Running at Night

Trav1sty

Guest
#1
I was a barefoot runner over the summer last year and loved the feeling of it. However I'm running in huaraches now because I start running in the dark (6 AM) and I'm worried about stepping on something that I just can't see. I'm also concerned because the Seattle city streets where I run are not particularly clean. It's industrial and has a large homeless population.

What would recommend if I wanted to start running barefoot in this area? headlamp? Hepatitis shot?
 
#2
Unfortunately there is no vaccine for Hep C, only A & B, so if that really is a concern, definitely do not go barefoot. I'd go with a headlamp for sure.
 
#4
Find some place else to run, if that's a big concern. Otherwise, I use headlamps around my waist, which works well as it doesn't bounce too much, and it's lower to the ground, so I can see better. I also love running without my light and just use the moon or the sporadic street lamps to light my way.
 
#6
So, I've run with DNEChris in NYC recently, and I can tell you that NYC's got nothing on my dirty city. I live in Worcester, MA, and home is by far the dirtiest place I've run. NYC has a lot more dog pee than Worcester, but Worcester has way more sharp stuff and wrecked pavement.

Get a headlamp and you're good to go.

You should absolutely get a tetanus shot. Call your doctor and ask about when your last one was. Even if it was less than 10 years, you may need to get a new one because it is currently bundled with the pertussis vaccine. That's whooping cough, and we're in the middle of a whooping cough outbreak right now. It causes a relatively mild illness in adults - if you got it, you'd probably take a day off of work, but you might go to Target. But whooping cough can kill little children. Since you'd be well enough to go around, you'd be spreading it to babies. And killing them.
 
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#7
SillyC said:
You should absolutely get a tetanus shot. Call your doctor and ask about when your last one was. Even if it was less than 10 years, you may need to get a new one because it is currently bundled with the pertussis vaccine. That's whooping cough, and we're in the middle of a whooping cough outbreak right now. It causes a relatively mild illness in adults - if you got it, you'd probably take a day off of work, but you might go to Target. But whooping cough can kill little children. Since you'd be well enough to go around, you'd be spreading it to babies. And killing them.
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Wow, did not know that. Thanks for the info.
 
#8
JosephTree said:
Talk to DNEChris. He's got thousands of miles logged on the streets of NY. They can't be too very different, can they?
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I really do get the impression that the streets here, in NYC, are looked after way better than in other cities. I guess New Yorkers really are pampered! (not in the Depends kind of way :D )
 
#9
jldeleon said:
Unfortunately there is no vaccine for Hep C, only A & B, so if that really is a concern, definitely do not go barefoot. I'd go with a headlamp for sure.
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hep c would only really be a concern if you were to barefoot run into somone with hep c ...and have sex with them or share a needle with them, in which case it probably wouldn't matter if you were barefoot or wearing ski boots

just saying
 
#10
Barefoot Jim said:
hep c would only really be a concern if you were to barefoot run into somone with hep c ...and have sex with them or share a needle with them, in which case it probably wouldn't matter if you were barefoot or wearing ski boots

just saying
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...Or have an impromptu blood transfusion with them. ;)

It's possible, though highly improbable, to jam a needle into your foot while running -kinda like, when I'm trail running and I step on a twig with one foot and then as my other foot passes by it, it gets stabbed by the twig that my other foot is holding still. Yes, I am paranoid thank you very much!
 
#11
yeah i get creeped out by the thought of glass and needles. the chance of actually contracting something thogh just from stepping on a contaminated needle is relatively low. for hep c its around less than 2%, for hep b its 25 to 40 % and for HIV its around 0.3% at least there is a vaccine for hep b. still i know how you feel.
 
#12
I've gotten bits of glass in my foot twice in the last 8 months, which isn't bad for that many months of running. It was nothing compared to the microscopic rat gut particles I stepped on. Ick!
 
#13
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#15
From the cracked article "
It's called​
​
neglect of probability​
. Our brains are great for doing a lot of things. Calculating probability is​
​
not​
​
one of them. That flaw colors every argument you've ever had, from the tax code down to that time your friend totally cheated you in a coin-flip.​


As a person who teaches (okay, tries to teach) statistics, ya got that one right.​
 
#16
i have stepped on a twig only to kick it with my other foot. didn't notice all the blood until after i was done. not that there was a lot but it was noticeable. i also have had glass in my feet twice, i think within two weeks or so, both from running on the other side of Nike. i wear my sandals when i run around it now.
 
#17
That's a lot of good information. I need to get that tetanus shot. I have a 1 year old and my wife is pregnant again. I don't want to pass whooping cough on to anyone.
 
#18
Congrats on the pending baby, Trav! That's precious news. :barefoot:
 
#20
I run in the morning. It's the only time that's free. Thankfully I don't have to get up at 4 AM to do it. Not that 5 AM is any better. Hell, sleep is for the weak.
 
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