I never actually thought I would write a blog about this, but after an experience, I had this morning I realized how important it is to be aware of your surroundings and your safety any time you step outside to workout.
I woke up at 6 am like normal, only today it was raining. I thought about just going back to sleep and getting up later to just do my morning walk on the treadmill. But I decided not to. I decided to get out of bed and go walk in the rain so Charlie could get outside and get his walk too. I still can’t believe I decided to walk for 45 min in the rain… but I digress.
We headed out and got to the park. It was raining and still dark enough that the street lights were still on. There was no one in the park. We make it about a quarter of a mile around the park loop and I notice this man cutting through the center. At first, I didn’t think too much of it, but then he keeps looking at Charlie and me. I got this weird feeling in my gut and I immediately felt uncomfortable.
After a couple of min of this, he pulls out his phone and starts taking photos of us. I definitely got really uncomfortable. He made his way past me so I kept turning around to see where he went. The last time I turned around before I hit the bend in the loop, he had disappeared. I turned my music off and walked to the sound of the rain because I didn’t want anyone or thing to sneak up on me.
I kept walking but was super aware of everything around me. Once we finished one loop, I started the second and my intuition was like “Uhhh, let’s not stay in the park…” so I took the dog and decided to head out to the main road and do the rest of the 45 minutes there.
I have never felt like that in the park, but most mornings there are a lot of people in the park so I don’t have to think about it. I started doing a little research on safety tips for exercising outside on your own:
1. Wear well-fitting clothes and tie your hair up so it’s not easy to grab.
I definitely didn’t even think about the hair thing even though I normally have my hair up in a bun, but I have had someone grab my ponytail before and it is incredibly jolting and blindsiding.
2. Tell a friend how long you’re going out for and when you get back.
This is something my friend brought up to me when I told her about what happened. She was like call me any time. Tell me when you’re leaving and when you get home. This is something I might start doing, at least for the next couple of days if it continues to rain here.
3. Use an external speaker for music instead of earbuds.
This is something I did before this incident. I put my phone on speaker and tuck it under the strap of my sports bra. It’s nice because I have music but can also say hello to the people that I walk past.
4. Try to exercise in the daylight.
Now that it’s winter, I’ve been continuing to go for our walks super early like it’s summer, but when I went into the park the street lights were still on. That’s something that sent up a red flag but I ignored it. I need to make sure I’m listening when the siren goes off.
5. If your gut says something is wrong, trust it and leave.
This is something that I did listen to and I’m glad I did. I don’t know if anything would have happened but I was not going to stick around to find out!!
Has anything like this ever happened to you? Tell your story in the comments. What tips do you have for women to stay safe when out exercising alone?
