short days, short life?

Running is one of the easiest, cheapest and most instantly gratifying forms of exercise available. Slip into your lycra, put on a pair of running shoes and head out the front door. Before long the adrenelin kicks in, your muscles ease up and the cares of the day are blown away. But for many people who have fulltime jobs the problem is doing this safely. Waking up in the dark and then returning from work in the dark is not only a bit depressing but a real limiting factor when it comes to where and when you can run. Unless you can get out whilst at work you are left with the only option of running in the dark, unless you want to head to a gym or track. The real attraction of running is the lack of preparation required and the 'do it anywhere' dynamic. To head off to the gym requires time and effort as well as the obvious need to belong to one. So, for many it is an hour running the roads and then it becomes a battle, not just to run hard and with purpose, but also to avoid behind hit by vehicles. Keeping to lit pavements is feasible for some people but for many, especially those in rural areas, running in the pitch black becomes a regular experience. "Make yourself be seen" is an obvious requirement and there is lots of running clothing that makes this possible. Running with a head-mounted caving lamp is a good way of both seeing where you are going and also being seen by drivers. Obviously the critical point is to be seen and therefore if a vehicle has it's full beam to achieve that, then fine. But what is most irritating is the drivers who, having seen you, do not dim their lights but continue past with their full-beam on, blinding you as you stumble on. They dim them for on-coming traffic so why are pedestrians, albeit ones running, not afforded the same courtesy? Most drivers are considerate and once they have spotted you in the distance, do dim their lights and make every effort to move out to pass you without placing your life in danger. But it only takes one inattentive driver and before you know it, you are subject to a very close shave.
During a 5 mile end-of-day loosening-up run last night, the Master came very close to being knocked down. Fortunately for him my significant smattering of white fur is an additional reflective point and I am sure it helps on-coming drivers spot us. I need to do somethng though about his habit of putting me on the offside rather than inside. He says it is to give me more freedom to move about, but I reckon it is a form of self-defence.
So, to sum, in order to reduce the risk of the short days leading to a shorter life than you were planning, run as much as possible under street-lightening; wear a cavers torch and reflective clothing, oh, and if that is not enough, run with a large white dog!