Headphones Are Dangerous

And we saw the evidence today. Picture a runner with headphones running on the right shoulder, his back to oncoming traffic, when the shoulder disappears to become a right-turn lane. The runner goes straight ahead down the middle of that traffic lane, and a VERY patient driver follows perhaps ten feet behind, waiting for the oblivious runner to pass the intersection, out of his way. We watched this happen.

What's wrong with this picture? (1) The runner was on the wrong side of the road; (2) Headphones prevented him from hearing a car approaching; and (3) The runner appeared to enter the traffic lane without realizing it, or maybe without caring. All of these were the runner's fault and easily correctible.

No harm was done, but this runner left everything to chance and was lucky that the right-turning driver was competent and sober. Sunshine's dad always said "stay at least two slips from the edge." This runner was only one slip away.

Saturday, June 13:

St Croix Valley runners, 5 miles in 48 minutes, pace 9:36. We had a big group today, including a new runner. I didn’t feel quite up to par but managed to keep up with some of the runners. The cold is taking away some of my strength - I’m trying my four remedies: (1) Extra sleep; (2) Chicken soup; (3) Warmth, especially chest and throat; and (4) Liniment on my upper chest.

Wednesday, June 10:

Nice, easy run with friend Rich and the Woodbury Runners. 5.2 miles in almost exactly one hour, for a pace of 11:32. Slow but probably good enough for the first run after the second of two marathons. I’m catching a cold.