Night Run

A few weeks ago, I started training for my 100 mile ultra that I will be running in late March. The 100 miler has been something I've had on my radar for awhile now and I'm excited that I finally feel healthy and strong enough to take on the training required for this beast of a race. The furthest I've ever run was 59.5 miles in a 12 hour ultra I ran back in 2011. So, there is 40 miles of uncharted mileage that I will get to experience in all its pain and glory come March.

This past weekend, my training plan called for an 18 miler. I knew with the holiday and my travel plans, getting in 18 miles was highly unlikely. So, I decided to push my long run to bright and early Tuesday morning. To my disappointment, the weather forecast Tuesday morning didn't look good. Rain showers were suppose to move into the area before sunup. I don't mind running in the rain, but when it's only gonna be in the high 30s, the idea of running in a cold rain shower didn't sound all that appealing. So, I decided to run in middle of the night to beat out the storm.

Why did I wait till 11pm to head out for my long run? When I got home from work at 7 I was starving and I knew I needed to eat something before I went for my run. 4 hours later and a triple stacked PB&J in my belly, aka the PB&J club, I was ready to rock it!

I donned my headlamp and water pack and headed out into the cold, peaceful night. Running in the middle of night can be dangerous. I strongly urge anyone that is considering it to make sure you run in area you know well and that is preferably well lit. Also, be prepared. Anytime I go on a long run I carry my phone, a credit card and sometimes my metro card if I'm running near metro stations.

The deeper I got into my run, the less and less street traffic there was until I was the only one out there. I had the whole city to myself and it was fantastic. I'm a very introverted person and I must say, I was in my own little introverted paradise. I never run with music so the only thing I heard was my feet pounding the pavement and my breathing. It was an amazingly peaceful run and I found my mind drifting away to a point where I wasn't thinking about anything.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was pretty cold and had to get up for work in a few hours, I probably would of kept on running. By the time I made it back to my house I had 17 miles on my watch and it was pushing 1:30am. Ok, so I didn't run the planned 18. What's one more mile when you look at it though? At least, that's what I tell myself, haha.

When my alarm clock went off 4 hours later, I didn't even mind getting up. I was on a runner's high that lingered well into that evening. Am I on to something here? Should I do more late night runs? All I know is that I love running. Who would of thought that moving your legs at a pace faster than walking could bring so much happiness?