Running over the winter is not difficult because of the cold weather......what makes it so hard is all the hours of darkness we have. Its dark when I get up and dark when I get out of work. To log the miles that I need for marathon training (which will officially start on Monday) and keep me off the treadmill everyday, I realized I will have to run in the dark.
Here are some of the things I learned on my 7 mile run in the dark tonight:
1. Assume all cars can NOT see you! This one is listed first since it's most important. Even though I was wearing a jacket with reflective strips on it and a very stylish neon yellow reflective running vest (I'll post picture of my running fashion in the future), some cars still came a little too close for comfort. Whether they didn't see me or they were just being jerks, I learned that I need to stay very aware of my surrounding...no more spacing out during night runs! I am also careful to only run on safe streets and not wear my iPod so I can listen to what's going on around me.
2. Runners are actually nice people. So often I will pass other runners on the road or around the river and they don't even look at me or acknowledge my presence. But tonight was different.....maybe the dark, cold nights brings out only the hard core runners....most people didn't have headphones on and to my surprise they actually looked at me! I got smiles, nods, waves.....maybe it was like an unspoken camaraderie between those of us out there.
3. Don't take your shirt off in front of men if you aren't wearing a sports bra. Okay....so I get really cold the minute I stop running from being sweaty. Since I wear a sports bra, usually I bring an extra shirt to change into when I get back to my car...no big deal. Unfortunately today I forgot to bring a sports bra with me in my running bag. Not wanting to forgo my run, I decided to just run in my regular bra (Steph and Janette - no Katie Holms comments please!). Well I got back to my car and wanted to change. It was dark so I sat in my car and started taking my shirts off. Just as I get the second one off, two men come running up over the hill I was parked on. There I was sitting in my car in just my bra! I grabbed my shirt and used it to cover up as they ran by....I tried to look as nonchalant as possible! Next time I'll remember the sports bra :)
4. Don't drink hot chocolate 45 minutes before running if you don't have access to a bathroom. This one is self explanatory....warm liquid before a run is never a good idea!
2 comments:
You can bring yourself to a whole new fashion level by wearing a head lamp like I do. I live in back-woods Connecticut where street lights are a rare treat, so I get to be a total running-dork with the vest AND a head lamp. =)
The cold darkness was the toughest part of training last winter. I ran on an indoor track every so often, just to break up the monotony.
Good luck with your training - I've heard VT is a fun one!
I've been having bra issues too-the regular kind. My strap fell off at school and somehow was dangling out of the front of my sweater for my entire class to see! I just bought a Betsy Johnson one (at Nordstroms) and it rocks!
Another training tip to go with the hot chocolate; never run after a bikini was. I've stupidly done it twice now and what a mistake!
Steph
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