To want to go for long walks and jogs alone in the countryside?

[LittleMoonbuggy]

I'm genuinely interested in different opinions on this.

Partly due to being an introvert, I've always loved going for long walks alone (sometimes jogs but mostly walks) in the countryside, often far from any houses and don't see another person for ages. For say 1-2 hours each time.

I usually listen to music whilst out and sometimes am conscious that I could be vulnerable to attack, particularly in remote places and if listening to music. Sometimes I carry a mini bottle of deodorant to spray in the eyes of a potential attacker but mostly I guess I tend to think that the vast majority of people are decent and wouldn't hurt others and don't let it get in the way of what I enjoy. I never go out at dark/dusk btw.

I mentioned that I enjoy doing this to a woman about 20 years older at work, she looked visibly shocked and said that going off on my own was 'asking for trouble' and I was lucky I haven't been attacked!

Do you ever go out on your own like this, or do you think it's too reckless?

I walk daily in our rural area, it's never occurred to me to fear being attacked.
The biggest risk with headphones is not hearing a car if I'm on a narrow lane, so I just put one earpiece in on a road.
It's such a lovely time of year it would be such a shame to miss enjoying the countryside.

Sounds heavenly to me. That person has a rather prurient imagination, IMO. And 'Asking for it' is a very problematic phrase.

We have an area of beautiful woodland quite near us, owned and maintained by the National Trust, so reasonably well used, for all it's quiet and peaceful. I used to love walking there until one day I was aware of a man in khaki combat gear lurking deep in the woods (not on the path, where most people walk) kind of hiding out and behaving oddly. Rationally I know he was probably some geeky guy indulging an interest in war gaming or something, but it unsettled me. I did a different walk for a while, through farmland, until one time I came across the farmer in the lane who told me (quite aggressively) to be very careful crossing fields of cows, and how many farming people he knew who had been killed or badly injured by cows stampeding. Somehow my morning walk just wasn't quite as relaxing after that...sits-at-home-and-eats-biscuits

Well, cows are potentially dangerous, sure. You just need to take sensible precautions on a case by case basis, and generally avoid fields with cows with their calves in them, which is probably the single most dangerous situation. Lots of the attacks involve walkers with dogs, skittish bullocks in thundery conditions, over-protective cows with young calves - or, in one well-publicised case, a fell-runner who ploughed at speed through the middle of a group of cattle rather than going quietly around the edge of the field.

It's not a reason to avoid the countryside, though.