Safety Tips | TooTallFritz

You know me, or maybe people like me who walk around in shirts proclaiming “toughness”. We may not verbally tell you that we are tough or that we are a badass but our shirts, tights, or maybe even our socks will give you a clue.

Photos above: Kari – Running Ricig in the Relax Reflect Badass Tights, me in the 2012 Team Tough Chik TRI kit, & the Sock It to Me Badass socks.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. We don’t really consider ourselves to be “that” tough. We are projecting. We want you to believe that we are tough, even if we don’t necessarily feel it inside. Fake it til you make it, right?

Perception is everything. How others see us has a lot to do with how we carry ourselves. What we say. When we say it. And what we DON’T say will speak volumes. In today’s society, there is no place for weak women. The weak become prey. There are ~~assholes~~ predators lurking in the bushes, on our local trails, in our supermarket parking lots, everywhere really. Don’t be scared but think for a minute about what you want to NON-VERBALLY convey to them? What do you want them to think when they see you?

Be confident. Be a badass.

Bad things happen to good people. It’s not fair. It sucks. Some things are really beyond our control but how we react to a situation can possibly change the outcome.

Be smart. Be tough. Be confident. Be a badass …. even when you don’t feel like one.

I hope that when you see me in my “This is What Tough Looks Like” shirt, you think to yourself, “Hmmm, she’s not so tough; I just saw her crying on the trail during her 20 miler last week! I’m tougher than her!” I hope that makes YOU feel stronger. I hope that makes YOU feel like a badass. I hope that gives YOU a confidence boost. You are definitely tougher than me. You are definitely a badass. Live it. Own it. Project it.

Be confident. Be a badass.

So as your walking around today, I want you to focus on being confident. I want you to look people in the eyes when you pass them. I want you to say hello to perfect strangers. I want you to look tough and feel like a badass walking thru your everyday life. This is important, you need to project a confident air, even when you don’t feel it. So pay attention to yourself because you never know when someone else is watching you and trying to decide 1) if you are paying attention to your surroundings and 2) if you are badass or a victim. If can’t do it for yourself, do it for your daughters because those little eyes are watching EVERYTHING you do, learning your mannerisms, your strengths, your weaknesses, they are learning how to BE from watching you.

Be confident. Be a badass.

Badass Mother Runner shirt

In light of the recent attack of one of my run club members on Old Plank Trail in New Lenox, I want to revisit some previously written safety posts. Please take a moment to open the links below and go over the runner safety tips. If you have written a safety post in the past, please link it up in the comments below. Thank you and please be safe.

Six Degrees of Separation …… Virtual Run For Sherry Arnold – February 12, 2012

Safety 1st, 2nd & 3rd – April 19, 2012

** Be a Badass NOT a Victim ** Amanda – TooTallFritz **

I haven’t had the pleasure of running in the morning for quite some time. Shortly after the marathon last year, we moved Mr. Michael into a “big boy” bed. The idea was that I had been spending a lot of time in the rocker sitting beside his toddler bed and I was EXHAUSTED. So we moved the lil man into a full size bed, which we put on the floor cuz he was so tiny and I feared he would fall out and get hurt. During the bed swap I prayed that he would have the space he needed to stretch, turn & flip throughout the night without waking but apparently that wasn’t the real problem. He really just wants his momma with him all the time.

So for the last 6 months, I have been floating between beds, half asleep, confused, and not sure where I am when I awake. I just follow the screams for “momma”. This has left ~~zero~~ very little time for morning runs. Frequently, hubby has to wake me up because I’m still sleeping in Michael’s bed when he leaves for work. Not good! But things have been changing over the last month or so. My lil man is sleeping til about 5:00 or 5:30 am before he bullets out of bed to start his day. And most importantly, he is sleeping for longer stretches at a time. Good, Great, AWESOME! So I decided to try to start adding the morning runs back into my routine.

How do you feel when you haul your ~~ass~~ butt out of bed to run alone in the dark? Are you scared? I am! I never used to be but dang, with each year of age, I think I develop a bigger pile of nerves. Thankfully I live in the middle of nowhere so traffic isn’t an issue. We don’t have ~~any~~ a lot of creepy people roaming our country roads, so basically it’s just me, the coyotes and any unleashed dogs that decide to give chase. Ugh! I’ll take the coyotes before those biting dogs any day!

There weren’t many stars out this morning but everything was clear and still frozen. Thankfully I had the light of the moon ~~since I couldn’t find my knucklelights~~. The road was actually well-lit with this lopsided moon.

I tried not to focus too much on the moon since I didn’t want to fall into a hole, or off the side of road, while ~~obsessing~~ looking toward the sky. So I just tried to focus on running an even pace ~~in the middle of the road~~. I have a default pace when I’m tired, grumpy, can’t see, scared or it’s dark: 9:30. I’m pretty sure that my pace for 4 miles this morning was a 9:28ish. That’s my pace. My comfort zone. The spot I go back to when everything else is uncertain. Running in the dark is very uncertain. So many things can happen. I wouldn’t recommend it. However, if you are trying to get more time out of your day and need to run in the dark, here are a few tips:

Be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Don’t use an ipod and if you do ~~because you too hate hearing coyotes kill other creatures of the night~~, then only use on ear bud and keep the volume low.
Run against traffic so that you can see the ~~drunken~~ madman swerving all over the road and be prepared to dive into the ditch.
ALWAYS assume the vehicular traffic CAN NOT see you.
Wave to cars like a happy idiot as they pass you. This will foster a sense of community between you, the runner, and them, the driver. They will start watching for that “idiot runner” when they are driving to work.
Take your cell phone.
Tell somebody your intended route or leave a map by hubby’s coffee pot.
Avoid routes with unleashed aggressive dogs/pets.
Always trust your gut feeling, if it feels wrong it is wrong. This FREQUENTLY changes my route.
Carry pepper spray or something with which you are comfortable using if you need to defend yourself. I like the Wrist Saver from Personal Savers, they have a pink one now! Here is a pic of mine:

Check out the link HERE on how to defend yourself with pepper spray!

Wear reflective clothing, multiple items. I don’t even buy clothing without reflective accents.
Use a headlamp or KnuckleLights.
Be ready for anything.

Ideally, it is always safest to run during the daylight hours and with a friend if possible but as a mother, wife, full-time employee, runner & triathlete, that’s not always possible for me.

Do you any have any running in the dark tips? Anything I missed? Help me out!

Happy SAFE Running! Amanda – TooTallFritz