Running socially distant

tmbg1

Just read that runners should operate at 12 feet of distance instead of 6 feet due to heavier breathing and expelling more droplets. Didn't know if everyone else had heard that.

L1zardQueen

I think it sounds prudent and maybe avoiding their slipstream too.

emmamcgarity

I’ve been running in the neighborhood instead of parks on jogging trails where it’s narrow and harder to maintain good distance. If I see others ahead of me on the sidewalk I cross the street so that we maintain a good distance. I do the same in neighborhood walks.

sijomial

No not read or heard that at all.
Where did you read it? Was it a credible source such as the WHO or other medical experts?


https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations

Djproulx

@sijomial, one of my training partners forwarded a link from a Belgian-Dutch study recommeding the increased distancing. The article was published on a website called "medium.com" and included a disclaimer that anyone can publish there and stories aren't fact checked. Taking another quick scan of the article, the original source was listed as "http://gladiator-lab.ru/run-during-coronavirus". I didn't dig into it further to determine credibility.

As an aside, we've been splitting up and running as much smaller groups of two or three, as opposed to our typically larger weekend group size. We're avoiding the often crowded bike paths and other popular local routes in favor of wooded trails for running. Its been a nice change - and easier on the legs!

janejellyroll

The truth is that there are a lot of calculations right now and nobody knows for sure. What many of these calculations are not taking into account is the viral load (that is, how much of the virus) we need to get infected. While it's true that I may encounter particles of expelled virus from another runner, is that enough to infect me?

I'm taking it all into account and doing my best to be prudent in a situation where we simply don't know much for sure.

autumnblade75

I gave the treadmill a mile and a half today. I wore my Enda shoes. They fit nicely in the midfoot and heel, but the toebox could be roomier. They're a nice Kelly Green. I would have worn them to the Shamrock Shuffle, if it hadn't been canceled. My knee has been acting up since I dropped all the marathon training. It twinged a bit in the first half mile.

Since I ran on the treadmill, I didn't have to worry about infecting others, or becoming infected. At work, I did my best to maintain 6 feet of distance. I did wind up working face-to-face with another co-worker for the first 10 minutes or so, and that sucks, since it's physical labor, and we do breathe harder as we sort boxes to belts. I've been wearing a cloth mask since the state imposed limitations, so that's My face covered, anyway. My co-worker has been offered masks at his other job, and insists he will never wear one. But that's nice, that I got some enforced social contact with a guy who has social contact with lots of other people. But then a downstream trailer finished unloading, and we were able to quickly reconfigure the feed belt to allow for more distance.

The supervisors all had masks today. That was new. This week, I was not told that "we're not going to change anything just to make you more comfortable" in response to configuring the belts to allow distance. I didn't ask, this time, though. I just made my changes. And most of the supervisors are fairly accommodating. Others are still asking people to double-team in a single trailer - and some co-workers are still fine with it.

I've had a tickle in the back of my throat for about 6 weeks now. It's not a cough, though - just a tickle. My muscles and joints all ache. I've been taking my temperature every morning before I go to work. It was 98.4 this morning. Most mornings, it's just under 98. When I got home, today, my lips were blue. Since I'm hearing that the Virus (?) bonds with the iron in your blood so that it can't carry oxygen efficiently (?) I put all the vaguely symptomlike conditions together and commented to my husband - I have no idea if I've got it, and I'm scared, but I'm also relieved, if I DO have it, because this is not so bad. I'm sure he'll chat with someone at the hospital about all of that, and maybe there's a procedure to follow to get tested, or whatever.

At any rate, I keep wearing the mask, in case my nothing symptoms are really something, or in case I'm asymptomatic. We wait for my husband to catch it. His boss told him to expect to be infected. If we BOTH turn out to be asymptomatic carriers, things could be bad.

Some days I wish I was I wasn't an essential employee. But then I wonder how I would pay my bills...

rainbow198

This is exactly why I stopped my outdoor walks and runs early on even before the parks and trails closed.

People would say "oh you can still go out on your walks and runs", but I think about people breathing heavily and it makes me not want to inhale their "cloud" as we pass by each other.

There is just so much info that is not known about this virus. It's just not worth the risk to me.

Between that and seeing how many people are out and all the groups I see, I'm sticking to my short dog walks in my neighborhood (usually just a handful of people walking their dog which I avoid), relaxing and working out in my backyard and working out in my home gym.

Although I'm doing well with this set up and maintaining nicely, I do miss going on my long 3 - 4 mile trail walks.

jjpptt2

Fortunately, where I live, running necessarily means you're distant from others. Biking, too.

cwolfman13

I'm just not riding the more popular and common trails around here, so it's been a non issue for me. The Bosque Trail that runs through the city along the river is the most popular...I rarely ride it anyway unless we're just doing a leisurely family to Bike In Coffee or something as the business of it precludes you from really getting any kind of workout ride because you have to go so slow and "on your left" about a million times.

GiddyupTim

Okay. Okay. I have to admit. I am too cavalier about distancing during this pandemic.
I don't have young children I'd have to worry about. I don't have older parents and am not around older people.
So I kinda figure I am going to get it sooner or later ... and well ....
I am not irresponsible. But I don't cower either.
Point is: Where I live in California, I find that others are super-vigilant about distancing when I am out running, I don't have to be especially cautious. People start moving out of your path two, even three, blocks away!

Ikeeptrying2

Not an issue for me so far.

I head out around sunrise and at that time I come across perhaps 3 or 4 others doing the same or walking. So far, we all just 'know' to make plenty of room for each other. Sometimes we even deliberately cross to the other side of the street.

Soon I will be out biking on a trail where there will be even less people I come across.

DancingMoosie

Our parks/trails/tracks are closed, so I just walk around my property and neighborhood. I don't pass anyone.