Night Rider.. and Runner

I've done some 5:30am rides in the dark, but with that, I know the sun will be coming up. So tonight after work, I ventured out for my first night time ride and run. Running in the dark shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? Well it is when it's on trails.

So I geeked out my seldom used mountain bike with 2 white front lights and a couple blinking red lights in the back - one on the seatpost, one on the back of my helmet, and one on my Rim Runner bag. I didn't want to take any chances ;) I did a similar ride to the one on Saturday when I did the 12k... it was a 4 mile bike to the trail head where I parked my bike before switching out my helmet for a headlamp. It was a little tempermental and I thought I'd have to postpone the run, but I finally got it working. So off I was. This is a trail I've run numerous times, but it looked totally different with a 3 LED headlamp guiding the way. My steps were tentative, but I finally got in a grove. Like I said, it was my first nighttime run on trails, so I didn't want to do too much, nor did I want to injure myself before my race next weekend.

Why am I running trails at night? I'll explain later.

Total run was only 35 minutes or barely 2 miles. No worries. It was totally worth it and I hope to get more runs like it in in the coming month. What made it more enjoyable was being guided on the way back by a full moon. It was so bright I was able to turn off the headlamp and use its beam to show me the way to my bike and home.

Beware the Ides of March?? My ass..