Dan L Hernandez

Running and thinking about a Runner's Etiquette

As I was doing my run yesterday I started to think about a runner’s etiquette.  Is there such a thing?  There must be and I’m willing to bet that most of us runners follow some kind of a runner’s etiquette or code of conduct even if we do not give it an actual name.  What I’m talking about is being polite and alerting a slower runner or walker that you’re coming up on them like say, “on your left”.  You know what I mean?

Well, I wondered about that as I ran up the very narrow two-lane Bonaventure Road in Thunderbolt/Savannah.  As I ran Bonaventure most of the incoming drivers slowed down and if possible gave me a wide berth as they passed by me.  I thought that was very cool of them.  They really did not have to give me a cushion of space to make me feel safe nor did they really need to slow down but they did.  So, I began to acknowledge their act of kindness by giving them a nod of my head and mouthing thank you.  I’m not sure if any drivers noticed me doing this but I did it any way.  It seemed to me the right thing to do on such a narrow, sparsely driven two-lane road that Saturday afternoon.  I don’t think I would be thanking every car that zooms past me on say, highway 80 at 5:00pm on weekday runs.  I would just grow tired from all that thanking and nodding.  And, I think most drivers on highway 80 on a weekday evening drive home are driving way too fast and are way too distracted on their phones and on thoughts of a nice candle-lit dinner with their honeys and catching on tv the next speaker on cspan than to notice some runner on the road, right?  Well, maybe not everyone is into cspan like me but I think you get what I mean, right?  It’s probably best to stay away or, be very, very careful when running on heavily trafficked streets.  What I’m talking about are the small, less traveled roads and drivers just being nice.

Running Thunderbolt in Traffic in my Red Bikilas

This weather we’re having in January is excellent…not hot, not cold…just right —for running.  The temperature during the run this evening was a very pleasant 62 degrees.  My run this evening was 5.43 miles through my hood.  The traffic was a bit hairy but I still enjoyed the run but had to be doubly aware of drivers paying attention to driving rather than phone talking.  Most drivers here are really cool on my neighborhood’s narrow roads, - they’ll slow down and widen the gulf between them and me as they pass by me.  Unfortunately, some are not so cool.  During tonight’s run one driver in a big red suv refused to give me breathing room on Bonaventure Road even though there were no other cars on the road.  I literally had to jerk my right arm away quickly because the side rear view mirror on the suv almost hit my arm.  I was kind of stunned that the driver was either that uncool or simply was not paying attention while driving.  I say that because I never did get a view of the driver.  So, I do not know whether the driver was male, female or an angel of death hell bent on ripping off my arm with the devil red colored suv.

A Good Treadmill Run

Well, tonight I added a little more mileage to my 2012 treadmill total.  I ran 3.11 miles on a startrac treadmill at the Island’s Ymca.  I really like those treadmills.  They are super nice.  The run tonight was tough.  I started off slow but after a few minutes I began to crank the speed upwards every few minutes until  I was running 8.5 mph.  That is a fast speed for me on a treadmill.