Share The Road, PLEASE!

I really meant to say "dammit" in place of "please" but I'm going to try and keep a Zen attitude during this post.

I am a runner. I may run slow and I may not run very far, but I feel I have earned this title. A lot of blood, sweat and tears (literally, all of them) have gone into the making of said runner status. But I'll be dammed if getting up at 4:00 a.m. (a few days, even earlier) just to run before work, doesn't earn me the runner's badge!

Since my husband and I have taken up running, we've experienced a few bottom feeders, if you will.

*Let me preface this by saying we usually run in our neighborhood. You know, 25 miles an hour/stop signs everywhere kind of thing.

Case in point:

One morning the hubby and I were out for our run. It was 5:00 am, still dark outside and barely any traffic. We came to an entrance to one of the subdivisions within our community. We are part way into the street and a car rolls up to the stop sign. He looked right at us, and then failed to STOP at the aforementioned stop sign. Hub was a little behind me and he ran behind the car, while I was already in front of it. This guy almost HIT me, with his car. I'd say in that war, car would probably win. Luckily, I barely scraped by, with my life intact. I know I run slow, but running me over would cause you a lot more problems than the two extra seconds you'll have to wait for me to pass. SHARE THE ROAD, PLEASE!

One beautiful, sunny afternoon I went out for a run around our neighborhood. The main road that runs through it is a giant, two mile loop. There are sidewalks on the inside and outside of the loop. I was running the outer loop. I'm running in the middle of the sidewalk and ahead, I see a lady on a bicycle riding towards me. I move over to one side, as to make room for both of us to pass (there is plenty of room for this). The lady on the bike stays smack-dab in the middle of the sidewalk. As we approach each other, I'm thinking, Surely she will move over. Right? She's going to move over. She already saw me move to one side. Now it's her turn. We get right up to each other and the lady DOESN'T MOVE! I literally had to jump out of the way, into the rocks, at the last minute to avoid a collision.  Bike lady didn't even blink an eye. Immediately after the incident she says aloud, "You're on the wrong side of the road!" and rides on by. WHAT?!?! Seriously?? SHARE THE ROAD, PLEASE!

I know, I know, ultimately it's my responsibility. And I am very cautious while I'm out and very aware of my surroundings. There is only so much I have control over, however. I know there are bad seeds out there, and I'm not judging everyone based off of them. Most of the people I pass are very pleasant and even say, "Hello"! It becomes a problem though, when it goes beyond rude people and becomes a possibly dangerous situation. It's a gorgeous time in Arizona right now and there is plenty of room for everyone to enjoy it.

**End Rant**

Now get out there and enjoy this gorgeous weather!