Finding Time, Running in the 23rd Hour

Well, here’s something new for me this year. Running in the dark of night. As winter crept in, finding time to run while there was some sunlight became a challenge. I could always hit the treadmill, and still find myself doing this more often than running outside because of my winter habits. However, I’m more excited about running in the great outdoors. So what’s a guy to do?

I tried an early morning run in the middle of winter but found it SCARY actually. I set out at 6 AM on a path near the bay I know well, but once I made my away from the city street lights and onto the path next to the open San Francisco Bay, I found it almost impossible to see where I was going. Luckily this morning there was a fairly significant moon still present to at least outline the sides of the path (keeping me out of the bay!). Four interesting things happened… First as I was running in the darkest section I suddenly had a man appear out of nowhere… YIKES! He was dressed in all black and walking the path next to the bay. I have no idea why he was there, perhaps he was out for some exercise as I was, perhaps he had just robbed a house and was making his getaway in all black in the thick of the night, or perhaps he was there to mug me, but I was too speedy (wishfull thinking). It scared me though - the area is very peaceful, with little crime, but still… Next as I made my way into mile 4 of the run, I suddenly saw two lights on the path ahead of me bobbing up and down, and headed my direction. It turns out it was 2 other runners - they had lights strapped to their chests and they bobbed as they ran, but they could see where they were going - a novel idea I thought! Next interesting thing was the sudden quack of a duck that nearly filled my pants. I kept my iPod volume VERY low to help make myself more aware as I ran so when I neared the water and this one wanted to make its presence known, it did so at my expense. Running in the early morning was incredibly quiet, so much so that even this quack sounded like an explosion to me - or someone yelling, or something equally startling. It took a second to figure out what it was, and then I had myself a good laugh. On the way back, the sun started to come up, and as I passed the same group of ducks in the water I was smiling as they once again greeted me with their quacks. Finally the fouth interesting bit to come of this run was me getting a headlamp for Christmas. I figured I would need it for these morning runs, but alas I am not a morning person.

But I am still deprived of time to run, what with a full time job, family and all… So lately I’ve been taking advantage of my new “GEEKDOM” and wearing this for late night runs by the bay. I’ve grown a little more comfortable running at night. Sometimes I see folks out walking their dogs on the bayshore trail, owner with flashlight in hand, and dog with glowstick or blinking light on collar. Sometimes a bicycle comes by with lights, occasionally a dark walker or runner, and once a SKUNK (from which I ran away from quickly). But it has afforded me some spare time to run - when the kids are asleep, and I have a few moments to myself. I still frequent the treadmill - mostly for the basketball games I’m able to watch while running, but it really is nice to get outside during the week, and frankly running in such a different environment brings some excitement to a trail I’ve run a hundred times before.

Enlightened,
Jamie, The Diabetic Runner