The waning light of winter should not mean the end of outdoor exercise, it just means you need to be a bit more prepared, writes Susan Edmunds.
With daylight saving now a distant memory, your after-work run or early-morning bike ride is more than likely done in twilight, if not dark. With that comes an element of extra risk. Running or cycling at night makes you less visible to other people - meaning your chances of being hit by a vehicle increases, it's harder for you to see where you are going, and isolated routes can be dangerous for people exercising alone.
Marathon runner Ady McKenzie (nee Ngawati) says she does a lot of training in the dark, especially when she is in the intensive training period leading up to an event. She recommends getting high-visibility running gear to make you as visible as possible to passing vehicles. She runs with a reflective, high-vis vest on and suggests runners also put reflective tape around their arms. "The vest especially is very visible. If it's really [dark], you can get a headlamp."
Ideally, running gear should include fluorescent bits for during the day and reflective panels for running in the dark. Neither works well the other way around. The fluorescent material helps you to be seen in sunlight - when it absorbs light and looks especially bright. But reflective material - not very effective during the day - is essential at night because it bounces back any light that hits it, either by being retro-reflective (bouncing the light straight back) or through glass beads that scatter the light.
McKenzie says, provided you get a good one, headlamps are not as unwieldy to run or cycle with as you might imagine. "They are designed to be really light and really little and the ones with an HED lamp are designed to be really bright. The $2 ones might be hard to run with but the good ones definitely aren't."
As well as making you noticeable to passing traffic, a headlamp helps you see a couple of metres in front of you, so you know where you are placing your feet, or riding your bike. Broken glass or potholes can cause problems for cycle tyres and McKenzie says her most recent running injury happened when she stumbled on a kerb. "Running in the dark, it's less likely that you're going to get hit [by something] than you can't see where you're placing your feet."
Although almost all bikes come with reflectors as standard, this is not enough for riding at night. Bikes need to have a white light at the front, and a red light at the back, as well as reflective panels on the pedals and wheelspokes. Flashing lights are extra-noticeable and cyclists riding in the early morning dark need to be vigilant about giving adequate hand signals.
McKenzie says runners can cut down the risk of stumbling in the dark by running on the road, where the surface is a lot smoother. "The pavement usually has driveways with bits that go up and down, the best places to run are where it's really quiet and you can run on the road." But she says runners should always run into the traffic, rather than having it come up behind them. "Then you can see something coming and get off the road." Similarly, late-night or early morning exercisers should leave their iPods at home - they reduce your ability to hear cars coming.
McKenzie recommends avoiding bush tracks with uneven surfaces if you are running in the dark and suggests running with a friend or group. "There's safety in numbers." Take your cellphone with you and carry some identification, like your driver's licence. Choose well-lit routes, with lots of street lights and houses, and vary your pattern from day-to-day. When possible, opt for areas that are popular with other runners.
