Hello! How are ya?
I’m having a busy week. This is a strawberry jam packed time of year! I’d show you a picture of my Christmas decorations except I decided not to decorate this year. Is that sad?
I feel like I should be sad about it, but mostly I’m just relieved I don’t have to take everything down and then put it back away after January 2nd…
![grinch[4]](https://runeatrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/grinch4.gif "grinch[4]")
I promise I still love Christmas – mostly because of the FOOD tho. And that’s okay 
I cannot wait for tamales!!! Love love love.
In closing, I will still be enjoying the holidays via food and song and cheesy movies – just not through my own tree. #Boo but also #Yah
Every morning when I run around the same time the kids are walking to school I think about this lil running safety reminder that I want to share. Then, I forget and think about food and life and la-di-da. But today – today is the day I remembered and want to spill it.
![safety is sexy[3]](https://runeatrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/safety-is-sexy3.gif "safety is sexy[3]")
Running Safety Reminder
This is actually a safe tip for the people around you – namely the children that might be walking to/from school when you’re running.
I get to a stop light near my house sometimes and see it’s red but there are no cars coming. I know when a lot runners see a clear street – even with a red light- they run through it. There’s no legit reason to stop if no cars are coming… right? (Kinda sorta not really but yeah)
Well, I realize the lil people who are going to school will see me running through a red and that’s a bad example. I would never want a kid to follow me into the street and get hurt OR think it’s okay to do that. So, I wait – whether or not there is a car coming. I wait until the green light with the kids. I don’t jog in place (like a weirdo). I don’t pass Go. I just take the extra 30 seconds to stand and chill because SAFETY THIRD FIRST KIDS!
I don’t know, this might be kind of obvious to most of you but it might also be helpful to one peep reading and that’s important enough to share 
I know there are going to be people who ALWAYS follow the rules. And those people are better than me. That’s fine. But I live in the real world and make mistakes and think about little things like this… no judgment zone. The end.
Related: Running Gear Must Haves for Dark
Question: Do you run through street lights (if it’s safe)?
Do you jog in place at red lights?
I run and bike in Central Park. I run through the lights but I slow down or stop if there are people waiting to cross when I bike.
I’m late on the decorating too. I wasn’t going to do it but I think I would regret not putting them up so it’s all coming out this week. I started yesterday with my kitchen and bedroom and working on the rest today and tomorrow.
I’m with you on skipping the decorating for Christmas this year. I love the holiday, but the prep and take down is a lot of work. I am super busy right now and just decided to save myself the headache. I don’t think it’s weird, or sad. This allows me the extra time to really appreciate what the holiday is about, and its not decorations;) Happy Holiday Monican!
Yeah, I made the decision not to do it up like I usually do for Christmas this year – and actually give myself to relax and enjoy it for a change. And I swear, you would have thought I killed Santa based on some people’s reactions. I posted about it on my blog and instantly received a bunch of “are you okay” and “that’s so sad” emails. Shaking my head…
I have been known to run through lights, but only at intersections I know are not busy and not before looking for cars (obviously). I don’t see a lot of kids when I’m out running, but you make a really good point about being a good example!
I didn’t decorate for Christmas this year either. All of my decorations are packed away and it was too much of a PIA to deal with getting them out. I also think it’s mainly ‘worth it’ if you can start pulling things out after Thanksgiving so you have plenty of time to enjoy everything. Once it’s the first or second week in December, my mind drifts to thinking about how I will have to take everything down. Oh well… there’s always next year.
I’ve revised my running route to be about 7 miles max without loops and not a single stop light. Score! When I do branch out, I’m pretty careful and wait, unless there is OBVIOUSLY no one around.
My husband would die if we didn’t decorate, and I have to admit, the lights make me really giddy. We don’t go crazy though. For me, as long as I have a strand of lights outside and the tree with lights inside I’m happy.
I didn’t know there was a such thing as breakfast tamales! Anything covered in egg yoke is a must for me!
If there’s no cars, you better believe I’m running through that stoplight. 🙂
I can honestly say that I do not have a single stop light in my town! We do have a yellow flashing light though.
I feel so much better about not decorating now that I know I’m in good company!! I’m in grad school and I’m too tired to do it!! (And take it back down!) My husband says this is the year nurse practitioner school killed Christmas. Oh well. There are no stop lights on any of my running routes, but if there were, I would in no way, ever consider jogging in place. I don’t have that kind of self confidence
I run through lights only if I triple and quadruple check and am absolutely sure no one is coming. I’ve had a couple of near misses so I try to be very much overly cautious.
That’s an excellent point about waiting to set a good example for the little people. Their moms would give you high fives for sure.
I never stop for red lights if the road is clear – probably a side effect of growing up in Boston where jay walking is practically our state sport!
It’s Dec. 16 and I haven’t put up a single Christmas decoration so your not alone. I’d say I haven’t had time and up until last weekend that was very true but I did have time this weekend and well I still didn’t do it. This year Christmas season was really sneaky and it was here before I realized it. Ummmm thats my story and I’m sticking to it 😉 I do run through street lights and have also been caught jogging in place or even turning around several times before the light changed. Merry Christmas to you! Tricia
So respect you for waiting. You’re so right. Kids do follow by example. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
P.S. don’t worry… I’m not decorating for Christmas either 😉 Leave that to the parents when we visit them, hehe
I wish that I could get away with not decorating for Christmas. Our kids would consider that torture….what first world problems they have. Granted….our only “decorating” consists of a fake tree and a plush santa that we throw on our mantle.
