Running in my 'hood

When I first became interested in fitness (in general), I embraced biking. I liked the idea of alternative transportation that naturally integrated fitness. However, living where I live, it became immediately apparent the town I live in is not, even in the least bit, bike friendly. I dodged cars, dealt with people honking at me, driving way too close to me, being yelled at, and even having cans/plastic bottles/trash thrown at me. Needless to say, my foray into biking didn't last much longer than a summer.

When I began running, I began on a treadmill. It paced me, allowed me to ignore the weather, and allowed me to watch cable television. I ran 3 races my first year and really had no problems transitioning from treadmill to pavement. However, I never even considered running outside regularly. People would SEE me, they could YELL at me, they could THROW things at me. Time worn on, the weather got nice, my first half marathon drew closer and closer. It was becoming inevitable; I was going to have to run outside. I started on the trail system we have in town, people are used to recreational users on a trail. But the trails are flat, and not every race I wanted to run was flat. I decided to attempt a route around my very hilly neighborhood. It couldn't be any worse than some of my bike rides, right?

Our neighborhood is in an older part of town (our house was built in 1924) and the neighborhood, while far from being 'the ghetto', definitely has sketchy parts and sketchy characters who drive/walk through the area. It also has plenty of people who walk and bike to get around. Needless to say, I would be encountering people when I ran.

My first few times trying out the new route, I definitely got honked at and hollered at, but I wore my headphones and couldn't really tell what people were yelling. The people I passed always smiled, said hello, and moved so I could pass. This really wasn't turning out to be as bad as I hoped...

Since I transitioned to full time running without headphones, running around my neighborhood has become something I always look forward to. People honk and holler "Go get it girl!", "That's what I'm talking about!". One of my favorite encounters happened when I was running past a barbecue and someone started chanting "Run, run, run, get your fitness on girl" over and over. That became one of my favorite mantras for when I need to dig deep!

I don't know why people react so differently to me when I'm running versus biking. I don't know if it's because people view running as something people do purely for fitness (whereas biking is seen more as transportation?), but I truly appreciate every single honk, shout, whistle, and "go get it girl!" thrown my way.