbands make carrying your phone easy and unobtrusive.
6. Inform Someone About Your Plan: Even if you’re carrying a phone, let someone know your route and the expected return time. This ensures someone is aware should you be delayed or in trouble.
7. Run in Groups When Possible: There’s safety in numbers. A group is easier for drivers to spot, and your collective visibility and awareness increase. Running clubs or friends make excellent night-running companions.
ID in advance the safety spots where you can stop through your route (Image by Windows Copilot)
8. Familiarize Yourself with Emergency Spots: In your route, be aware of the surrounding businesses, police stations, or friends’ homes where you can unexpectedly stop should you feel in danger at any time.
9. Carry Identification: Wear or carry ID (RoadID bracelet, driver’s license) to ensure first responders or good Samaritans can identify you and know who to contact in case of an emergency.
10. Test Your Gear in Advance: The time to realize your headlamp is out of battery is not as you prepare to go out. The time to figure out how the pepper spray safe if disabled is not when you have a threat in front of you. Prepare yourself.
These are by no means all the safety precautions you must take to run safely in the dark. For one, always trust your instincts so you don’t have to second-guess yourself when it is too late. If something doesn’t feel right, get out of there immediately.
Anything else I forgot, or you would like to share with your fellow blog readers? Use the comment box below.
All of us runners have been there. And if you haven’t, keep running, and you will: missing the PR we trained for, walking on a run we thought we were supposed to excel in, being beat by that one person who can’t even keep up with us in training, selling ourselves a valid excuse for what just happened. We have just failed!
Sure, failure sucks. There is no other way to put it or sell it to ourselves or to our friends. But it doesn’t have to be final. It critical to your growth as a runner. And as a person.
It happens, learn your lessons and move forward. (Photo: Polina Zimmerman, Pexels)
There is an excellent quote by Jimmy Dugan, played by Tom Hanks in the movie A League of Their Own, when one of the players tells him she’s no longer enjoying baseball because it has become too hard: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it weren’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard…is what makes it great!”
So, how do we embrace something that sucks, hurts and yet could be beneficial, and make it the cornerstone of our running growth? I suggest these steps:
1 – Accept your feelings: Don’t suppress your emotions after the failure. Don’t put a façade for your buddies. These feelings are normal, healthy and must be worked through your system so they may be processed.
2—Step away from guarded mode: Okay, you failed. So what? Is your wife going to leave you? Are your friends disowning you? You have processed your emotions and accepted what happened. It is time to stop dwelling on it and move forward.
3 – Find the lessons to be learned: What happened? Why? Was it an external factor or was it something under your control? What will you do differently next time? Identify the factors that contributed to the failure and strategize on how not to allow this to happen again. If it was your error, own it.
4 – Embrace the failure: Now that you know what happened, why, and how to avoid it next time, it is time to focus on your next objective. You have accepted that a flop does not reflect your value as a person. Even if you missed the Olympic gold medal, it is an opportunity for growth. The runner who hasn’t failed, just hasn’t run enough.
5 – Enrich yourself by what you’ve learned: A long time ago, I heard someone (I can’t recall who) say that “what you get when you don’t obtain what you originally set out for, is experience”. Make this experience part of your narrative. Share your story with others letting them know that setbacks are a natural obstacle in the path to success.
I have compiled a list of failure-related quotes by people from all walks of life. These quotes corroborate that failure can only become a permanent mark in your life when you keep dwelling on it or learn nothing from it.
Tak advantage of the opportunity (Photo: Brett Jordan, Pexels)
► “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” – Thomas Edison.
► “Some sessions are stars, and some are stones, but in the end, they are all rocks and we build upon them” – Chrissie Wellington, four-time World Ironman Champion.
► “A bad run is better than no run” – Unknown.
► “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better” – Samuel Beckett, Playwright, novelist, Nobel laureate.
► “Relish the bad training runs. Without them it’s difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones” – Pat Teske, Resilience expert, health advocate, coach.
