Now I am not saying I enjoy being cat-called while running down the street. I loathe cat-calling and can never wrap my mind around why someone thinks I look most attractive when running. I most likely am panting for breath, my day’s makeup has melted into a mess, and my hair has to be sticking up at all ends. So why do people do it?

Cat-calling is one of the most frustrating things we runners (or any street-walker) has to deal with. I think about the video of the women who filmed herself for a day in NYC- it was horrible the amount of people who shouted rude and demeaning things at her. But it was also very real, I never felt alone in NYC because I always had the cat-callers around. I also have the image of Sex and the City, where Miranda turns the table on the cat-caller and the dude says “Whoa, I’m married lady”

Check out 10 hours of walking in NYC as a woman

If these cat-callers don’t want to actually act on their words, then why shout and holler demeaning and frankly ignorant things as we run by? I certainly wouldn’t want them to act on their thoughts, but what is the point, what are they getting out of cat-calling? Just don’t do it!

So what do I actually mean by saying Cat-calling = Runner’s High. Well just recently I was running in Winston-Salem on a relatively busy street. It is not atypical to be cat-called, whistled, or shouted at while running down this road. At a major intersection I started to hear the all to familiar whistles from a gentleman at the stop light. I trudged forward, paying no attention. A couple of seconds later I heard a crash and I looked back to find the cat-caller perv bumped against the car in front of him. After I checked to see no major harm was done, I felt instant gratification that this jerk had some small cosmic payback. I was so happy I finished my run with some of the fastest miles I have had in a while.

Lesson to all: leave the runners, walkers, standers ALONE, stop cat-calling, and pay attention to the road!