52 Lives

The autumn is here, no question about it. It’s cold and dark in the mornings, so I haven’t had the greatest motivation to get up early. Not until I discovered the excitement I get when running in the dark! Here’s a list of my discoveries after a spooky running session.

The 6 Most Exciting Reasons To Run In The Dark

1. It’s an adventure. In the dark you don’t see the path as well as in daylight. Sudden turns and crossroads might get you on a different route you where intending to go. Beware of the bumps and holes, watch your steps!
2. It’s spooky. I’m a grown man, but I got to admit I was shaking during this run… I entered a forest through a black hole (scaaaary!), the trees and the shadows seem like they were moving when I passed them by.
3. It gets the adrenaline flowing! My body was prepairing itself to the ancient "run-or-attack" mode as my mind was creating images of wild animals and my-little-ponies that could come after me. Or the Blair Witch guy… But the adrenaline helps. There’s a huge hill that I normally run slowly, but that morning I went up so fast I didn’t even notice the hill.
4. It’s different. If the training plan repeats itself, this is a great way to spice up the training! Take for example scuba diving or skateboarding. They’re totally different sports once you try them at night. The same seems to apply to running.
5. It’s an opportunity to try (weird) gear. Head lamps, glowing clothes, tight shorts… whatever that’s handy in the dark or just too embarrassing to be used in daylight.
6. You can use the backlight of your HR monitor. Otherwise the light would be useless…?

Few last tips: when running in dark, run in a familiar and friendly neighbourhood. Carry a mobile phone for the case of emergency. Beware of the traffic, you’re not as visible as you are during the daytime.

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