October 2014

Before this past summer, I refused to run the pavement. As a matter of fact the only training I have ever done has been in a gym. I trained for a 5k in the gym and really all the running that I have ever done has been on a treadmill. I now realize why 5ks and everything else was so intimidating to me, hitting the pavement was not something my body was used to.

I realized pretty quickly that if I was going to do this half marathon I would have to do the unthinkable – – run outside in my neighborhood. I was always terrified to run outside, and not because of my neighborhood because I see runners outside all the time and my community is safe. I was just scared that I would look like a fool out the gasping and chugging along during my runs. The first time I ran outside I ran a very very fast 2 miles… I was so scared/nervous! Gradually I got used to it and I even liked it… Say what? I learned quickly though that there was certain rules to this game…

10 Safety Tips for City Running

1) Run on popular/busy roads

2) Map out route beforehand

3) Know what construction is happening before your run

4) Let someone know about your route

5) Wear your RunID, have some kind of emergency contact information on hand

6) If you have iOS8 make sure you program your information into the Health App. In case of emergency that information can be retrieved without a password.

7) Always carry money (I learned this lesson the hard way)

8) Make eye contact, say good morning/evening to fellow runners community members

9) Trust your gut, if it doesn’t feel good, run the opposite way!

10) Keep your music low, loud music can drown out car beeps and other important noises you need to hear!

Panasonic Wired Open Ear Headphones

Panasonic sent me a set of Wired Open Ear Headphones* to try out for my morning runs. When I heard about the concept I thought it was brilliant because of course I want to ear my music, but I NEED to hear car beeps, bicycle bells and etc too. My current headphones are noise cancelling which is perfect for the train, but dangerous on the streets.

[Tweet “10 Safety Tips for City Runners #runchat #openyourears”]

I was also worried about how they would work because I have tried to run with ear buds before and it was an EPIC fail. I have abnormally small parts of my ear that refuses to hold an ear bud no matter how small they are. These headphones fit perfectly right outside the ear, and somehow you can hear every song clearly yet you can hear everything outside as well because your ears are open. It is really one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

City running is truly one of the hardest and craziest ways to workout, you have to be constantly on guard, alert and these headphones do the job of helping you listen to your favorite tunes WHILE remaining vigilant and pounding the pavement. Often times during my long runs, I cross streets like these and there are cars coming from every angle!

Wired Open Ear Headphones  is an awesome innovation which transmits sound vibrations through the upper cheek bones of the face to the cochlea of the inner ear, allowing a user to listen to music while still paying attention to outside sounds—like the beep of a car horn or someone’s voice!

I would highly recommend these headphones for runners that live in very urban areas and run outside, this way you can run and not sacrifice your tunes! You can get a pair of your own here!

*I was sent a pair of Wired Open Ear Headphones for review, but no other compensation was received and all opinions–as usual–are my own!

Do you run in a busy area? Do you run with music? If so is it loud? Have you ever heard of Open Ear Headphones?