It's funny, though not in a 'ha ha' way, but I totally believe in my gut instinct. Sometimes it's strong and sometimes just a whiffle of a nagging feeling but it's often there.
I'll give you some examples of when it's hit me. In 1997 I was a live in nanny and needed to get out in the evenings - away from work. One Wednesday evening everything in me was telling me not to go but I ignored it and went. I was involved in a car crash and wrote off my boss's car!
The Christmas before last I was at my dad's house, out for a run. Home town is pretty small so it's hard to run any kind of distance but, by going over the old fashioned level crossing - the manned one that has to open the gates manually when a car wants to cross - and along the single track lane I can loop around into the other side of town and back again which is a 3 mile route. Art the end of the single track lane I have always turned left onto a housing estate. Always. On that run, at the end, I just turned right. This was a whiffly nag of a decision because I want really aware of it. When I got around the corner there was a man in the middle of the road trying to force his way into a lady's car. she got rid of him before I got there but I was all for crossing over and helping if it was needed. I was, however, able to lend a bit of support and act as witness for the police.
This morning, as I set out to run, I had no specific running plan as it's insanely foggy here at the moment. Where I ran would depend on the level of fog. But as I set off I couldn't find an easy feeling about any direction so I decided just to go out to the main road where there are proper crossings with green men and everything! Crossing over to the other side was fine but coming back was a different matter.
Because of the fog I was being wary about how well the drivers could see - I know, I drove in it yesterday and kept my speed down, scanning both road and pavement (sidewalk) all the time.
I pressed the button, waiting for the green man telling me that I could cross and when he appeared I was extra vigilant about checking the cars that were hurtling towards me. It's a 50mph road and, based on weather conditions, most od the traffic was going slower. All except one car which I could see was (a) going way over the speed limit and (b) oblivious to the requirement to stop. So I waited for him to fly past. As he was doing so he suddenly braked. Way to late to have avoided me if I'd chosen to run over without checking first.
This was my facebook update: To the person who drove through the red light on Marlborough road at more than 50mph, it's lucky for you that I had MY fog aware head on or you'd be thinking more than "oh shit was that red?!" You'd be wondering why the hell there was a runner on your car bonnet.
And that is why I should listen to my gut feeling... but I could never miss a running session based on a whiffle!
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