Hood to Coast Night Run at Percy Warner

Aaah, the Hood to Coast training night runs.  I had never done one before, but was on time and ready for the first my first.We met at the entrance to Percy Warner Park and started at 7:50 and finished at 8:50. So, it was DARK, and the woods were too densely wooded for even moonlight.  I brought a headlamp and a reflective vest by Pearl Izumi.  It is the yellow zephyr model, and it is the most reflective piece of clothing I have ever worn.  I took it too Reach the Beach ( http://www.rtbrelay.com/

,and we all used it for the night runs because it was like wearing a lantern.

While I brought a reflective jacket and a head lamp, it was ridiculously dark.  In fact, during the run, I thought many times that it was a rather foolish training run.  It seemed that a sprained ankle or a nasty fall at the very least were surely in the cards.  My head lamp seemed to lose shine the longer we ran, which means I must update batteries as there is nothing worse than not being able to see in the dark when you are supposed to be running.  It seems that running in the dark should only be done when you absolutely have to do it, and that it is not something you can or should really train for.  It does not seem worth injuring yourself before the big event.  

Also, the cars.  There were two close calls with cars that did not expect a pack of runners to be making their way tentatively along park roads. There was much waving about and jumping into the ditch at the side of the road to avoid being the victim of a vehicular homicide.  

It is noted that when you are running in the dark, with VERY limited visibility, hills come out of nowhere.  You are running along when suddenly you find yourself climbing straight uphill and wondering how the terrain changed on you.  Also, my back was killing me the following day, which makes me think that I carried myself differently in the dark, as if my "careful of the dark" stride was different than my "confident daylight" stride.

Following our run, we had beer from our Yazoo sponsors, cupcakes from the Ivey for Sara's birthday, Chris brought cherries and cantaloupe.  It was a good run and a good double run day for me, as I was able to do a good jog stroller three in the morning and then the 5.8 in the evening.  I took the following two days completely off.  Good for me!!!