Workout safety (stranger danger)
Replies
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Wow, I'm surprised that there are people who think that predator's don't exist. Women have in fact been abducted on hikes, this happened fairly recently and I thought made national news. People do watch others to figure out their patterns. An admittedly distant acquaintance of mine was murdered because he was a business owner and people watched his habits and realized he didn't always go to the bank with his cash receipts every night.
I'm not saying you should live scared, but you should definitely live aware.
Not a single person has suggested that predators do not exist. Most people are just pointing out the paranoia behind thinking it is so widespread. As another pointed out, you have a better chance of being ran over while jogging than being attacked. Anecdotes about someone being abducted are scary, but not the general rule.
this is why i carry a gun when i go jogging and shoot at every driver in my vicinity. one can never be too careful, right?
Not surprised, you live in LB. Par for the course!
Dang, Redondo Beach...not as funny now.
you assumed LB because....PROFILING!!! I was going to live in Long Beach but no one leaves their water bottles unattended there. how am I going to get a date that way?0 -
It's this simple: If someone wants to get you and cause you harm, they WILL. It doesn't matter if you switch your schedule, post your workout routine or not.
This is why I always post the workout routine I'm NOT going to do.0 -
Before this thread I had no idea people left water unattended.
I always thought I was blessed in finding free water all the time. :ohwell:0 -
It's this simple: If someone wants to get you and cause you harm, they WILL. It doesn't matter if you switch your schedule, post your workout routine or not.
This is why I always post the workout routine I'm NOT going to do.
I always post the workout routine I'm not doing too but that's just so people think I'm getting fit when I'm really just sitting in front of my TV eating all the foodz.0 -
Wait....Is that a real question? It's a gun. You put it in a holster. Then you run. Duh...:noway: It's no worse than the people who run with those little belts full of water bottles.For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380. They come in 9 oz lightweight versions like my ruger lcp.
Concealed weapons are not legal everywhere. And where the hell do you keep it?
Did you just compare running with water to running with a gun on your hip? Is this seriously a thing?
yes. people run with guns. there are special holsters and even lightweight guns that one can use so that they don't affect your running. it's not just for city dwellers worried about muggers, but lots of folks run in the wilderness and there are bears and mountain lions and coyotes to contend with. all of these animals will attack humans on occasion, and some female joggers have been "taken" by mountain lions while running trails in california and other western states in recent years.
i personally don't find anything strange or odd about it. if you get into trouble on a trail, calling for "help" is not the solution.
Any handgun your going to want to run with isn't going to do anything against a bear!
You know what's more dangerous than a bear? Moose. Unless your a trained biathlete, your not going to stop a charging moose with a 380 ACP or a 9mm!
Actually, Rick Perry stopped a coyote with his LCP while on a walk...0 -
and I thought made national news..
Which is a good indicator of just how rare it is, although there is reporting bias, particularly if the subject is female and ideally pretty...0 -
For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380. They come in 9 oz lightweight versions like my ruger lcp.
Concealed weapons are not legal everywhere. And where the hell do you keep it?
They're not even a particularly good idea unless one is trained in how to use them as part of a defensive activity, and spend a considerable amount of time maintaining currency. Otherwise it's just handy that you brought your own, saves your attacker bringing one...Hang on, Mr. Mugger, let me just get my gun out of my back pack so I can fight you off...
So much ignorance of how this process works.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), not the place to address it...
...and honestly, I'm not vested enough in addressing random strangers' misunderstanding to even bother anyhow.
ETA: What's the over/under on the lock now? 2p CDT?0 -
For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380. They come in 9 oz lightweight versions like my ruger lcp.
Concealed weapons are not legal everywhere. And where the hell do you keep it?
WTF....?? :huh:
So I had to google this as I didn't have the faintest clue what a "Ruger LCP" was....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_LCP
Are you serious? You run with a gun???? :noway:
It's moments like this make you feel very very happy that you live in the UK, isn't it? :-)
I wish I lived in the UK...
