Wednesday night (last night) I went longer. Despite getting followed (not necessarily attacked) by 3 dogs, I continued on. I half-jogged, half-walked for about 30 minutes which was an accomplishment for me. So, in total I went for about 2 miles.
After speaking with a new neighbor (who happens to be a retired cop) I learned some great things that I thought I'd share about jogging around:
- Take your cell with you in a fanny pack. I wasn't taking my cell in my pocket because it would get covered in sweat (eww!) and I thought after a few runs, my phone might go ka-put on me. I know, I know- fanny pack??? But seriously, who's trying to look trendy while jogging and covered in sweat!
- Carry MACE brand pepper spray with you. Unlike other pepper sprays, it's in a gel form so if it's windy and you have to spray it, it won't spray back on you and it comes out like hot gum. The perpetrator cannot easily take it off of his face which will allow you time to run away. Shake your pepper spray regularly and test it out just to make sure it's still good every once in a while. It works on vicious dogs, too. We were laughing at some people we've seen walking in our neighborhood with a stick. What can you do with a stick? Won't it make the dog more mad at you?
- Use your ears! It's best if you don't take your ipod with you (sigh) because you need to hear what's going on around you in case someone's coming up behind you or dogs are coming at you. This one's going to be hard for me because the music keeps me jogging.
That's all for now. Be safe out there!
