Run: 10.4 miles in 1:23.36 min. @ 5:40 a.m.

Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 47°F, 93% Humidity, Wind: SW @ 3 mph; feels like 47°F.
Course: A slight variation on Eleven in the Dark made using USATF Map It!
Pace: 8:02 min/mile
Effort: 4 out of 5
How did I feel? ?
Gear: Amphipod RunLite Trail Runner, Amphipod Xinglet Reflective Belt

chill autumnal brume--
steam lifts from leaves and grass,
under cover of dawn

Often while running I'll repeat one or two familiar "mantras" to assist in maintaining my pace and focus. Frequently I'll also work through haiku in my head, counting syllable and considering the environment around me. Often the words and mood dissipate by the time I make it to my keyboard or notepad to record the words. Sometimes, I record them and they fail to capture the moment, but truth is the moment itself has also passed.

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Of Reflective Vests and Hearts

Run: 8 miles in :59:04 min. @ 5:30 a.m.

Pace: 7:23 min./per mile avg.
Weather: Fog, 60°F
Course: an 8-mile loop

Leaving the house under cover of the dark early morning, it was difficult not to think about how much I would miss the break from work these past two summer months had given me. During that time is was very unusual for me to be up and out so early that I needed to wear a reflective vest for fear of oncoming traffic. A true sign of the time, last evening, in anticipation of this morning's run I had to dig my vest out of the giant Tupperware container in which I store all the various running equipment and chokti that I have acquired over the past three years. Beginning the day after Labor Day, when I return to work, running in the dark, whether in the morning, or more likely just following dusk, will once again become common practice.

The good and bad thing about running in the dark, is more often then not you are alone, on the roads with only your thoughts, all of it held together by a reflective vest...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!