The weather we have experienced this winter has put a damper on my daily exercising. I run two or three times a week outside of my apartment complex. Winter weather does not usually stop me from running, but this winter has made me think twice. I have to bundle myself up even more than normal, which makes running sometimes difficult. After the encounter I had with a truck, I have made the decision to not run outside bundled up.
It was a very cold twelve degrees out on a Tuesday afternoon. With several layers of pants and shirts, I began to put on gloves and a scarf. I decided to tie my blue fleece scarf around my face to block the wind. I also decided to put on my ear warmer for added warmth to my face and ears. My biggest irritation about running in cold weather is when my face is cold, so I prepared well. As I started out the door, I decided to run on the sidewalk this time because they were cleared off from the snow. I began by walking briskly to warm up my muscles and eventually a constant jog. With the cold temperature came a fierce wind, which was really harsh to my face. .
After a good twenty minutes of running, I started looking downward to help avoid the coldness on my face. I run the same path every time I run, so looking down was not a big deal in terms of where to go. I also always ran in the road, which was different from today due to the snow. So I"m running along, looking down, on the sidewalk, when all of the sudden I"m laying on the ground. I had run into a pickup truck that had the window to its camper shell open. Other than the fact that my head was killing me, I had a strange man standing over me. It turns out that it was the truck's owner who was laughing hysterically. At the time, I found this to be far from hilarious.
After looking back on the incident, something like this would definitely happen to me. I have decided to not run on the sidewalks around my apartment complex.