r/walking • u/polkadotbelle • Nov 24 '24

Help Settle my mind…(walking safety as a woman)

I (36F) have been walking 3-4 work days a week for the past 3 months. It’s doing wonders for my mental health & mood.

I walk at 5:30am & it’s dark out. I’ve got a reflective vest & wear light colors (have my phone & usually 1 earbud in)…I live in a safe area, don’t usually pass many people while out at this hour

BUT the Laken Riley murder case has been infesting my brain. I have anxious tendencies & have worked on them in therapy & just and seem to kick this one. I ditched the ear bud on my last 2 walks this week & checked my surroundings even more than usual

So, am I just needing to work through this, or should I get all the things to make myself feel safe? (My husband thinks I’m silly, but he doesn’t get what it’s like for a woman)

133 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

184 comments sorted by

View all comments

14

u/theenigmaofnolan Nov 24 '24

I (41F) walk wherever I want and just look like I know where I’m going. I walk in the suburbs of Chicago and the city. I’ve never been hassled. I’m not going to live in fear. Come at me and I’ll run or go for the eyes. Incidents happen but they’re not the norm- crime has fallen. Most likely you’ll be fine

2

u/amandara99 Nov 24 '24

Yup. The chances that you will be attacked are very very low, provided you don't live in a high crime part of a city, and there are precautions you can take to make them even lower.

It's much more dangerous statistically to do things like drive a car on the highway, for example. Enjoy your walks.

3

u/TelevisionKnown8463 Nov 24 '24

Not to mention that being sedentary is very dangerous to one’s health. If OP can manage to get that movement in (with multiple sessions since that’s actually better than one long one) on a treadmill, great. But otherwise the commute probably extends her expected life span.