...where there are no violent crimes.0 -
YES, BE VERY VERY AFRAID OF EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY! EVERY PERSON IN THE WORLD IS OUT TO RAPE, ROB AND MURDER YOU. PANIC, PANIC RIGHT NOW!!! THEY ARE PROBABLY USING YOUR POSTS TO TRACK YOUR IP ADDRESS AND ABDUCT YOU FROM YOUR HOME IN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES? WHY AREN'T YOU IN HIDING? TAKING REASONABLE PRECAUTIONS ISN'T ENOUGH IN THIS CRAZY WORLD WE LIVE IN. YOU BETTER BE PARANOID ALL THE TIME OR YOU GONNA DIE. EVEN THE CATERPILLARS ARE TRYING TO KILL YOUR CHILDREN!
On average, one in six women will be sexually assaulted in their life time. And we're taught that if we do, it's our fault for not being vigilant enough. It's not a ****ing joke.0 -
I'd LOVE to see the source on "youre more likely to be hit by a car WHEN JOGGING than get attacked". Sounds like complete bull to me. Source please.....0
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For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380. They come in 9 oz lightweight versions like my ruger lcp.
Concealed weapons are not legal everywhere. And where the hell do you keep it?
WTF....?? :huh:
So I had to google this as I didn't have the faintest clue what a "Ruger LCP" was....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_LCP
Are you serious? You run with a gun???? :noway:
It's moments like this make you feel very very happy that you live in the UK, isn't it? :-)
I wish I lived in the UK...
...where there are no violent crimes.
Only a very informed person will understand your sarcasm here...which there appear not to be many of those people on this thread.0 -
So much ignorance of how this process works.
Personally I prefer carrying my pistol on the front of my body armour, accepting the risk that one shouldn't really clutter the front of the rig with kit.
And ideally 4 spare magazines for the pistol, the Bergen is for more spare ammo and area defensive munitions to secure the mid run harbour area...
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"For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380"
And jogging with a holstered weapon in Canada will certainly get you shot by the local cops. NOBODY except police officers and a select few high-level bodyguards are allowed to carry weapons. That is why the murder rate per capita for Canada is a fraction of what it is in the US.0 -
That is why the murder rate per capita for Canada is a fraction of what it is in the US.
No, the answer is MOAR GUNZZZ0 -
"For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380"
And jogging with a holstered weapon in Canada will certainly get you shot by the local cops. NOBODY except police officers and a select few high-level bodyguards are allowed to carry weapons. That is why the murder rate per capita for Canada is a fraction of what it is in the US.
So access to guns causes murder? So if you had a gun you would murder? Wow..so much fail here.
I can tell you our CDC just did a study directed by President Obama... our Center for Diesease Control estimates guns are used for SELF DEFENSE up to 8,200 times a day in the United States.0 -
I'd LOVE to see the source on "youre more likely to be hit by a car WHEN JOGGING than get attacked". Sounds like complete bull to me. Source please.....
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811625.pdf0 -
One way to feel a little safer is to look for apps like this http://www.roadid.com/ecrumbs . After you set it up all you have to do is turn it on at the start of your run and it will text the people you want it to. Those people can track you on a map and also get an alert if you have been still for 5 minutes. Not a perfect system, but it's an aid to being observant and cautious.0
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On average, one in six women will be sexually assaulted in their life time.
With the vast majority of perpetrators being known to the victim.
Of course you might wish to clarify which geography that one in six applies to as the underlying data differs; domestic violence, familial violence or sexual violence, known associate sexual violence etc.0 -
For ANY woman who runs alone in I would strongly suggest taking a carry course and buying a little .380. They come in 9 oz lightweight versions like my ruger lcp.
Concealed weapons are not legal everywhere. And where the hell do you keep it?
WTF....?? :huh:
So I had to google this as I didn't have the faintest clue what a "Ruger LCP" was....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_LCP
Are you serious? You run with a gun???? :noway:
It's moments like this make you feel very very happy that you live in the UK, isn't it? :-)
I wish I lived in the UK...
...where there are no violent crimes.
Only a very informed person will understand your sarcasm here...which there appear not to be many of those people on this thread.
