I ran at night!!  You guys- I went out in the dark and the cold and ran at night!!   😄😄😃😃

But before we get to that, here’s a brief recap of last week’s slacker-ness err, training.

Monday– Rest
Tuesday– Work holiday party
Wednesday– Treadmill 5K
Thursday– 2.70 miles – OUTSIDE!
Friday– Rest
Saturday-Unexpected emergency road trip
Sunday– Rest- tired, stressed and way behind

So, yeah still not awesome but that’s ok.   Sometimes life rears it’s horns and you change your plans.  I’m still playing catch up.  But let’s talk about the exciting thing-

I ran at night!  It was slow and short but it was kind of awesome.  😃😃   I had been considering attempting a night run for a while now.  I’m a big baby when it comes to running in the dark.   You never know what’s out there, right?  But, I figured realistically I had a better shot of running at night than I did in the early mornings.  One- I like my bed and sleeping until the last moment.  Two-less likely to have a run in with a creature of some sort.   Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

 I packed 2 sets of clothes- one for an outdoor run and one for the gym if I chickened out.   I don’t own any night gear and I didn’t want to buy anything because what if this was a one and done?   I’m not sure what I was thinking though- I had purple pants, a coral shirt, black and yellow jacket, a coral headband and mismatched gloves.  Maybe I hoped the tacky-ness would be extra visible? 😜   I had reflective strips on my arms and an ancient, tiny flashlight.  My jacket was supposed to be reflective- spoiler- it’s not.

I parked under a light at a local business and headed for my route.  I chose one of the busier streets in town but I chose it for it’s sidewalks, uneven as they are, a few streetlights and the sea of Christmas lights.   I started out slow and I was presently surprised at how much light the Christmas lights gave off.    The temp was in the mid 40’s and the jacket was too much.  I stopped half a mile in to tie it around my waist.

 The dark is funny- I felt like I was hauling but in reality I was putting along at an 11 minute pace.  I laughed out loud when my Garmin buzzed at mile 1.     I don’t usually run on the sidewalk on this street, if I run this street I am in the bike lane.  I knew the sidewalk was uneven but dang!  I stumbled a few times and there were a few times the sidewalk disappeared entirely.  Hello!

My plan was to keep it short, sweet and uneventful and it was working out to be that way.  Until just shy of 2 miles.   I was coming up on an intersection and heard what sounded like a school fire alarm.     I stopped and tried to figure out where it was coming from.   I finally pinpointed it to an older apartment building down the side street.  I wasn’t sure what to do.  I didn’t smell smoke and everything else seemed quiet.   I finally took my cue from the people playing ping pong in their side yard.  They didn’t seem alarmed at all, so I thought maybe this happens all the time at 6:30?  I ran on down the street.   I hit my planned turn around and headed back the way I came.    As I came back to the siren intersection, I didn’t hear anything so I was relieved.  Only to discover a fire truck now parked outside the apartment building!   What?!?!  Last time I trust people hanging out in their yard!

The route is short, so I was back at my car around 2.7 miles and part of that was already overlapping.   So this would route would work more as a shakeout/ easy run than anything else.  Plus, once the Christmas lights come down it could turn a lot darker.  That said it was kind of awesome and it pushed my boundaries a little.     I can’t wait to try it again.  😊  With a better flash light.

I had good intentions of running this past weekend but late night phone calls are rarely a good thing.  My mom and I ended up heading down to LA for a family emergency.  It wasn’t the best of days.

 
Sunday brought the realization of just how behind I am with Christmas shopping.  And laundry.  Seriously, I did 4 loads.   So, like I said before- not the best training week.  But again, I am ok with it.   This week should be interesting as I have to head back to LA again.  This time for myself though, I have another appointment at USC for my stomach.   Nice timing right?

But it’s Christmas week!!!  Are you ready?

Do you like running in morning dark or night dark?