Sunday, February 08, 2009
Who's Scared of the Dark? I Am!
It was pitch black when I started out at 4:30 a.m. this morning & I'd never given a thought to the fact that there are no street lights on Old South Road! I didn't even think to to have a torch...too late to turn back from where I'd parked the car, so I set off on my long run.
Program : 20km .....(but I'd decided to go for 30km!)
I couldn't see anything of where I was treading & I unexpectedly found myself feeling afraid of the complete dark, silence & deserted street. I'd never been out this early before ...ever....& I was plain scared someone or something would jump out at me. I hadn't been expecting to feel like this.
I had jogged about 100m when a car with lights on full beam came tearing round the bend behind me on the other side of the road. I got such a fright, I lost my balance & tripped on the edge of the road & fell knees first into the gravel! I couldn't see how badly they were grazed but a tissue showed a lot of blood.....even in the dark!
Stupidly I tried turning on the backlight of the Garmin, but instead, as I found out when dawn broke through, I'd turned the monitor off altogether, so I have no record of the first 10km. I also realized later that I'd missed the 5km mark on the way out & ran a couple of hundred metres extra!
Apart from being frightened in the dark & deserted street, it was a wonderful time to be running....cool & breezy & the rest of the 10km laps went well...5k out & 5 back to the car each time. I carried 2 bottles of sports drink & had a gel each time I got back to the car at 10km.
I did the first 10km as jog/walk..5/2; the second 10km as jog/walk ..5/1 and the third 10km jog/walk...6/1. By this time I was well & truly starting to feel the heat of the day & glad to finish still feeling good after 30km.
Even though I now have two sore, stiff & swoolen knees, it was a real confidence booster to run 30km this morning & feel good afterwards.
Total Distance = 30km
Total time running = 4 hours 25 minutes.
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LL - it's so much better running in the cool early morning - well done BUT you need a headlight. Don't run in the dark without one - it makes such a difference having that little ray of light showing you all the uneven bits on the way so you can avoid them! Take care. At least slightly cooler weather is predicted so you might be able to leave your run for an hour later!
ReplyDeleteit sure is the best time of day to run LL. No street lighting is a problem though. Sometimes the only guide I have had is the dotted white lines in the middle of the road. It sounds like you are pleased with your results dipte the banged knees and darkness.
ReplyDeleteThe program says 42.195km in April. I advise you against deciding to go for 50km :)
ReplyDeleteGosh LL, who adds an extra 10k to their long run just because they feel like it??!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great time in the morning to run, but I agree with Strewth, you need a headlamp if you're going to go that early!
Hope you haven't done too much damage to the knees
Nothing would entice me to go further than 42.2km, Ewen....fear not! Maybe a million bucks!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, knees OK; just stiff, scabby & ugly!
Ouch LL. I'm glad it was only knees and nothing more serious.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried a headlamp, but what I use is a small-but-powerful (bit like me :-) ) LED bike headlight. It's really easy to carry in your hand (only 120g) and very bright. Have a look at http://www.niterider.com/prod_ultramax.shtml
ReplyDeleteHope the knees are recovering.
Gnome
Just shows that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Well done on going the extra yards (Ks). I'm sure it will help in Canberra.
ReplyDelete