Running in the Dark

Last year the Bourbon Chase pushed me over the edge into the dark abyss that was Blobtoberfest.  This year it did the exact opposite.  After 2 months of feeling off and being lazy, it kicked my butt into gear.  For the past 2 weeks I’ve been running an average of 20-25 miles a week.  Not fast, but more mileage than over the course of the summer.  By quite a bit.

You’ve also probably picked up on the fact that I think fall is the best time of year to run.  It’s just beautiful.  Unfortunately, there is a downside in that it hasn’t been getting light out until about 7:30am (one thing that sucks about being so far west in the eastern time zone).  Also unfortunate is that I don’t generally run alone in the dark, because I am convinced I will eventually get attacked.  And most unfortunate of all is the fact that all of my morning running buddies have either moved away or left me in the dust and are just way too fast for me to run with anymore.

Today I really wanted to get a run in, but have a long drive ahead of me and can’t do it after work.  So, armed with my pepper spray, I recruited another running buddy to come with.

…because he will protect me.

When I was training for serious I hated running with the dog.  Now, I prefer it.  We’ve found our groove and I usually only have to stop once for him to drop a doozer and me to clean it up.  No problem.

On mornings like this, because it’s so dark, I attach our only small LED round light to the back of his harness.  I figured it was either him or me, and since he usually runs next to me or just in front of me he could light the way.  Like Rudolph.

(Someone didn’t want to run this morning and crawled back into bed.)

My view for the entire run was essentially this:

But it worked.  The 6 miles flew by, the dog is (almost) as good as a person companion, and no scraped knees or broken elbows.

Though we both survived and there are very few things better than getting a good long run in first thing in the morning while the rest of the world sleeps, I’m still sticking with my policy on running alone in the dark.  Unsafe.

This afternoon heading up north to Cleveland to visit Lisa in her new home.  Very excited about that.  Very.

happy happy weekend