Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Alone in the night - simply awesome

41 degrees out. Dark. 83 % humidity.

I put my headlamp on, my reflective wear, kissed my husband and stepped out into the brisk night. I put my earbuds in as protection against the cold and wind, start my watch and I run.

I am alone. My breath is a thick fog before me in the light of my headlamp. No dogs bark. No one on the streets. I run.

I run through the neighborhood. Up and down hills. Some steep. Some gradual. Some short. Some forever long.

There are few street lamps on some roads. On other roads, there are none. But I have my headlamp.

I was aiming for 2 miles, but by pacing myself and dutifully watching my heart rate and pace, I felt like I still had something left in me so I finally turned on my Walkman MP3 player on (yes, walkman...as my Ipod and Iphone are too large and heavy for my accessory pocket in my jacket)...and I run.

Familiar songs play and my energy grows.

Running down empty roads I enjoy seeing all the early Christmas lights. I listen to favorite songs.
Coming into the last ugly hill when my energy began to fade, one of my most motivational running songs coincidentally began. And I ran.

I finished 3.22 miles without stopping a single time. I finished without pain. I finished without ever hitting max heart rate.

It sure feels good.

AVE HR: 167 (very good)
PEAK HR: 178 on a hill (3 higher than preferred but 9 lower than last weeks race! YAY!)
% of Run that was flat ground: 0%
TIME RAN: 41.30
PACE: 13.2

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