Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Night running

There's a path I run through most of the year for my out and backs, a path in which I can do 3 milers, 6 milers or 10 miles. It sort of runs parallel to a major road and, unfortunately, on evenings the distant car lights are the only source of light. On the minus side, I can barely see the path. On the postive, it's uninterrupted, no traffic and I can zone out and not think about stop lights, cars, curbs...

It's night running, almost, when you focus on the road, look at the bicyclists in the distance with their flashing helmet lights. The big trees in the park i'm in, planted shortly after the Second World War, each for a group of soldiers, stand solitary and block whatever moonlight i'm hoping will show my path. Apparently, tonight about a dozen other runners have the same thoughts. I see them in the distance, dark forms bouncing, almost fading into the blackness. We approach one another, and we're just dark forms, there are no runner waves as we can't even see a face... save for one, who grunts 'hey.' I grunt 'hey' back, then return focus to my path, winding around a corner, where I find a bank of streetlights, and the way home...

10K in 49ish minutes.

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