►”We all have bad days and bad workouts, when running gets ugly, when split times seem slow, when you wonder why you started. It will pass”– Hal Higdon, legendary running writer.
► “There will be days you don’t think you can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime of knowing you have” – Unknown.
► “Get over it – If you have a bad workout or run a bad race, allow yourself exactly 1 hour to stew about it, then move on” – Steve Scott, former U.S. record holder in the mile.
► “If you never have a bad day, you’re probably doing something wrong; if you never have a ‘good’ day, you’re definitely doing something wrong” – Mark Remy, Runner’s World.
As you prepare to reap the benefits of your hard weeks of training. Or you may be wondering if you have done enough to hit the starting line in PR shape. Or as you realize you have screwed up your training and will have to wing it. If you plan to race hard, or long, you will need to taper.
Taper (or tapering) is the label commonly used to identify the short training cycle between the end of our race-focused training cycle and race day. The word taper is an intransitive verb. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it means “to become progressively smaller toward one end. To diminish gradually.” In running, that’s exactly what we are referring to. We start reducing our workload as race day approaches. But why?
Our bodies usually take 14-20 days to adapt to whatever we do in training. If we ran 20 miles today, we are not better for it tomorrow. As our body recovers, it adapts to the benefits of such stressful events and thus becomes stronger. This is why whatever we do in the last two, maybe three weeks before race day, will be of little or no benefit.
There is nothing to gain during taper, but everything to lose. Many races have been ruined by not taking the taper seriously. Don’t become a victim.
Meb Keflezighi has a great quote that epitomizes the last few paragraphs: “It is better to be 90% ready and make it to the starting line than panic and become overtrained or be unable to start the race.”
According to Jess Movold, in a 2024 article in Runner’s World magazine: “Tapering is one of the most critical parts of any marathon training plan, but in many cases, it’s also one of the hardest to implement. Ever heard of the taper tantrums?”
In my personal experience, I’ve felt better with a 2-week taper. But if the fatigue accumulation really beats you up and feel like another long run will destroy you more than help you, an additional week is beneficial.
Theories abound about how to handle the taper, but the scope of this blog post does not include analyzing any models. It wants to point out a handful of errors and misconceptions you may incur that will eventually negate your training gains.
While on taper, be on the lookout for the following so you don’t ruin your race:
I know I picked this up from Instagram, but I don’t know the source I should credit.
1. Follow the original plan: If you got here with your plan, then this is not the time to improvise, regardless of how confident you are or not about attaining your goal.
2. Don’t try one more long run: There is no place for it. It will add to the fatigue, hinder your recovery, and won’t produce adaptations in time for race day.
3. Focus on nutrition: Avoid detoxes, new supplements, weight-shedding schemes, carb unloading/loading protocols, and indulgent eating. Eat clean and enough.
4. Tapering means you are still training: You shouldn’t think you can stop because it’s tapering. It is still part of the training program, and it requires work.
5. Manage your excess energy: With the decrease in activity, as your body rests and recovers, you will bounce off the walls. Expect it and control it.
6. Take the extra sleep: Your body is repairing itself, so it may ask for more sleep than usual. Don’t skimp on sleep. It is the best recovery tool.
7. Control your training effort: Because you’ll feel energized, compared with the last few months, it is easy to push harder and even perform your race effort before the actual race. Don’t!
8. Focus on the main goal: Everything you do must serve your race. This is not the time to try new stretches, foods, gels, shoes, or routines. Stick to what has worked so far.
9. Strengthen your immune system: Your body is working overtime to repair itself, so your immune system is low. Be proactive. It is no time to get sick.
10. Tread carefully: Be extra cautious as you transit through life. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Don’t climb ladders, jump the sidewalks, text while walking, or rearrange furniture. All that can wait.
Please like this post and share any recommendations from your previous experiences in the box below. Let’s build a community of informed and prepared runners.
Exercising in the heat will inevitably elevate your heart rate and elevate your needs for hydration. This means that with more effort you will accomplish less. The sooner you accept it, the quicker you will adjust to your new reality of running in summer.
