Training

Last night was my first introduction to running at night, on the trails with a headlamp. I took advanatge of being able to get a quick hour run in with the purpose of running the transition from dusk to dark. Had a great time and was pleased to find that my headlamp worked well. I can see where running at night in a long race would be helpful in that your forced to run slower than what you normally would and walk any tricky sections. The only surprising thing for me last night was the speed at which spiders rebuild their webs in the evening and how reflective they are when you come upon them.

What a great experience to run with the deer and other critters. Amazing how in the midst of the city you can get a sense of exposure and wilderness by running in the dark. Also was surprised to find that I took a wrong turn on a trail that I have ran literally hundreds of time. These are all nuggets to put in the back of your mind when running an extremely long race. One of the anxieties I have about the race in Alabama is the amount of turns, intersections and potential to get lost on the course. Not being able to have the time to recon I will mostly be at the mercy of the race directors markings, although I do plan on getting some maps of the area ahead of time.

Went home and got about another hour of fast walking and tempo running on the treadmill so all in all was able to get probably nine miles in for the evening.