I always stop at red lights. Figure better safe than sorry. That extra few seconds isn’t going to destroy my run but not seeing a car that may be turning definitely will.
And no to jogging in place. Sometimes I stretch out sore muscles if I am almost done with a long run
I wish I could protest the decorating! But with 14 faces at my door on 12/25 it’s just not possible. Sadly, my tree isn’t even up. In fact, the living room is still a little too cluttered to get it down from the attic. 🙁 I’ll get there; I’ve promised myself it’ll be up by 12/22. And mark my words, it’ll be coming down on 1/1! I wish Christmas could be less about decorating and stuff and more about just spending time together. Let’s celebrate the birth of Christ without all the trappings of “stuff” and things to do.
The pressure is tremendous (at least my self-imposed, comparing myself others) and some days I can barely keep up with my already busy life…let alone strip down the living room so we can haul out 1/3 of the attic and put it out for all to see. rant off.
I sometimes run through the red lights when no cars are present. But if I do, it’s because it’s oh-dark-thirty and literally NO ONE is around. When my kids are with me on wheels or foot, we always stop and wait. But excellent tip!
Merry Christmas Monica!
I think the decorations are my favorite part of Christmas! I just like to sit with the tree lit and read. But I have to agree that putting it all away is not so fun. Sometimes I consider just making it permanent and decorating the tree for each season.
Im living in the city now, so there are always a million crosswalks. If there are no cars coming then I will usually just hop across the street. I may look around to see if there are kids around but there usually aren’t where/when I run.
We didn’t decorate or put up a tree this year either. We have two teenagers and when we asked them how important it was to them they both said “meh” so we are being buh humbugs this year too. Mostly because wed rather be doing other things and no one would notice if stuff was put up anyway. So don’t feel bad. We’re all about food too so I’ll be using my extra time to make tamales instead. : )
aw, I love this! I never would have thought about the bad example it sets but you’re so right- the little ones will see that and think it’s okay!
I admit it… I run through red lights and stop signs; however, I make sure cars are not coming. Basically, I treat them like any intersection/crosswalk, but with a little more caution: stop, look both ways, then cross.
One year I had too much going on and didn’t feel very much like holiday decorating. I ended up buying some sugar plum scented candles and that made me feel less like a Grinch. I always stop at crosswalks when I’m running and look like a dweeb jogging in place with no shame.
When I see people running in place it makes me a little ragey. I can’t help it, It looks stupid and I need to point that out. There, I said it.
I have been known to run though a red light with no cars around… but after almost getting nailed by an SUV a few years ago, I don’t do that anymore. Nothing in life is worth losing my life over.
Don’t feel bad about not decorating. Christmas lives in your spirit, not on a tree. 🙂
Great post!! I love that someone else is NOT decorating. We just thought of the time and hassle of putting up and taking down and said NOOOO. Not alone!
Excellent awareness about kids and running. I used to notice tourists would follow me into the street in NYC without looking as well. It’s a real risk!
Jill
Champagne for Everyday – A San Francisco Based Lifestyle and Fashion Blog
i always go out of town to visit family, so i have a hard time decorating as well. i still LOVE christmas, just don’t ever feel like decorating when only i appreciate it 🙂
Running in place is weird, right? I never know what to do…Should I, er, no, well, i’m still kind of in stride…so confusing!
Guilty of running through red lights…just force of habit. Maybe cause the kids around me are high schoolers?
I always run through lights if cars aren’t present. But now that you mention this I’ll think twice if there are kids around. I wouldn’t want to set a bad example. Unfortunately here in NYC everyone is in a rush and there is a lot of jay walking and running happening. You will be so thrilled with your choice not to decorate when you have all the time to do other stuff rather than take it all down 🙂
Yeah, it’s so different to me when I visit NYC and everyone just crosses whenever.
I have a 6 mi route that takes me through a stop light that happens to be the light before the left turn signal to get onto the freeway, or instead of you could turn right and get on going the opposite direction which is actually the most dangerous spot. And of course running back it’s the opposite. I wait and use the ‘little man says go’ and the crosswalk, I would say there is about a 10 – 16.303185% that someone will hit me each morning as I do my best Olympian style run through the crosswalk. I can’t count the number of times I have had to stop because someone on autopilot and wasn’t looking. But I use the wait time to stretch my calves using those huge screws they anchor the stop lights with because I can never stretch them enough and I know it’s early, people are on their way to work and are not looking for me. Well maybe some of them are, at least in my head they are.
I have been hit by a car before and honestly it isn’t that bad, of course I was 9 then but it doesn’t slow me down now. LPT: If you do get hit by a car and happen to get put into the kid’s version of ICU you get your own nurse who will play board games with you, watch your favorite TV shows with you, and fetch you all the ice cream you can eat until you pass out, actually now that I think about it I might stop using the crosswalk.
You have been hit by a car?!??! Crazy.
I have a similar crosswalk by a freeway near my house – it’s scary.
Gasp! Not decorating for christmas?
I know, I’m the worst this year… 😉
I have to admit, I have been known to run through a few stop lights. But the point you make about kids seeing that is very valid. I need to remember that . It’s worth pausing my run to save a life 🙂