You must understand what’s happening in your body during the summer before you can adapt and progress (Photo Pexels)
Running writer Brownyng Griffiths, puts it this way in her Polar blog: “After all, exercise should be a celebration of your body’s capabilities, not a battle against the elements. So, stay cool, have fun, and keep moving”.
This said, here are 11 tips to take into consideration to improve, enjoy and be safe during your summer running:
1 – Adjust your intensity: If you can take one thing from this blog post, let it be this one: The body keeps your skin cool by circulating blood. The hotter you get, the more blood pumping is needed, thus, a faster heartbeat, thus, you work harder, thus you will tire faster, thus, accept it and adapt. Your performance won’t be the same, but if your main running goal is not coming up next week, you have enough time to adjust your intensity to your reality.
2 – Be intentional about your hydration: Hydration is not just for when your Garmin is running. Intentionality is the name of the game. When you hit that start button you should have been consuming a balanced mix of water and electrolytes throughout the day. And not just during running days but every day. Same applies to post-running rehydration. You don’t have to replenish every drop as you lose it, but you must understand what your body requires to function properly.
3 – Plan your water stations in advance: know where the water stops are, what gas stations are open at the time you run or plant your water on the route ahead of time. If you are not sure about will be available, carry what you will need. There are countless options available in your local running store. Running holding a bottle in your hand should be avoided unless it means no water.
4 – Overhydration is a life-threatening condition: It may be counter intuitive, but you can drink yourself to death. Hyponatremia is a potentially fatal condition where an individual’s level of sodium gets so diluted by the combination of over guzzling of water and not replenishing electrolytes that the body’s electrical system fails. Understand how much water you need and/or can manage.
5 – Your body should adapt. Be patient: I’ve read experts stating the body takes about two weeks to adapt to running in the heat. In my experience it takes much longer. But if you are patient, understand your output will not be the same as in benevolent weather, and remain constant, your body will eventually acclimate and improve its ability to remain cool.
The right clothing in the right environment can make all the difference (Photo: Retha Ferguson, Pexels)
6 – Know your environment (BE FLEXIBLE): Knowing the weather for your run is just a click away. There is no excuse to be unprepared on a hot and/or humid run. Pushing back or rescheduling your run may be the wise choice. Or jumping onto the dreaded treadmill. Don’t just check the temperature, but also the heat index, which measures how hot it feels outside when combining air temperature and relative humidity. Overlooking it may get you into the danger zone.
7 – Choose light-colored clothing: I’m sure your dark shirt is beautiful, and that black hat from that important marathon will raise your profile with your running buddies, but it is about basic physics. Dark colors absorb the heat of the sun and get hotter while light colors reflect it and are cooler. That simple.
8 – Wear the right clothing: Breathable, moisture-wicking clothing will aid sweat evaporation and thus, cooling of the skin. Wear as little as you can feel comfortable with. Avoid tight materials that will stick to the body and hinder evaporation. Remember that sweat and evaporation is what will keep you cool and healthy.
9 – Know your route: The middle of the summer is not the time for exploration. You don’t want to find yourself lost and short on hydration in an area where there’s not another soul or a shaded area to be found. Know where you are going, know where the water is, know where the shaded areas are. This could be the difference between success and disaster.
10 – Understand your body signals: Heat will affect us all. It is a matter of the degree to which it will happen. It is not an if, but a when. Learning to recognize dizziness, cramps, cold sweats, or fatigue could help you identify heat exhaustion or the dangerous heats stroke. This is not the time to show your machismo by plowing through a hard workout when you are exhausted.
11 – Protect your body: It is not just about the sunscreen. Your eyes, your head and your face also need protection during the brutal summer runs under the sunlight. Wearing sunglasses and a cap/hat, even when it is cloudy, is always a good decision.
Keep on moving, keep on training, remain constant. Those who do are the ones that will set up PRs during the Fall/Winter running season.
