Do you run in the dark? (Read 404 times)

 

Up here it is not only rural, but the trees are so thick that even at noon in high summer it can be pretty dark on the trail; at night, regardless of how good your vision is, regardless of how bright the moon is, there simply ain't nothin' to see.

Ok, well in that case I guess you need a headlamp. I wasn't really talking about trails, anyways, just running on the roads. Been night-running for 20 years in many places: full moon, new moon, starlight, clouds, crisp winter evenings, early muggy mornings -- never felt the need for a headlamp.

I enjoy the dark.

Tonight I ran around town and yes it was dark out. I noticed the way in which cars shine their headlights out, but you can't see in. There's something aggressive about that. I like my night-self that can barely be seen, slipping through the steel buffalo, floating in the dark.

I run when I get off work, so about 5:00 in the evening.  When the time changes in the fall, I am always in the dark.  On Sunday mornings, I'm usually out at 4:30 am.  So except in the middle of the summer, that's dark too.  However, Sunday mornings are my favorite run.  No traffic.  Also, I can moon the Amtrack passenger train if the timing is right.  If you're ever on the train through Northwest Ohio, look out of your window when you're about 35 miles west of Toledo.  That big, white butt is mine!!

I'll be watching for you on the way to Boston in April!

I used to love running in the dark when I lived in a big city. When I was studying for the bar several years ago, I would take some bar study podcasts on my iPod and go out for crazy long runs at 8-10 PM at night. I'd run around the whole city while other people were headed out to the bars for the evening. Fun stuff.

Now I only run in the dark if I have to, and if I do, I stick to the main roads. I live in a rural area and...maybe it's just the areas where I run, but I don't feel entirely safe running on my regular bike path in the dark. Plus it's REALLY hard to see on that path and I don't yet have a headlamp.

Love it in the summer, but winter darkness in Wyoming is usually accompanied by cold/wind/snow/ice.  Motivation is a little trickier.

Yup, same here in New Hampshire; makes for some cold lonely runs. 

First week in Standard Time report...

Monday through Friday 40 miles; 10 trail miles in complete darkness on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 road miles at midday on Tuesday, Wednesday I skipped my run because I was hurting from Tuesday's road miles.

I started running this particular trail in late September so I could learn where all of the treacherous spots were; even with my new 85 lumen headlamp, and even though I know where the nasty leaf covered jagged rocky patches are, I still miss them sometimes.  Why?  After several miles of staring at a six foot by ten foot pool of light, your eyes tend to get a bit hypnotized, that and locational awareness is compromised a bit when you're running in deep woods as most landmarks are out of the pool of illumination.  Said another way, I still stumble several times during each run, but it is doable.

Another thing I've noticed is that my pace has dropped over 30 seconds per mile, which I guess isn't too surprising.  Given that I live pretty far north and east in New Hampshire, we're already seeing the sun set before 4:30 in the afternoon, and even that will creep to as early as 4:11 by early December, annoying.

Hmmm, 09-Mar-2014 is only 17 weeks away; never thought I'd be so looking forward to DST. 

Those who run in the dark in the morning have the priviledge of witnessing the sunrise, a daily miracle (well now, not really a miracle, we now about the earth rotating on its axis, etc, but I think you know what I mean...)