They should probably try banning knives there too.0 -
I'm not paranoid to go out and run but I an wary. As I said before I have a friend who is a triathlete. She would post all her training and races on Dailymile. Of course a lot of her runs and rides started from home and she had some normal routes that she followed. Some guy became fascinated with her at a race and started following her by using her Dailymile page to track her runs. He knew where she lived, he knew where she went. He didn't ever do anything but pop up here and there or sit in his car across from her house but it was downright creepy.
I've also been out on a back road running and had a truck with tinted windows drive by really slowly, turn around, pass me again, turn around again. I'm not some hot young girl so it really made me wonder about his intellect but I could see a house ahead a bit so I made for their driveway and walked to the house like I belonged there and the truck drove off.
You don't have to cower in your house with the shades drawn but there are people out there who are always looking for a victim. It never hurts to be aware of your surroundings and have an emergency plan in mind.0 -
^ I take this approach. Being aware and prepared doesn't have to reduce your quality of life. Odds are you'll never have to defend yourself against a person or wild animal, but it's empowering to know that you can. If i were a female jogger, i'd carry pepper spray, a small knife & a loud whistle, and also take a self-defense course. Also there's no point in wearing "cute" clothing.
are there some crime stats out there that i'm not aware of where violent offenders said they picked the targets of their assaults based on color coordination. or are you merely implying that women that dress nicely are "asking for it"?
I'm implying that when given a choice, an assailant will generally pick a more appealing target over a lesser one. Which is why 80% of rape victims are women under 30. I don't have stats specifically on joggers in pink, tight-fitting shorts vs. camo sweatpants.. but like the saying goes, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.First, pepper spray AND a knife? Overkill maybe?
They're for different situations. Pepper spray is useful for a person or animal in a 5 to 10 foot range. But it's of limited use if you're in a chokehold, for example, or against multiple attackers. Sunglasses and wind can reduce pepper spray's effectiveness too. A gun solves the limitations of both those weapons. But like others said, don't just carry a weapon, get proper self-defense training.0 -
This is more of a rant about some of the dangerous stuff I've seen people do.
Do you make your workout maps public? I don't. I've noticed that some people do, though. And, some even let people follow their activity. I just don't think that it's a good idea to let random people know what streets and parks you use each day.
I've gone to the park and have seen full water containers and personal belongings in a certain area (but, I didn't see anyone at the park), and about 20 minutes later, a group of young women would come back and start drinking from the containers. :noway: Weren't we told in school to never leave drinks unattended? They were 100s of feet away in a completely different part of the park. There was no way for them to know if anyone had come into the park (you can't hear or see anything between the two areas) and slipped something in their drinks. It's separated by woods and water (that someone could have dumped their bodies in after they knocked them out with whatever they put in their drinks and did who knows what to them). I probably watch too much Criminal Minds, but it could happen. I mean, this happened two days in a row. And, when I got to the park, the sun had just come up and I was the only one there (besides them). So, anyone who had bad intentions could have figured out their habits and used that. I just thought it was stupid of them to do that.
You know I actually stopped running for a bit in my neighborhood because I'd have to deal with too many loose dog sightings. That's really the only worry I have when running early in the a.m. It's been okay lately and most of the time when I do run I carry my steel bat with me, though I've never had to use it and I leave the iPod at home. Now when I run where my sister lives, no worries. There are others out there with me, we wave as we pass, no loose dogs, and I can enjoy my run outside. I'm not leaving water any place because I can wait till I get back home but I guess it depends on where you run. I also use MapMyRun, make them public but no one follows me that I know of, which is a good thing I suppose.:indifferent:0 -
By the way, i googled "registered sex offenders" + my city, and there are about 40 of them within a 1 mile radius of me. Here is the map - each red dot is a sex offender (who was convicted).
The site said the ratio of sex offenders to residents in my city is smaller than the state average.
So it's not unreasonable for women to be alert and prepared. Notice i didn't say worry.
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I probably watch too much Criminal Minds, but it could happen.
Me too! But seriously, these are all really good points. I also think it's smart to run with only one earbud in when it's early in the AM or late at night. Helps me be aware of my surroundings.