A fellow runner recently sent me a meme titled “Ten Commandments for the Runner”. I thought it was spot on. I liked it for a future blog post. But, as I researched so I could credit the appropriate source, I found out that this is not the only set of Ten Commandments out there. Why should they? Many authors have delved into the subject.
So, to have some fun with it, here you have five sets of Runners Ten Commandment. It is important to note that I am not 100% in agreement with all that’s stated by these authors. I am just sharing their personal views and providing links for my readers to access the articles where these came from should they want additional info.
I was able to track the content of the meme that gave birth to this post, to an article in a website called www.justrunlah.com. It was published on May 5, 2015. Their Ten Commandments for runners are the following:
1- Don’t compare yourself to others.
2- Don’t ever say “I am not a runner”.
3- Don’t skimp on sleep.
4- Remember the “rest day” and keep it holy.
5- Honor your muscles and your “aches and pains” and do not push through an injury.
6- Don’t forget to hydrate.
7- Don’t commit the sin of wearing cotton, especially on race day.
8- Don’t ignore your shoes. Get yourself properly fitted and check for signs of wear.
9- Don’t get stuck in a rut.
10- Don’t covet your neighbor’s medals.
For the article with explanations on each commandment, click here.
Running Etiquette: The 10 Commandments
Published in the British newspaper The Guardian, on May 28, 2013. Written by Matt Kurton.
1- Thou shalt nod hello.
2- Thou shalt commute considerately.
3- Thou shalt not flaunt your phlegm.
4- Thou shalt share the path.
5- Thou shalt dress with dignity.
6- Though shalt not litter.
7- Thou shalt be realistic on race day.
8- Thou shalt have a bit of common sense.
9- Thou shalt say thank you to marshals
10- Thou shalt not take yourself too seriously
For the article with explanations on each commandment, click here.
The 10 Commandments of Injury Prevention
Published in Train Runner Magazine, on May 24, 2021. Written by Vic Brown
1- Rest and recover.
2- Incorporate recovery techniques.
3- Sleep.
4- Consume post-exercise fuel.
5- Warm up and cool down (every time).
6- Integrate strength training.
7- Use proper equipment.
8- Increase training gradually.
9- Interval training.
10- Know that more (recovery) is always better.
For the full article with explanations on each commandment, click here.
The 10 Commandments of Healthy Running
Published in www.IRunFar.com on September 14, 2021. Written by Joe Uhan, a physical therapist, coach, and ultrarunner.
1- Find and maintain your stride.
2- Balance Hard and Easy Training.
3- Stay Mobile.
4- Activate Your Core-Stability System.
5- Run Fast Before Running Far.
6- Stress Then Rest.
7- Diversify Activity.
8- Stay Consistent.
9- Remember the One-Bucket Rule.
10- Obtain Consistent Treatment from a Family Orthopedist.
For the full article with explanations on each commandment, click here. This is a great article, as it includes links to resources on each one of the commandments.
In the article “Follow These 10 Commandments of Running”, published by Women’s Running magazine on April 12, 2017, author Brian Goldman lists the following:
1- Pick up your trash, especially in a race.
2- It is common courtesy to at least give a head nod as you pass another runner.
3- Your music is for you.
4- Don’t play chicken with someone on a bicycle.
5- If your shoe comes untied or you need to take a phone call, move off the path or road.
6- Always go to the bathroom before you start your run.
7- If you are going to run in a bike lane (on a road), face oncoming traffic.
8- Don’t overdo it on the perfume.
9- If your race is going through a residential neighborhood and kids are lining up along the sidewalk, give them a high five.
10- I have no problem with snot rockets or spitting while you run but look before you blow!
For the full article with explanations on each commandment, click here.
Any additions? Let me know by leaving a comment, below.
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Our bodies usually take 14-20 days to adapt to whatever we do in training. If we ran 20 miles today, we are not better for it tomorrow. As our body recovers, it adapts to the benefits of such stressful events and thus becomes stronger. This is why whatever we do in the last two, maybe three weeks before race day, will be of little or no benefit.
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