Hey everyone,
I hope you all had a good week. I am still on track for my 4 runs this week- the run on Wednesday was super tough- they did a route which I did once in the summer, but I was not quite sure of it. The people at the front rocketed off, and after less than a mile I could only see one person ahead (the person from the shop was doing a run/walk with someone behind me)- anyway, I went wrong and accidentally took a short cut- ended up meeting them again, they left me again, and when I got back to the shop (after 3.5 miles) they were not even back, having added on even more to the route. I looked at my miles on the Garmin after, and I was not going any slower, so they must have all been faster. I was so tired after that!
Anyway, what I wanted to talk about was carrying ID with me. I mentioned this before, as I carry nothing with me- no phone (sometimes I do if I am going a long way but my phone is a bit bulky and annoying to carry, plus one less thing for a mugger to steal from me), no wallet or anything. I did at one point carry a pound coin in my pocket, but I keep forgetting to do that too (not that there are many phone boxes around anyway). I do sometimes worry about what would happen if I fell and hurt myself, as no-one would know who to contact etc. I always tell Andy where I am going, but I have a bad habit of running through worst case scenarios in my head (e.g. what if I get bitten by that dog and then I fall over into the road and a car runs me over…) so I finally got around to doing something about it.
I was looking at wristbands, but then it is another thing to remember, so I ordered a shoe tag from here. It is a little velcro pouch (apparently waterproof although as it is not water tight you could not submerge it) with an “I.D. Inside” label on it, so hopefully someone would notice it, but my name etc is not visible to people as I run past. Inside you just put a little card tag which you fill in with name, phone numbers, medical info etc. The pack I ordered had a spare one if any details change.
Then it just attached to my trainers- I just had to loop the tag through the laces and it’s done.
I went out on a run after work today (number 3 of the week)- of course I still let Andy know my route and when I leave/ when I should be back, but it is a little bit of extra precaution to take.
If you go out running/ cycling etc alone, do you carry anything like this with you?
That’s a really good idea, I think I’m going to get a wristband. I never take anything with me unless I am going on a long run and have my camelbak, sometimes I don’t even tell Nick I’m going, or where I am going either…not good.
That is such a good idea, when I used to run I would go out with nothing as well, as you say when you think of the scenarios it can be scary. Better be safe than sorry!
That’s such a good idea. I was having a safety chat with James when he gave me my Garmin – my first reaction was “oh great, now I won’t have to run with a phone anymore”. His response was that I should take a phone on me just in case, with the ICE number in it (it doesn’t have a lock on it). These ID tags look like a great ideas too though, thanks for sharing!
I too carry my phone with me with the ICE number in it. I use my phone camera pretty often when I’m out running, so I always have it with me. But tags are a great idea if you don’t want to carry your phone with you!