nite run

It was five o'clock and still a balmy 51 degrees. The wind was warm and the air smelled musty with the promise of winter. I wanted to run. Never mind that it was dark - just think, a few months ago there would have been another three-three and a half hours of sunlight left.

So I ran. I donned my black mesh shorts, a gray thin long sleeve shirt, and a pink "DUDE" t-shirt - gotta love the attitude =) Oh yeah, and not to forget the ever-so-cool head lamp - a necessity at this time of the year.

As I headed out, I stopped more times than I like to admit - the head lamp was fitted for a present day Goliath and it insisted on falling down and smacking me in the nose every third step. After a quarter mile of adjusting (I suppose I could have stopped rather than merely slowing down but I was determined not to let this contraption get the best of me) I was set and running a good pace.

As the sun officially set, a cool wind ruffled my loose hair and I settled into the adrenaline rush of running. A little less than a mile and a half into my excursion, I noted the need to turn around. Had I lost energy? Was I cold? Did I get lost? Nope. Nope. And nope. My ever-so-cool head lamp was officially annoying me. With every step forward, my brow was being forced lower and lower, ever increasing the furrow in my forehead.

Enough of that. I tightened the band one more time, turned around, and retraced my steps. Now that the moon was my only natural source of light, the beam protruding from head bounced obnoxiously in front of me. As I plodded up a familiar hill, I made a mental note: people with extreme cases of motion sickness should not run in the dark with a head lamp - remember that.

With only a mile left I noticed how nicely my breath was being illuminated by my head lamp. Two mental notes this time: 1) when the sun goes down in the fall, the temperature drops rapidly and 2) a bouncing light combined with reflected breath does not make for an enjoyable run.

Time to ditch the light. I took it off and ran with it in my hand the rest of the way. Oh yeah - another note to self - when an on-coming vehicle approaches, move off the road before you are completely blinded, because you will be blinded and you will trip over the shoulder in your mission to avoid becoming the next road kill. Okay, maybe I am embellishing my story a bit - still, I think you would find my theories proved true if you attempted to run alone in the dark on an old country road.

Long story short (see, you could have just skipped to this part and still had the whole story - you're glad you didn't though, huh?) tonight I ran in the dark. Conclusion: I miss summer, fresh smells, sun until eight p.m., and long runs in the light. That's all.

=)