Running in the Dark (Read 1213 times)

Count me among those who run in the dark. I don't like it but to me the alternatives are worse (treadmill, not running). I wear plenty of reflective gear and a blinking light, as the drivers in my neck of the woods are nuts. They are bad enough when it's light out. As spaniel said, I never make the assumption that a driver sees me, light or dark (I drive that way too). I haven't found that I need a headlamp. There are plenty of streetlights. The only time I have a hard time seeing is when I get highbeamed by an oncoming car. I don't think a headlamp would help in that case. There are some streets that I avoid when it's dark, and I'll restrict even more after a snowstorm. My town doesn't always do a good job getting to the curb with their plows, and the sidewalk shoveling law is loosely enforced.

I hate running in the dark, for one reason - once I landed wrong on a drain cover, that I failed to see. It didn't stop me from running but it hurt a lot and made me think of how easy it would have been to get seriously hurt. Now when I run outside in the dark I stick with the same route that has the most lights and I'm at the point that I know every bump and ditch and curb etc. It's not so bad. I don't worry about cars so much since the route I run in the dark consist mostly of sidewalks. I don't prefer sidewalks, and during the day I do my best to avoid them but at night I think differently.

I run at night as well. I really love it! For safety gear I am super pleased with my Amphipod Xinglet. I also have a tiny, light, and cheap headlamp -- nothing fancy. This seems to get me by okay, even on the darker yet busy roads, but there have been a few close calls with some rocks! Yikes. Best of luck to those who brave the darkness.

I run in the dark almost every day as well. I run in an area just at the fringes of suburbia. At 5 AM, I usually see the paper delivery person several times. He/she knows me well. He/she usually flashes his/her lights...I wave. A few interestings...I see deer almost every day. I almost get hit by deer about once a month. The jump out at me to cross the road. Really gets the adrenaline flowing. One morning, I had to get an 18 miler in for a marathon I was training for. I couldn't run on the weekend due to commitments, so I had to run at 3 AM on Friday morning. It was an interesting run. First off, one of the roads was totally dark...it appeared that all of the people that night did NOT turn on their porch lights. I ran into a mailbox. My pride was hurt, plus my stomach. There was no one there to see me, even though, I looked around. Heck, what could I see? It was pitch dark! Then, later on during the run, I ran 3 miles down another totally dark road...when I got to the end, it seemed like it had gone so fast. Something about the fact that I couldn't see anythign aroung me, I guess, no peripheral vision, everything's dark. Or I zoned/had a runner's high or something. All I know is, before I even knew what was going on, I had zipped down that 3 mile stretch of road in an instant. After that, I saw a possum who just watched me run by. He didn't freeze, just watched me. What else? Only saw 4 cars on the whole run. That was cool. Another road had streetlights every half mile. I could see them off in the distance. Very cool. But, as I was coming up on one, there were actually two, one on each side of the street, and I was looking down, one of the lights cast a shadow that looked like, to me, that someone or something was coming up behind me. Scared the CRAP out of me. I felt a trifle stupid! Another adrenaline pumping situation. I avoided running in the "backwoods" on the dirt roads. Too many (probably ALL unfounded) stories of rednecks. Other than the fact that I couldn't see back there (unless I got a headlamp), I probably wouldn't have any problem. One of the long roads I went down when the sun was coming up was filled with fog. Running through that mist was very neat. At the end of the run, I run parallel to the lake I live at. I looked out there...saw something gliding silently through the water. A "V" shimmering behind it in the water, reflecting in the orange sunrise. It was a lake swimmer, either practicing for a tri, or just out for their normal morning swim. So quiet, he or she was. Anyway, after this long winded post...I can say that I ENJOY running in the dark.

For safety gear I am super pleased with my Amphipod Xinglet. I need to get one of these. They look really cool.

What headlamps do you guys use? What is the most comfortable and most useful? Thanks.

I usually run in the dark one day a week because it's a group run at 5:30 pm. It's only dark in December, January and maybe a couple weeks of February. I used to wear a headlight but seems like the bouncing light throws off my equalibrium or something so I started carrying it and turning it on when I felt the need. Anyone else have that problem? I'm lucky that we have a closed paved trail to run on for half the run and the other half has only one-way traffic with the pedestrian side being barracaded off.

I love it. i run about 4;30 in the morning. watch for full moon times and it is like someone has flashlite on. Traffic can be kinda tough and I sometomes run the cart paths at a golf course. Obviously, wear as much visibility as possible. Great way to get my weekend...kick started! If you start cold, you'll warm up for sure! Doug