Someone I know had an incident with a runner recently and it has compelled me to remind runners to be safe when running on the roads. (I know, I harp on this all the time, huh?!)

But here’s what happened: the person I know was at a stop sign at a very busy road. A runner ran in front of their car, but the driver simply did not see the runner coming at all and very lightly bumped the runner when the runner passed in front of them. The runner was fine, angry and yelling, but not harmed. The driver was upset and traumatized that this runner had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Despite looking both directions, the runner was not seen. So here’s your safety tip for today:

When crossing the street, especially at stop signs, MAKE EYE CONTACT with the driver before crossing in front of them.

Seriously, we just can’t guarantee that we are seen. There can be reflections, weird light angles, distractions, etc. Now if the driver makes eye contact with the runner, waves them on and then still hits them… well now we’ve got some intent and malice and that jerk deserves to be reported.

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Marathon training for Boston began with the start of 2015 and so far things are going well… although, my longest run thus far has just been 12 miles. Lots more miles to go, but I’m having fun and doing pretty well with fitting in my training. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to start waking up even earlier to run because waking up at 4:50 AM to do my weekday runs and then showering is really pushing the time limits. I am supposed to start working at 7 AM and it’s hard to do that lately! My weekday runs are just going to get longer over the next few months too!

I’m just running 10 miles this weekend. “Just” 10… but the following weekend is when I’m going to start venturing into mileage beyond the half marathon distance for the first time in years! Woo hoo!

I’m still just ecstatic to be part of Team Stonyfield and to have this experience.

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I keep thinking that life will even out and I’ll be able to get back into a regular schedule of blogging, but work has been kicking my ass lately. I’m a little fearful it will just keep on going that way for a while. I know change is a constant in life, but I’ve had too much change lately, it’s exhausting!

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I’m participating in the 2015 miles in 2015 challenge as part of a team of 3. Basically, the goal is to run/walk 2015 miles during the course of the year 2015. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? But man… some of the people in the Facebook group are asking the most ridiculous questions. I feel bad for the group organizers.

“Can I count my rollerblading?”

“What if I run a quarter-mile warmup, can I count that?”

“I ran/walk/danced 3 miles yesterday.”

Wait, what? You danced 3 miles? Ask your question out loud to yourself or a good friend… if it sounds ridiculous, it probably is and maybe you don’t need to ask it in a public forum.

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This book, it’s next on my to-read list.