I love Criminal Minds
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I'd LOVE to see the source on "youre more likely to be hit by a car WHEN JOGGING than get attacked". Sounds like complete bull to me. Source please.....
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811625.pdf
That's not really helpful. Those are all deaths by all pedestrians, not people working out. I agree, cars are dangerous. Lets not quote make-believe statistics....or apply actual statics in a dishonest manner. I'm pretty sure the chances of getting hit by a car running in your local park is pretty slim. But yes, for runners/walkers/cyclists/rollerbladers/ on a public street I'll buy that cars are your biggest danger. Which is why I dont run on the road. So back to the original point...
And great post about the knives. Not very many people will get that one either!0 -
I'd LOVE to see the source on "youre more likely to be hit by a car WHEN JOGGING than get attacked". Sounds like complete bull to me. Source please.....
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811625.pdf
That's not really helpful. Those are all deaths by all pedestrians, not people working out. I agree, cars are dangerous. Lets not quote make-believe statistics....
And great post about the knives.
I will have to dig deeper later to see if I can find something broken down by activity. I am not sure if that exists though. In LA there are a lot of Hit and Runs, I believe roughly 3x that of comparable cities, so that is what I was thinking of when saying you have a greater chance.
Thanks. People love to conveniently forget that violent crimes still exist in large number in the UK. You may not get shot, but you have a chance of being stabbed.0 -
It's this simple: If someone wants to get you and cause you harm, they WILL. It doesn't matter if you switch your schedule, post your workout routine or not.
This is why I always post the workout routine I'm NOT going to do.
I always post the workout routine I'm not doing too but that's just so people think I'm getting fit when I'm really just sitting in front of my TV eating all the foodz.
Yes. For safety.0 -
^ I take this approach. Being aware and prepared doesn't have to reduce your quality of life. Odds are you'll never have to defend yourself against a person or wild animal, but it's empowering to know that you can. If i were a female jogger, i'd carry pepper spray, a small knife & a loud whistle, and also take a self-defense course. Also there's no point in wearing "cute" clothing.
are there some crime stats out there that i'm not aware of where violent offenders said they picked the targets of their assaults based on color coordination. or are you merely implying that women that dress nicely are "asking for it"?
I'm implying that when given a choice, an assailant will generally pick a more appealing target over a lesser one. Which is why 80% of rape victims are women under 30. I don't have stats specifically on joggers in pink, tight-fitting shorts vs. camo sweatpants.. but like the saying goes, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
I don't think you really understand how sexual assailants target their victims. again, rape (as is being described in this thread) is largely a crime of opportunity. if the perpetrator has an opportunity he will take it, regardless of whether the victim is wearing sweatpants or yoga pants.
eta: I will clarify again I am not referring to date rape, marital rape, etc.0 -
I think the initial poster noted some very real concerns. I'm not paranoid, but I do try to be smart. I wouldn't post my jogging course on line or leave my water bottles behind. When I go out of town, I don't notify everyone on Facebook. When I get back, sure! Before I leave, no.
Unfortunately, safety is a real concern and there is a difference between being cautious and being paranoid.0 -
I'm posting without reading the last two pages.
I did have a guy try to abduct me on a run way back in the day, as a teen.
After that, I carried a smallish (3") but sturdy military knife on my keychain and had it out while I did anything too alone. It was really easy to have out, with my keys. Nowadays you might get arrested for that - dunno.
In any case, guys walking too close behind in the dark did notice it, lol. I had one nice guy come up within a couple of yards of me in a dark parking deck completely alone one night, until he saw the knife. He said, "Is that a KNIFE?" I said, "Sure is. When guys get too close in the dark, I don't know what they are going to do." He didn't get closer, and he laughed. He was a nice guy, I think. Who knows? The point is, he didn't get too close, so it didn't matter if he wasn't nice
And it was easy enough to carry. He might think I'm bonkers, but that was the least of my concerns after seeing what some strangers do. I always had a letter opener on hand with it, too. That's nice, because torn letters suck. So it's a win-win all around, I think
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